Gold Belt Tour Scenic Byway
Phantom Canyon Road Part 2

Obviously, the guys who built that original railroad bed were determined to get through here. This road meandered back and forth all over the canyon but the slope of the road stayed pretty steady all the way. Of course, the rock rises on one side and the rock drops on the other. This photo is looking back down the road I'd just come up.

In the foreground of this photo you can see some rock fragments in the road bed itself. These are among the biggest I saw in the road along the way. I don't think you'll need an especially high clearance to drive this road but if you're in here in the rain, you'll definitely want four-wheel-drive. And you won't be going very fast either. If you want to stop and wait out the rain, don't do it in the canyon bottom next to the streambed: this is easily flash flood country.