Topic: Joshua Tree NP and Wonder Valley (near 29 Palms)

[FrankB]

Normally I would not think of my wanderings around Southern California as an Xcursion, but in this case even though we were all in just one Xterra we did have Mitch, another long-time member of SCCX, with us - so I figure two members of the club counts as an Xcursion.

We started out wandering around the area known as Wonder Valley, which is east of Twentynine Palms and around Amboy Road. We were driving around listening to an audio tour about the "jackrabbit homesteads", which are the 5-acre parcels that were originally sold in the 1940's and 50's.  Most of the ones we saw are now abandoned.  Our first stop was an old structure that likely was used in some sort of mining operation.







This next one is looking south on Ironage Road towards the Old Dale Mining District which is to the east of Joshua Tree NP.



Here's the view from the same spot looking northeast.  Not much out there.



We stopped for lunch in Twentynine Palms, then went into JTNP for a bit.

[Celt]

Frank, those are some really nice pictures. I bet that was a fun trip out there meandering around the desert.

[CVXTERRA]

Great pictures! Looks like it was a blast.

[Ghost65]

Great pics Frank!!


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[JFanaselle]

Nice shots Frank (as always!). I've always been quite intrigued by Wonder Valley. Makes me "wonder" why all of those abandoned shacks are strewn about the valley. I did a little research on the area in the past but had no clue there was an audio tour.

On a side note - have you ever looked at real estate for sale out there? It's freaking cheap! I mean it's pretty obvious why, but you can by 5 acres for like $3,000 in some cases.

[FrankB]

Nice shots Frank (as always!). I've always been quite intrigued by Wonder Valley. Makes me "wonder" why all of those abandoned shacks are strewn about the valley. I did a little research on the area in the past but had no clue there was an audio tour.

On a side note - have you ever looked at real estate for sale out there? It's freaking cheap! I mean it's pretty obvious why, but you can by 5 acres for like $3,000 in some cases.

Joe, you can read more about the area and the homestead act at this website.  It's quite interesting.  You can download the audio tour mpg files there, or send me your email address and I'll see if I can forward them to you.

My father got one of the 5-acre parcels in Sky Valley (east of Desert Hot Springs a little south of Dillon Road) back in the late 50's / early 60's.  We spent a lot of time out there when I was young.  It had the minimum required improvement on it, which for that area was a 14x20 one-room cabin.  There was a 2-seater outhouse a little ways from the cabin.  In Sky Valley someone had actually laid out "streets" (they were sandy tracks) and even water and electricity.  In our case who ever it was who decided the location of the cabin either did it before the water lines went in, or had a brain that was impacted by the heat, because the water connection was at the opposite end of the property.  5 acres measures 330' x 660', so one summer we had to dig a trench almost 660' to bring a water line to the cabin.  All we had were shovels and picks. We did not install indoor plumbing, just a spigot on the outside of the cabin, but we were able to rig a shower of sorts with a hose.  Heather and I drove by it while we were out there, the whole area has grown considerably, and there is actually a real house on the property now.  It's still a pretty bleak area though.  But, not as bad as Wonder Valley.

http://jackrabbithomestead.com/

[Celt]

Frank, that's some really cool history about your family thanks for sharing it!

[bad_decisions_101]

beautiful. that where I grew up.