Sandy Valley

WHERE PRIMM GOES FOR SCHOOL

Sandy Valley is a remote, unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada just east of the California border. The town’s roots trace back more than 150 years to old mining towns in the area, which were Kingston, Mesquite, Ripley, Platina, and Sandy.

Sandy Valley may be more than thirty miles from Primm, but Primm residents, which may only reside at the Desert Oasis Apartments, use Sandy Valley for a number of services including schools and a public library.

With is mining past and agricultural activity, Sandy Valley has an interesting history. In the 2010 census, Sandy Valley had 2,051 residents.

The community, which has a total of 56 square miles, is an hour’s drive from Las Vegas. Sandy Valley is located thirty-two miles northwest of Primm and is a forty minute drive.

About Sandy Valley

While it is in a dry, desert location, the Sandy Valley area is surprisingly greener than Primm. While it is at about the same elevation of 2,600 feet, Sandy Valley has larger nearby hillsides and mountains.

There is enough water in the region to support some hay farms and other agriculture.

Sandy Valley is in the Mesquite Valley. It’s not to be confused with Mesquite, Nevada, which is along the Arizona border in the northest corner of Clark County.

West of Sandy Valley is the Kingston Mountains and the Kingston Range Wilderness. Kingston Peak towers above the valley at 7,335 feet.

South of Sandy Valley is the Mesquite Mountains and the Mesquite Area Wilderness. The Mesquite Mountains high point is 5,161 feet.

Both of these regions support Joshua tree woodland, yucca, cacti, and a variety of high desert wildlife. The Mojave National Preserve is further south.

To the east and north of Sandy Valley are the Spring Mountains foothills.

Sandy Valley Businesses

There are over a dozen businesses in Sandy Valley including a general store, a cafe, a real estate agency, and churches.

There is also a Sandy Valley community center, library, Peace Park, and a volunteer fire department.

Sandy Valley is also home to the Sky Ranch Estates Airport, a small general aviation field, on Kingston Road. Sandy Valley Avionics is adjacent to the airport.

There are also gun shooting ranges in the area, including an aerial gun range where guests can shoot from a helicopter.

To the west of the community is the California border. The valley continues onto the California side with additional businesses such as an off-road race track, Sandy Valley Ranch, the Shiloh Horse Rescue, and the Two Hawk Hay Ranch.

Why It’s Connected to Primm

Sandy Valley and Primm are strangely connected. While both are California border towns in the southern part of Clark County with the same zip code and post office (in Jean), they are more than thirty miles apart.

However, because Primm has no schools and Jean is a commercial area with no residents, Clark County School District groups the two communities into the same school area.

In Sandy Valley, there is Sandy Valley School. On Google Maps, the school is identified either as Sandy Valley High School or Sandy Valley Junior/High School. But the school serves grades K-12.

Sandy Valley is a long way for children in Primm to go to school. But at least you avoid the traffic and hustle and bustle of having to go to school in Las Vegas or Henderson.

If you’d like to learn about the other communites in the area that are closer to Primm, take a look at our pages for Jean, Mountain Pass, Goodsprings, and Nipton, respectively.

Getting to Sandy Valley

There is no direct road route between Primm and Sandy Valley. To get to Sandy Valley from Primm, you need to take Interstate-15 north to Jean, twelve miles north.

In Jean, you connect with Highway 161 and take it west for seven miles. Just before Goodsprings, you then turn left onto Sandy Valley Road and the community is fourteen miles further west.

There is no paved route going west or south of Sandy Valley. Thus, the fastest way to get to Mountain Pass or Baker, California is to head back to Jean and take I-15 south.

Sandy Valley is fifty miles from Las Vegas. You can either go through Jean and take I-15 north or take a route north from Sandy Valley to connect to Highway 160 and go through Mountain Springs to get to Las Vegas.

The northern route is only four miles longer but typically takes an additional twenty minutes of drive time. The Highway 160 route is more scenic.

From Highway 160, you can also connect to the west to Pahrump, which is 45 miles northwest of Sandy Valley.