Guru Road is a short dirt track near the base of the Granite Mountains paralleling Highway 34 just north of the town of Gerlach lined with whimsical artwork and creations of DeWayne "Doobie" Williams, a former area resident.
Williams spent the years between 1978 and 1992 crafting small statues, junk collages, shade structures and collections of inscribed stones, laid out along a dirt road that overlooks the Black Rock Desert playa. As the area is home to the annual Burning Man gathering, Guru Road is not so out of place, as an example of outsider folk art that now slowly fades into the desert environment.
Philosophical quotes and tributes to other area locals lay inscribed on rocks that line the roadway. Stone labyrinths, statues made of found materials, witty scenes can all be found along the mile long road also known as Dooby Lane (Williams opted to shorten his own nickname to lessen the labor of inscribing his name onto the stone tablets that lie throughout the road).
While 2wd passenger cars can most likely drive down the sometimes-rough dirt road, Guru Road may best be experienced by leaving the car near the start of the road and heading out on a walk. Aside from the week surrounding Burning Man and occasional holidays that draw campers and partiers out to the large open desert, visitors can not only expect to not see a single other person on this road, there's a good chance they won't see a single other car pass by on the adjacent highway.
There are no amenities of any kind along Guru Road. This really is just a strange desert art constellation that carries on the legacy of Doobie Williams, who passed away in 1995. Following his death, the Bureau of Land Management granted the road to Williams' family as a permanent right-of-way to ensure its continued presence. Today, an official green and white street sign marks its location to passersby.
In 2016, a book called Dooby Lane collecting photographs from Black Rock Desert photographer Peter Goin and the poetry of naturalist Gary Snyder was published focusing on Guru Road.
Comments
Sign In and share them.