Sunday Funday: Schmidt Tunnel Adventure Ride

We’re getting up early on a Sunday and off-roading our way across the desert on a ride through history with a featured stop at the famed Burro Schmidt Tunnel in the El Paso Mountains of the northern Mojave Desert.…one of the darnedest things you’ll ever experience out in the middle of nowhere.

Long story short, this crazy dude hacked a 0.5 mile tunnel through a solid granite bedrock mountain all by himself using only a pick, a shovel, a four-pound hammer and dynamite with notoriously short fuses. He started in 1900 and finished in 1938. The fact that a road was built in 1920 that made his tunnel obsolete didn’t stop him. Crazy.

Anyway, its still there but you can only get there off-roading. Once there, you can hike to an amazing view on the other side. First you have to brave a tunnel that is about six feet tall and 10 feet wide in total darkness for half a mile, then do it again on the way back after enjoying the rewarding vista for a bit. Bring a headlamp. Seriously, bring a headlamp. If you try this with a cell phone light, you will bang your head on low hanging granite. We promise.

Since we are out there, we’ll also plan to make stops at abandoned locations of a time past including Holly Ash and Dutch Cleanser mines, and Bonaza Trail Post Office, Bickel Camp. We are also going to stop by the big scary hill that leads down into Last Chance Canyon. There we will pause for some optional fun that is also fun to watch as the bravest of the built rigs run up and down the hill. The final itinerary will be confirmed after the SCORCH Scouts map out the route during the prior weekend.

Besides the optional stuff at the Last Chance Canyon gateway and any other optional challenges the Scouts track down, we expect that the entire route will be family friendly and easily navigable by any stock 4WD vehicle. We’d say even the SCORCH Subarus can tackle this one.

Since this is a Sunday event, the plan is to get in early and have you back on the road by 4pm the latest but hopefully even earlier than that. To pull that off, we need you all aired-down and ready for a driver’s meeting at 8am sharp so we can be rolling by 8:15am. We’ll have a long hangout at the tunnel so that everyone has a chance to grab a bite and take the hike if they want.

CHECK THE EVENT CHAT ON 10/3 FOR UPDATED ITINERARY AND SCOUTING REPORT

We’re meeting at the entrance to Dove Springs OHV. Its right across the road from where we start. Just type ‘Dove Springs Entrance’ in Google/Waze and you're there. Last reasonably priced gas is in Mojave 30 miles before Dove Springs.

Things to bring (we make $$$ on Amazon links)

• Lunch
• VHF Radio ( good one / better one )
• Sunblock
• A Camp Chair for Chilling (Need one? )
• Lots of drinks
• A headlamp (here's one)

Wanna camp out the night before? Dove Springs has lots of dispersed camping and the Dove Springs Staging Area has vault toilets. Ricardo Campground is also nearby on a first come basis.

Any questions? Ask them in the chat.

Click here for pix from our last trip to Schmidt Tunnel in 2017

DISCLAIMER
The organizers of this meetup are not responsible for any damage done to your person or vehicle at this event, getting to this event, or after this event. We are a group of adults meeting up for an activity that takes a high degree of personal responsibility. All participants must do so at their own risk.

If you act like an asshat, douche, idiot, jerk, or in any way behave or operate your vehicle in a manner that is a risk or annoyance to others or does not respect the trails and land, you will be asked to leave the ride and be possibly ejected from SCORCH.