If you have lived in El Paso for a while one of the things you may have noticed on the westside is the bridge to nowhere.  It’s right before the Sunland Park exit and there appears to be no reason for it.

There was once a purpose but when the drainage dam was built the road to it got severed leaving only the entrance from the neighborhood in Buena Vista.  That side is fenced off.

The bridge taunts you from behind the gate

I have always wondered if it was possible to get to it so today I set off to try. I looked at the area from above on Google and found a dirt road that entered the drainage area from the side of the Westside Recreation Center. There is a gate but today it was open.

Looks all flat and easy from here.

Once in I drove to a wash area where some taggers had hit some concrete walls.

From there I drove along the top ridge and then down the side of the dam.  That proved to be a dumb move as once I got to the bottom I was greeted by 3 foot boulders blocking my way. After trying unsuccessfully in 4low to get back up the only way I found around was by skirting the bottom of the dam sideways next to the boulders. It was a long 1o minutes of sideways slip and sliding.

Easy does it

I won’t lie and say I wasn’t sweating bullets.  The rocky substrate kept sending me towards the boulders, I had to fight the urge to gas it and just let myself creep along.  The end of the boulder line drops you right at the entrance to the bridge so all in all it worked out.

Success!

I wasn’t going to be able to go back the way I came so I traveled down a rocky and rutted hill which put me right next to I-10, before the Sunland exit.  For future reference, it may be possible to go this route instead of the tricky way i went.   I think its time to look into winches.

Full Flickr set here: Bridge to Nowhere