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trail Quest Ridgecrest - garlock Road Ghost Town Sign - Photo 32580649

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There are several ways to get to Burro Schmidt’s tunnel, but the most direct approach is via Garlock Road and El Paso Mountains route EP100. Garlock road passes by a ghost town by the same name. We know that politicians have a long-standing bad reputation, but this sign seems to have appeared fairly recently. Impeach ’em all!

1107 4wd 01+trail quest ridgecrest+toyota front grille view

The Carriage Inn served as an ideal base camp. The room was clean and cozy, and included a fridge and a microwave: two items that make for an ideal home-away-from-home. Our visit during Thanksgiving weekend had comfortably cool daytime temperatures and dropped to near freezing at night.

We left the pool and hot tub alone this time, but they sure looked inviting.

A quick bolt check found a loose one on an upper rear link. The stock Toyota rear suspension bolts will be exchanged for SAE items complete with all-metal locknuts. Better to find loose bolts here than miles from help.

The day’s goal was Burro Schmidt’s Tunnel in the El Paso Mountains. We started by heading south on Highway 395. Here, we’re putting our tires in the dirt just off of the highway in the Spangler Hills OHV area. Spangler Hills is an open-travel area open to all off-road vehicles, street legal or not.

Directly across Highway 395 from Spangler Hills, you’ll find the El Paso Mountains BLM area, where you need to stay on established trails. The El Paso Mountains BLM area is also open to all types of off-highway and street-legal vehicles. The trail in the photo is a rails-to-trails route and follows an old railroad grade.

There are several ways to get to Burro Schmidt’s tunnel, but the most direct approach is via Garlock Road and El Paso Mountains route EP100. Garlock road passes by a ghost town by the same name. We know that politicians have a long-standing bad reputation, but this sign seems to have appeared fairly recently. Impeach ’em all!

Here’s another Garlock building not far from the road. The fright factor kind of died when the painter misspelled “rattlesnake.” Just how scary is a “rattlesnare” anyway?

The entrance to EP 100 is just west of Garlock, on the north side of Garlock road. It’s marked by this telephone pole and the yellow sign in the background.

As you pull onto EP 100, you’ll see a map and other visitor information placed by the BLM. Overall, the BLM seems to have done a great job of informing and educating visitors to the area.

Yield the right-of-way to faster-moving traffic. A friendly wave is also a great idea. Dirt bike, quad, UTV, prerunner, or 4x4, we’re all off-roaders here.

Another “Schmidt Tunnel” sign.

Correctly following the signs brings you to the cabins and tunnel of William Henry “Burro” Schmidt. “Burro” Schmidt was a transplant from the east who came to California for the climate. Schmidt’s siblings had all died from tuberculosis, and he was advised that a better climate would preserve his life. It did. Schmidt lived a long time, passing away in 1954 just a few days shy of his 83rd birthday.

Schmidt dug his half-mile long tunnel as a way to more conveniently get his ore to a processing depot. Naturally, he looked for minerals and precious metals along the way. It seems that pay dirt was scarce, but Schmidt’s commitment to the tunnel project was unwavering. He spent over 30 years digging. You can walk through the tunnel during your visit.

Numerous names have been penned in the boards at the tunnel’s entrance. Beyond that, you’ll need a flashlight and you’ll need to watch your head. Schmidt wasn’t a tall man so there wasn’t a reason to build a tall tunnel.

We went a fair distance and decided to come back the way we came. You’re looking at the light at the end of the tunnel.

The dusty badge of honor.

A short drive from Schmidt’s cabin and tunnel brings you to Walt Bickel’s camp. Bickel owned a mechanical shop in the Los Angeles area before the Great Depression. When the Depression ruined his business, Bickel packed up and headed for what he hoped was a living mining in the El Paso Mountains. Today, his camp is exactly as he left it in 1986 for health reasons. Artifacts are everywhere, and watched over by a caretaker. If you visit, please put something in the donation box and leave the artifacts alone.

Bickel lived in this one-room cabin for more than 50 years. Inside, nothing has been touched up or tidied. It’s just as he left it. Walt Bickel was born in 1905 and lived until 1996.

From dirty dishes to newspapers to bottles of maple syrup, it’s all there.

There’s still air in the tires of this old Scout, but the V-8 under the hood won’t be cranking over anytime soon.

Here’s one of two ancient tractors at Bickel’s camp. The old Datsun pickup in the background is well preserved by the dry desert climate.

In case you were wondering, here’s what 50-plus years’ worth of tin cans looks like.

We were running out of light, and we wanted to take a different route than the one we’d come in on. Last Chance Canyon got the nod. Last Chance Canyon is part of Red Rock Canyon State Park. Right here it’s more like Pepto-Bismol Pink.

The rock got redder and the canyon got narrower. The light got lower.

Last Chance Canyon was so named because there was known pay dirt here, but it was extremely difficult to extract. Prospectors would come here for a “last chance” at hitting pay dirt so they could afford to continue prospecting.

The route down Last Chance Canyon was easy in many spots and sketchy in others. There’s an old graded road to follow, but beware because it’s washed out in several spots.

You’ll have to alternate between the graded road and picking your way through the sandy streambed. This is a bad place to be during a downpour. If the trail isn’t clear, get out and check it out on foot before driving further. We were flying solo, so it was doubly important to get through in one piece.

After resting at the Carriage Inn, we checked out the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest before hitting the trails the next day.

Human and natural history come to life inside the Maturango Museum. Where else can you see a sidewinder missile and a mountain lion on display? This is also a great place to buy maps and guidebooks about the area.

Artifacts line the grounds at the Maturango. This looks like a dummy rear axle in a tandem axle configuration. We also saw a tram bucket from the Saline Valley Salt Tram.

El Paso route EP 26 snakes its way along the border of the El Paso Mountains Wilderness, and passes by Sheep Spring, Colorado Camp, and Gerbracht Camp.

The trail surface beckoned us to go faster, but held embedded baby-head rocks that threatened us with damage if we did.

Anytime you see tall trees in the desert, it’s a good bet there’s reliable water nearby. This is Sheep Spring. We didn’t see any running water in the adjacent streambed, but there was plenty of green grass growing nonetheless. Our guidebook told us there were petroglyphs to be found in the streambed’s rocks, but we didn’t look hard enough. The other 4Runner in this photo was probably driven by hikers. The El Paso Mountains Wilderness is on the other side of the streambed.

Don’t get complacent on EP 26...

...It’s not a rock-crawling trail, and it’s not a high-speed trail....

...Enjoy the scenery and slow down for the “gotchas.”

A chimney and some foundations are all that greets you at Colorado Camp. It’s right next to the trail and marked by a sign.

If you thought Colorado Camp was sparse you need to check out Gerbracht Camp, where you’ll see a slab with protruding rebar and not much else. Mining life was tough in the El Paso Mountains.

The sun set on the day and on our adventure. Gerbracht Camp is right next to EP 100, so we jumped on that trail and dropped directly down to the pavement at Garlock Road.