18-Oct-2018 -- Driving from Phoenix to Las Vegas, I wanted to revisit this point (that I’d previously visited almost 7 years ago) to get a drone’s-eye view of the point. I remembered that the point lay in a cluster of thorny bushes, and figured that I’d get much better views from a drone flying above.

Another thing I remember from my previous visit is having to hike more than 1 mile each way to get to the point. Most of the other visitors to this point have also ended up hiking 1 to 2 miles each way. So when I looked at satellite imagery, I was intrigued by the sight of a dirt road - running alongside a series of high-voltage power pylons - that headed south from highway 71 towards the point. Would I be able to take this route to drive all the way to the point?

I drove along highway 71 to 34.08029°N 113.02077°W, where I found a gated (but not locked) dirt road that ran alongside the power pylons. Driving south along this road, I passed through two more (unlocked) gates enroute. About halfway along, the road passed over a rocky ridge. The rest of the road was flat, but quite sandy in places; a 4WD vehicle is highly recommended.

At 34.01567°N 112.98835°W I reached a junction, and took the right-hand branch that headed south-westward towards the Degree Confluence Point. I ended up parking on the bank of a large stock pond, just 100 m west of the point.

Thanks to recent rain, the vegetation at the point was much greener than it was during my previous visit (in December 2011). (Fortunately, I didn’t see the ‘geocache’ jar that was there last time.) Because of the thick vegetation at the point, the ground-level ’north, east, south, west’ photos all look much the same. Fortunately the drone’s-eye photos (from 120 m above) are much more interesting.

Here is a remote-controlled aerial video of this confluence point.