Heading to Calico - any suggestions?

[Terier]

Looks like I will finally will make it to Calico Ghost Town this weekend.  I will starting off on the 15 freeway heading towards Las Vegas.  Other than finishing up the route planning is there anything I should be aware of driving there?  The weather looks good so far. I plan to leave early Saturday morning & will be coming from the Corona area.  The last time I went to Las Vegas I took the 215 because of my sister and didn't understand why everyone (friends) ends up talking me out of going.  Of course it was midnight so I couldn't see the what was so scary coming back home.

Thanks,
Terier

 

[JCZ]

Terier, if you like ghost towns you might want to check out Gold Point (not to be confused with Goldfield, Nev. which is just up the highway), Nev.  It's just north of Beatty, Nv. (east of Death Valley) and just north of Scotty's Castle.

http://www.goldpointghosttown.com/index.htm

I just logged on to their web site to provide the link for you and just got a big surprise.  The photo on this page of everybody sitting around the dinner table is a pic that I took of our group (and my dinner plate) while we were there.  I thought he just wanted my photos for his scrap book.....didn't know he was going to put it on the web site.  http://www.goldpointghosttown.com/HTML_Pages/reservations.htm

Anyway, a very interesting ghost town because it's pretty much un-restored (except the cabins on the inside) but still open to the public.  They even have RV hook ups and a saloon. 

 

[HueyPilotVN]

It is a fairly straight forward trip up Interstate 15 to the Calico Exit then left.  They have a campground to the right when you pass the entrance.  The sites are small.  I could not park in any of them but I have a DP with a stacker so that is not unusual for me.  I am also from Corona although I am almost never there.

 

[Wendy]

My only suggestion is not to set your expectations too high. It's kind of a fun place to visit once and the campground is a good spot to stay. I think the campground fee even includes entrance into the park. But it's not the most exciting spot in the California desert. We were going to visit the archaeologic site nearby but didn't make it there. It looked a lot more interesting.

No matter what, have fun !
Wendy


Wendy

 

[Terier]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, suggestions & tips.  I had no idea there were other ghost towns so close by.  I like the bottle houses pics.  I also feeling better having a general idea of knowing what to expect on the drive there.  As for not expecting much at Calico - it's more of a quiet time with family and a get-away for me.  I am the main caregiver of dad and after 5 falls since Christmas he broke his hip so I've been spending a lot of time between the hospital and rehab center along with working a full time job.  It will be 2 days with family and then 2 days of QT with lots of movies with a couple naps tossed in.  Since I RV solo and I am a bit wore out it made sense to cut the workload down so I can do more resting.  And I do understand that Calico is mostly a one night stop.  Several times my cousin has driven from Las Vegas to meet up with me so this was much closer to home for her.

LOL - I still have my San Clemente SB reservations just in case something prevents me from going (again).  I have up until Saturday to cancel these reservations so I'm OK. 

Thanks again and take care! 

 

[Lou Schneider]

The Calico campground is in a sloping canyon - nothing to be worried about, but you should bring some leveling blocks in case you need to drive the trailer onto them to level it side to side.

And bring a couple of pieces of wood you can use to chock the tires in case the site slopes front to back.  Otherwise, if you unhitch on a slope, the trailer's weight pressing against the hitch jack is all that keeps the trailer from rolling downhill.  Before you unhitch, chock the trailer's wheels then put the truck in neutral and release the brakes momentarily to set the trailer tires against the chocks.  Then put the truck back into park, apply the parking brake and unhitch.

When you hitch up to leave, just back up a couple of inches to release the pressure on the chocks.

My apologies if you already know this, I just wanted to pass along a couple of tips I learned along the way. <g>

My favorite Calico moment happened many years ago and has nothing to do with the town itself.  I stopped there for a couple of nights on my way back from a convention in Las Vegas, and as I was leaving I turned on the radio and heard the first Space Shuttle was getting ready to land at Edwards AFB.  The announcer was warning people against trying to get onto the base because traffic was backed up all along Highway 14 into Los Angeles.

I was just approaching the North Entrance to Edwards off of Highway 58, so on the spur of the moment I turned off.  There were only a couple of other people going that way, the MPs at the gate waved us through so I followed them to the public viewing area.  Once I was there I put out my trailer's awning, set out my lawn chair and had a front row seat in the shade for the landing.

 

[braindead]

My grandfather used to 'work' at Calico as the 'Sheriff'... a long time ago.. I remember they staged a 'shootout' but using pies.. couldn't find whipped cream so someone had the bright idea to use shaving cream..  Seems that stuff stings a lot when you get it in your eyes...

Good to hear Calico is still going, I'll have to stop by there.. 

 

[Wavery]

Our camping club camped at Calico last year and had a lot of fun. Can't say I'd go back but it was a fun trip.

We camped at the KOA just across from the ghost town. It was much nicer than the CG at the ghost town.
http://koa.com/campgrounds/barstow/photos/

I just tried to load some pics but they were too big.

If you REALLY want to see a CA ghost town... you've gotta go to "Bodie"...
http://www.bodie.com/
If you think you'd like to go here, BE SURE to watch the entire video on "The road to Bodie".

 

[FB Coach]

I'm also taking my family to Calico this weekend for some down time. We are leaving tonight and staying until Monday. Doing the town and some museum suff that I found on the internet. It has been about 10 years since we stayed there last. As others have said the campground is nothing special, but a decent plase to just decompress. Maybe we will run into each other.

 

[Terier]

I finally made it to Calico.    It would had been fun running into each other.  The only downside was that I wasn't feeling well and it didn't get any better even with camping.  I had one of the better sites and would request it again for the next trip.  I spent 4 nights there and the place really did look like a ghost town with it being so empty after Monday.  The full moon was pretty bright too.

I ended up delaying the second portion of my camping trip and coming home early.  Dad had surgery and his recovery didn't go so well.  He passed away on Good Friday.  This surgery was unexpected and I was glad I was home to be with him. 

Someday I will go back to Calico and spend some times in the town & shops.  This trip I mostly sat around the fire while taking in the view.
Thanks again for the suggestions and tips on what to expect.  The trip was pretty easy and I still don't understand why my coworker is so uneasy about the Cajon (?sp) pass unless her husband is driving too fast.

 

[Wendy]

Sorry to hear about your Dad. Glad you were able to be with him.

As for Cajon pass, it's just a long slog uphill (or down if you're going the other way ). I remember it back in the 50s when we we're kids ? now that was an exciting road.

Wendy

 

[Lou Schneider]

I'm sorry to hear you lost your dad, but it's good you were able to be there.

Cajon Pass isn't any biggie most of the time.  But you can get high winds or other bad weather through there at times.  Being a pass it amplifies any weather differences on either side of it.

Calico is a good place to go and chill out for a couple of days.  Especially during the week when it's not so busy.

An interesting day trip from there is to go west about 45 miles on Hwy 58 to the town of Boron.  The Rio Tinto Borax Mine (formerly U.S. Borax) just north of the highway is California's largest open pit mine and the world's largest supplier of borax.

There's a good visitor center and museum on a bluff overlooking the mining operations.  The museum outllines the many uses of borax (everything from space shuttle tiles to electronics, fabrics and laundry detergent) and traces the history of mining borax from the 20 mule team days to the present.