[FJsRKool]

Trip date 6/16/08

Ever wondered what is just off the 15 Freeway on the way to or from Las Vegas? What about gold mines and old cars and more? We pulled off at Halloran Summit (not Halloran Springs which is a few miles away). The temperature here was about 90 degrees, whereas near Barstow it was 108, so this was really pretty comfortable. About 100 Feet up the off-ramp on the west side of the freeway the paved road turned to dirt. My GPS showed a number of trails fairly close by, so we took a right on the dirt road and began searching for the trail.

My GPS (with the Topo maps added) showed a number of trails that went on forever, but we chose some of the shorter trails that made a nice loop to get us back to the freeway in about an hour.

I will say that I would not try this without a GPS, because the trails are not well travelled, and there are many turns and twists in the trail, and it would be easy to get disoriented. Also if you go as far as we did, you will scratch your paint on the bushes. We saw no tire tracks on most of the trails we were on, and there was quite a bit of small brush in the middle of the trails. On one trail I had no choice but to drive over a 3’ bush that was right in the middle of a very narrow trail.

The shot that follows is the first part of the trail right off the main dirt road; mostly sand.

A ways back in to the real trail, one branch took us up a hill on in the distance we could see the remants of an old gold mine.

This path was drivable down to the mine itself. You can see that this was not well travelled, and in some places we had to really look hard to find the trail, even though the GPS insisted that we were on it.

Around the mines we saw a lot of old rusty metal from the old days. This is one of the coolest examples close to the first mine.

Up close at the first mine.

More trail

Note: When your GPS shows a dead-end trail, it probably is. This trail ended here and I had to back up the trail about 50 yards to get out.

As we got neared to another mine we came across this vehicle

Another mine: This one was fenced off because of the mine shaft

As we neared the end of the trail we found some more cars (note the 15 freeway in the background of some of the photos). Hard to believe these are so close to the freeway, because you really can’t see them from there.<p>

 

[CADavebert]

Nice report and find! Were the trails marked anywhere there? Any trail numbers/names?

 

[FJsRKool]

Nice report and find! Were the trails marked anywhere there? Any trail numbers/names?

There were brown plastic "posts" (Flat, about 3" wide and 3' tall) with 3-digit numbers on them. I didn't make note of the numbers because I was using the GPS as a guide. Does the type of post give you a clue as to who put them there?

On Google Maps, it shows that across the 15 freeway is the Mojave National Preserve.

 

[jenward74]

Too cool. Makes you wonder how long ago those cars were abandoned. And what the road was like back then that they were driving down. Oh, what I'd give for a time machine!

 

[CADavebert]

There were brown plastic "posts" (Flat, about 3" wide and 3' tall) with 3-digit numbers on them. I didn't make note of the numbers because I was using the GPS as a guide. Does the type of post give you a clue as to who put them there?

On Google Maps, it shows that across the 15 freeway is the Mojave National Preserve.

It sounds like they are at least official, but not sure from who. I'll check in some maps and trail books.

Thanks again!

 

[FJsRKool]

It sounds like they are at least official, but not sure from who. I'll check in some maps and trail books.

Thanks again!

I am thinking BLM. I have an email into them to ask. I've found a few sites that mention Brown numbered signs as an indicator of an "open" trail. These were so cool because they were not well traveled. Especially the path out that we took, it was obvious no one had been there for quite some time. I marked the path on the Google maps image...we entered to the right side of the map and left the hills toward the left of the map.

 

[FJsRKool]

Who puts these trail markers up?

I found one photo of a trail marker, but it is not very clear because it was not what I was focusing on.

Does anyone know who is responsible for these signs? Is it a BLM sign?

 

[Teotwaki]

Re: Who puts these trail markers up?

I found one photo of a trail marker, but it is not very clear because it was not what I was focusing on.

Does anyone know who is responsible for these signs? Is it a BLM sign?

If it was outside of the Mojave Preserve the BLM installed those markers.

 

[FJsRKool]

Re: Who puts these trail markers up?

If it was outside of the Mojave Preserve the BLM installed those markers.

Thanks. I have another confirmation that those are BLM markers. Now to try and find a map of them. I have contacted the BLM office in Needles, CA, and they claim to have maps for $4. I'm going to order some tomorrow.

 

[ballkillerxxx]

looks like a fun place to explore

 

[gnwhite]

That kind of exploring would be heaven to me. I love that sort of stuff. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Woodsman]

That kind of exploring would be heaven to me. I love that sort of stuff. Thanks for sharing.

x2 I'm drooling on my keyboard.