boyfester
New member
Last Minute Run - March 26 - Painted Gorge/Carrizo Mtn & Smugglers Cave/Elliot Mine
The trip plans are as follows: Start at 9AM and head up Painted Gorge Road (From S80, 5 miles west of Plaster City and 4 miles east of Ocotillo). The graded road turns to dirt and passes through the multihued canyon of Painted Gorge as it snakes its way through the Coyote Mountains. The trail gets more difficult turning into a narrow shelf road as you make your way up to the top of Carrizo Mountain. The road surface is loose in places with the width (at times) being only single-vehicle wide. We'll turn around at the top and head back down. The trip should take 2-3 hours round trip.
Next, we'll head west of Ocotillo along I-8 and enter the Jacumba Mountains. Most of this trail is easy to moderate with the last portion being difficult (narrow, rocky shelf road). Stock Toyota 4X4s with high ground clearance can make it. There is a short hike (0.3 mile) to Smugglers Cave. The road to the Smugglers Cave hiking trailhead is easy. The road then changes to moderate and then difficult with some rock crawling for the last couple of miles to Elliot Mine within the Valley of the Moon Wilderness. This area is heavily patrolled by the U.S. Border Patrol as it is very close to the border. We should be able to complete this entire trail (up and back) within 2 hours unless there is lots of photography. Even if we decide not to go all the way to the mine, the road and scenery look awesome!
Meetup location:
Chevron Gas Station in Ocotillo, CA
1071 Imperial Hwy, Ocotillo, CA 92259
We'll meet up here and caravan over to the start of the trail. Bring lunch with you so we can eat on the trail.
Comms: 2m Simplex, 144.435 MHz
The following photos are ones that I grabbed off of the internet.
Road through Painted Gorge
Top of Carrizo Mtn
Trail to Elliot Mine
The trip plans are as follows: Start at 9AM and head up Painted Gorge Road (From S80, 5 miles west of Plaster City and 4 miles east of Ocotillo). The graded road turns to dirt and passes through the multihued canyon of Painted Gorge as it snakes its way through the Coyote Mountains. The trail gets more difficult turning into a narrow shelf road as you make your way up to the top of Carrizo Mountain. The road surface is loose in places with the width (at times) being only single-vehicle wide. We'll turn around at the top and head back down. The trip should take 2-3 hours round trip.
Next, we'll head west of Ocotillo along I-8 and enter the Jacumba Mountains. Most of this trail is easy to moderate with the last portion being difficult (narrow, rocky shelf road). Stock Toyota 4X4s with high ground clearance can make it. There is a short hike (0.3 mile) to Smugglers Cave. The road to the Smugglers Cave hiking trailhead is easy. The road then changes to moderate and then difficult with some rock crawling for the last couple of miles to Elliot Mine within the Valley of the Moon Wilderness. This area is heavily patrolled by the U.S. Border Patrol as it is very close to the border. We should be able to complete this entire trail (up and back) within 2 hours unless there is lots of photography. Even if we decide not to go all the way to the mine, the road and scenery look awesome!
Meetup location:
Chevron Gas Station in Ocotillo, CA
1071 Imperial Hwy, Ocotillo, CA 92259
We'll meet up here and caravan over to the start of the trail. Bring lunch with you so we can eat on the trail.
Comms: 2m Simplex, 144.435 MHz
The following photos are ones that I grabbed off of the internet.
Road through Painted Gorge
Top of Carrizo Mtn
Trail to Elliot Mine
