This adventure started off with a conversation at the local navy base (yes there is a Navy Base in the Mojave desert - go figure) he spoke of a couple of cabins up in the gold and silver fields of the Panamint mountains,...Briggs Camp has 2 well equipped cabins with bunks and running water from a nearby spring (note: medical officer does not recommended water for internal consumption ), as well as Latrines and showers. Heat by pot belly stove. Hot water and refrigerators available if you bring a propane bottle. The upper cabin sleeps 6+, the lower cabin 6. More space available on the floor. These cabins are first come first serve.
The route begins at BALLARAT CALIFORNIA (36 02 52 117 13 26) in the Panamint Valley, 50 miles fNortheast of Ridgecrest CA. Those with smaller vehicles (Jeeps/Samurais etc) can go the long way up Pleasant Canyon and do the entire loop in a clockwise fashion. The only issue here is not with clearance but rather the Tree Tunnel ( 36 02 08/117 11 10) that you have to negotiate. Full size vehicles can pass, but it’s highly recommended that you bring a saw to make room as you slog through the creek and underbrush. Anticipate that larger vehicles may get paint scuffs from the brush.
Route through Pleasant Canyon:
As described it starts off in the ghost town of Ballarat elev 1068', headed east, ignore any turnoffs to the left (north) and stay right and stay in the valley bottom.
The first major obstacle for large trucks is the tunnel of trees that encircle the trail as it crisscrosses the creek bottom. Samurais pass without problem. The running water starts somewhere higher up in the canyon from a spring (we never saw the source) and vanishes almost as mysteriously as it started. The tunnel is only a mile long but it seems longer.
You are climbing at a ferocious rate and at 4500 foot elevation you come across an abandoned mining town ( 36 01 59 117 08 00),…kinda creepy.
At 6400 feet you’ll pass a cabin (36 01 28/117 04 43), at this point you can continue east to Rogers Pass 36 00 45/117 03 17(recommended) or blaze south along a trail we didn’t explore.
Rogers Pass at 7160’ gives a great view of Death Valley. As you track South along the crest the view gets better but the trail becomes covered with shale type rocks and makes the going quite slow.
The road to “the tractor� is visible to your right for quite a few minutes before you come to the turn off at 36 00 18/117 03 39.
If you follow the trail and press southwest across the grassy plain (Middle park) you’ll likely see some burros. At the west end of the grassy plain (35 59 58/117 05 52) you will crest another hill and proceed south to the tractor at 35 59 31/117 05 28.
Now you will find yourself in South Park meadow. Pressing West the road is unimproved but entirely passable. After a mile or two you’ll encounter the South Park Canyon tree tunnel (35 59 33/117 08 29). This one is quite short and again somewhat cramped for full size vehicles (Saw again if needed).
The trail will start hugging the south wall of the canyon at this point and becomes narrow,…in fact some of the narrows have a significant (100-300 foot drops on the right). Just above the cabins is the scariest portion with a rock “bridge� and an even scarier wooden bridge (35 59 35/117 09 33). The Bridge looks sturdy enough, but it is narrow and has a 6000# max weight. The 500 foot dropoff is just a visual illusion as it only measures out as a 350 foot drop,…
At this point you are probably about 5 hours into the trip clockwise from Ballarat. You are also about 1 ½ hours from Wingate road (35 59 59/117 13 13) going down hill,…2 hours headed uphill (clockwise trip).
If the cabins 35 59 44/117 09 47 are occupied you are SOL, as they are first come first serve. No cell service here,…or even all the way to the town of Trona. So no way to communicate, and no electricity either.
Bring Water, food, charcoal and burgers (grills are provided at the cabins) as well as any adult beverages and cigars. Toilet paper would be a nice touch also. The cabins offer little privacy,…plan accordingly.
Leaving the cabins you will press west down the valley, the trail is rocky and has several large drop offs, but are negotiable with care,...my trail buddy took his Dodge ram Diesel and had little trouble, the trail eventually climbs out of the canyon and gives a tremendous view of Panamint Valley.
On the way out via Trona check out the Trona Pinnacles, you have seen them in numerous commercials and the planet of the apes movie remake. The Pinnacles are some kind of limestone/coral reef thing that developed many 10s of thousands of years ago/Last Ice Age when Searles Dry Lake was hundreds of feet deep. Kinda Cool. Whole trip took 1/2 tank of gas roundtrip form Ridhgecrest in my unmod'ed Zook.
