DESTINATION Generic 29 Photosets
| |
|
| | |
|
| Scenic Drive | 70.00 Miles |
|
| | Scenic Drive | 70.00 Miles | | | |
| | | |
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | According to my sources, around 1862, William David Bradshaw, a miner and western guide who had been in the California gold fields since 1846, thought a better route should be found through the Colorado desert than the one offered by the Butterfield stage route. With a party of nine men, using existing routes, they ended up at Dos Palmas, a well known watering hole on the eastern edge of the present Salton sea, just south of then non existent Mecca, Ca. They headed through unknown territory then between the Orocopia and Chuckwalla mtns to the north, and the Chocolate mtns on the south, their route trending east. They followed a map drawn by two friendly Indians, who of course had known of this way for a long time. The map showed an ancient Halchidoma Indian trade route which was a northern extension of a route originating from northern sonoran, gulf of california area, complete with locations of springs and water holes. Bradshaw determined the new route was the shortest and most direct,
and about a month later the first stage traveled it. He also helped establish a ferry across the Colorado river at Providence Point, near where he had crossed on his way to the termination point at La Paz ( about 6 miles north of present day Blythe).
Nowadays, this road is very well graded it's last two thirds, the first is a little rough and sandy but nothing terrible. I drove this route perhaps 16 years ago, didn't do much exploration, just took a long weekend. It had pretty much no signage, roads everywhere and only signs of people at the popular Red canyon area. Both ends of the route were hard to locate and you just had to hunt through roads and private land to get in / out. My mission this time was to take side roads, hike to old mining areas, and just enjoy the historic points along the trail. This time it was really funny as it started very similar, we had a hard time locating the start, no signs, I ended up on a quad trail on the berm following the Coachella canal; then intersected the Bradshaw trail off a low point on the canal road.
Dos Palmas is now a preserve but you can visit. It was very late by the time we got here and I passed it by to find a campsite. This is a historic old watering hole area, now with hundreds of palms in the stark landscape, and worth a stop. We camped the first night at the top of the rise of road before it broke over into Salt wash, great views of Salton sea and the shore lit at night.
Next day was cloudy but warm. We explored the defunct Eagle Mine railroad, stopped in at Canyon spring, amazing how in photos land and area of spring unchanged for 100+ years. Red Canyon area, in the Orocopia mountains, is a favorite of mine, I have hiked and camped here off and on, accessing it from the north. Mudstone walls and narrows make it a neat spot in this desolate land. Next we left the Bradshaw trail, going north, then crossing over to take some spur roads to old mine areas. Some are in the Chuckwalla mountain wilderness so it's walking, which was fine. Most of the mines had been reclaimed but the surrounding landscape was quite nice. Lots of the little red spined cactus, and cholla---poor Charlie had to have it removed from his feet more than a few times over the next two days. Brian rescued a desert tortoise which had fallen in between the wall of an old mine building and where water had gullied out a ravine, it was head down and trapped between the walls, unable to push itself out. Looked none the worse for wear, hope it survives.
We camped off one of the mine spur roads. Next day we had to back track some, then down the gas line road to intersect the Bradshaw trail again. Here we saw the only other vehicles on the roughly 70 mile trip, a group of Jeeps. We were all a little startled when a jet making a bombing run on the Chocolates completed a sweeping turn about 200 feet off the deck right over us. The Chocolate mtns are an active military bombing area; off limits and so posted.
We took another side road to try to get to some mining prospects. My topo maps did not jive with what was on the ground as far as side roads. Along the Bradshaw trail are signposts at significant intersections and occasional kiosks showing maps and the route of major side roads. We ended up on a numbered but obvious quad route, so the 4wd was handy. Instead of being a bust we ended up in a very pretty area of the Chuckwalla's and saw an incredible miner's burro trail that we ended up hiking, the mine was not much and or filled in but great views and fun hiking and a few more mining artifacts.
Back to the Bradshaw trail, we camped the third night near the Black Hills, a well known rockhounding area, for black agate and sagenite. We spent a couple of hours doing just that, and found a few nice specimens, some black agate and maybe something else. The wash in this area was amazing with a large continuous grove of Ironwood trees, some big ones, and very healthy looking.
Our last day I wanted to find some spots I had read about. One was the remnant of a World War II training camp, with tank tracks still visible in the desert, possibly from General Pattons' troops. Found that. Then located the remains of the Mule Spring Stage station, built in 1862. It is only marked by a cairn, and from a guide book information I had. We found that after a misstep or two, and as we walked about looking over the area and supposing how the stage approached I located an area of disturbed desert pavement that would be about right for the width of a stage coach and well beaten in. A few low rock walls of the stage station is all that is left, and I found a pottery shard, just one. The wells dug nearby dried up about 1920. We didn't see any remnants of that, what with the changes of the wash nearby.
We drove on out, a short drive in the agricultural fields south of Ripley, then connected into paved hwy 78. I just remember driving a checkerboard of roads in massive fields before trying to get out.
Great area, desolate feel, but in reality not very far away from I-10 or some sort of services. Definitely easy; a worthwhile trip to those who like western history, like the desert, and want to see different places.
I would recommend " Gold Road to La Paz" an interpretive guide to the Bradshaw trail by Delmer G. Ross; for a mileage guide to interesting spots along with some history; and " The Bradshaw Trail" by Francis J Johnston; for more in depth history. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
