Swansea-Cerro Gordo 4x4 trail WOW

[Bandana]

@JimLee - good call, Ridgecrest and Trona have been hot with seismic activity lately. Heard that the activity has even been enough to change the water flow at the hot springs in Saline

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[JimLee]

@JimLee - good call, Ridgecrest and Trona have been hot with seismic activity lately. Heard that the activity has even been enough to change the water flow at the hot springs in Saline

Yea i heard the same, but haven't seen it with my own eyes. I do know first hand that upi n the canyons around Ballarat (Pleasant, Goler, South Park)there have been some massive rock slides that are new. None have made them impassable, but a few have added more rocks to the trails for sure. Last time I was in reward mine there were some area where large rocks had fallen, and that was before the big quakes, its a pretty solid tunnel but i absolutely dont want to be in there for an large earthquake. I rode out the 7.1 sitting in my Jeep (installing sPod control in cab) last year, it was insane, no way I want to be anywhere underground for that.

 

[Rogueman_1]

Been all over that area and love it.

Unfortunately, Cerro Gordo just burned. The hotel is completely gone...

 

[JimLee]

Been all over that area and love it.

Unfortunately, Cerro Gordo just burned. The hotel is completely gone...

Hotel, Church, Ice house, and pump house. Sucks.

 

[Bandana]

@JimLee - good call, Ridgecrest and Trona have been hot with seismic activity lately. Heard that the activity has even been enough to change the water flow at the hot springs in Saline

5.8 centered in Lone Pine today!

 

[JimLee]

5.8 centered in Lone Pine today!

3.6, then a 3.1, then a 5.8. Got "shake alert" on all our phones at work 5 minutes after they were all done..lol

 

[Maverick909]

Cerro Gordo was on this falls list. What a darn shame. hopfully they post about it and maybe get a rebuild going for the histories sake. wouldnt mind giving a set of hands to help with that. thanks for the heads up. ill take it off the list ... for now

 

[JimLee]

Cerro Gordo was on this falls list. What a darn shame. hopfully they post about it and maybe get a rebuild going for the histories sake. wouldnt mind giving a set of hands to help with that. thanks for the heads up. ill take it off the list ... for now

There will be a rebuild effort, some work has already started. I may be able to put you in touch with some people who can give you info if you are interested in volunteering some time.

 

[Trek68]

I ran Swansea-Cerro Gordo the weekend after the fire. Stopped for a bit and spoke to a couple of the owners. Sad situation for sure but they are committed to rebuilding. They do have a GoFundMe page setup here. https://www.gofundme.com/f/cerro-gordo for those that want to provide donations.

 

[roaniecowpony]

WOW,WOW,WOW! Great trail. I’ve been running trails in the guide to California Backroads & 4-wheel-Drive trails book. This one rivaled Colorado’s pass trails. If it had a water feature this trail would rival any of the High mountain Colorado trails I’ve run. High elevations, mining ruins, sweeping vistas, narrow single track ledge/shelf roads, it had a lot going on. Trail starts out at 3,600 ft. Owens Valley off Hwy 136 in Swansea and climbs up more than a mile to a ridge road between Saline Valley in Death valley and Owens Valley. There is plenty of 4Lo In this 13 mile climb to the 9,000 ft.+ top too. On the 9,000 ft. elev. 19 mile long ridge, Salt Tram road is where the vistas really happen. 4H is all that’s needed but there are many 1,000 ft. drop offs just a foot off the road so stay focused. Sweeping views into Owens Valley a mile below and across to snow capped Sierra Mountain peaks like Mt. Whitney to the west. Looking east Death Valley N.P. and the desolate Saline Valley 6,000 below. A stop at the 1913 Salt Tram ruins is amazing given when and where this was built. A 54 mile long cable hauled salt from remote Saline Valley up over the mountains to a rail line in Owens Valley from 1913 to 1941. While the Cerro Gordo mine and it’s many building are closed to the public(private land) it’s still something to see. I highly recommend this 5 hour trail and get the book too. Cheers.
I was so amazed looking I forgot to take many pictures but here’s a few...
Owens Valley from Salt Tram Rd. near Cerro Gordo mine

Saline Valley

Salt Trams main tower

East Saline Valley side

west Owens valley side

Looking east

Tenders cabin

poster info on Cabin wall

Many very good trails in this guide book

Owens Valley sand dunes off Hwy 190 was a nice quiet camp spot with Inyo Mountains and Cerro Gordo in the distant back ground.

Was on that trail a number of years ago with my brother in his smallblock chevy CJ and about half a dozen other jeeps. Toured Cerro Gordo the bar and hotel (before it burned) when the cartaker was a guy that looked and sounded exactly like Robert Preston. After he died, the town went up for sale and some city guys bought it.

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