China Ranch - Date Farm - Trip Notes for 02/28/2018

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This page last updated on 02/28/2018

(Fig. 01)

Directions: From Las Vegas the China Ranch/Date Farm is approximately 77 miles. Take Interstate 15 South to highway 160. Go west (toward Pahrump) to Tecopa Highway. Go west on Tecopa Highway (which becomes Old Spanish Trail Highway in California) to Furnace Creek Road, turn left. Follow the signs to China Ranch.

02/28/2018 Trip Notes: Today Bob Croke, Harvey Smith, Ron Ziance and I took a trip out to the China Date Ranch for a day of hiking and some fresh baked date bread. After crossing over the Spring Mountain Pass on Route 160, we were surprised to see that the desert floor and the southwest side of the Spring Mountain Range was cover with a dusting of fresh snow (Figs. 02 & 03). Once we reached the date ranch, because Ron had never been here before, we decided to re-hike two areas that the rest of us had hiked on previous visits; the Slot Canyon Trail (Fig. 04) and a portion of the Ranch View Trail (Fig. 05). Descriptions for each of these hikes follow the maps shown below. (Trip notes con't below)

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03) This view was taken by Bob Croke

(Fig. 04)

Description of the Slot Canyon Trail: About 4 miles round trip, this is the longest but possibly the most rewarding of the hikes. It involves an elevation drop and then gain of about 350 feet over its course (Fig. 04). From the gift shop, walk straight down the canyon. When the trail forks, bear to the right. Note: Going to the let at the BLM marker takes you to the Cliff Trail. The trail to the right takes you past the crumbling historical assay office/saloon building. Continue on to the Acme Siding, an ore loading site, a stop on the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad from 1905 until 1938. From Acme, follow the cairn-marked trail to the right down off the Mesa, then turn right and continue on. The trail leads up and over the T&T railroad grade, then down to the Amargosa river. Walk down stream and find the place where you can rock hop across the river. After crossing, bear to the right and walk up the large wash which drains into the Amargosa River. At the top of the wash you will enter a narrow twisting slot canyon eroded into the igneous rhyolite rock. The path is eventually blocked by two boulder strewn vertical dry falls, ten to fifteen high. Skillful climbers can pull themselves up with hands and feet, but there is a danger of falling. More cautious hikers will turn back at this point. From the Acme Siding and ore, hike in a south easterly direction and follow the Willow Creek to a point that pretty much dead ends your hiking. Then turn around and head back to the trail, hiking back to the Bakery and Gift Shop.

(Fig. 05)

Description of the Ranch View Trail: From the gift shop, this more challenging loop trail is more than two miles (Fig. 05) and includes an elevation gain, and then loss, of about four hundred feet over its course. After hiking up the road past the date grove to a spot overlooking the reservoir, then turn right and walk down the flood levee and then up onto the spine of the small hills directly in front of the of you. You then begin to hike the trail up a few short, steep sections and then begin hiking along a high and narrow ridge back to the orchard, shown in yellow on the map in (Fig. 03). This is not recommended for anyone who has vertigo or problems with heights. The views to your right along this ridge presents a spectacular view down the length of China Ranch (Fig. 01), and to your left a small slot canyon incised into the soft clay sediments by intermittent flash floods. Follow the ridge all the way to its end it descends down until it reaches the lower date grove. Then return down the road back to the gift shop.

Trip Notes Continued: Since our previous visit here someone has taken to lining both sides of the trails with rocks (Fig. 06). The trail took us past the crumbling historical assay office/saloon building (Fig. 07). Continuing on we came to the top of a Mesa, the site of the Acme Siding, that looks town on the old ore loading site that was a stop on the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad from 1905 until 1938 (Fig. 08). Looking northwest from this viewpoint you can see the remains of the old railroad beds (Fig. 09).

Due east of the Mesa was a great view of the area of the Cliff Trail (Fig. 10). From Acme we followed the cairn-marked trail to the right down off the Mesa (Fig. 11). We then hiked straight across the flat desert towards the edge of the Willow Creek that flows into the Armagosa River. It ended at a point where either a bridge or the railroad crossed the river where we could go no further (Fig. 12). There was a small waterfall here leading into a small stream of water that continued south toward the Armgosa River. On the way back from here provided a good view of the old ore loading area from below (Fig. 13). Looking west to the top of the ridges I spotted a silhouette in the rock that appeared to me what looked like the head of a dog (Fig. 14). On the way back I took a picture of Ron in one of the old abandon cars alongside the trail (Fig. 15). After retracing our steps back to the gift shop and the bakery we each ate a piping hot loaf of date bread (Fig. 16). (Trip notes con't below)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09) Picture courtesy of Bob Croke

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13)

(Fig. 14)

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

Trip Notes Continued: After a lunch of date bread we decided to drive the Ranch View Trail to the reservoir and a hidden waterfall. Refer to the map in (Fig. 03). We drove the car up the trail past the date groves. We then parked the car and hike up the rest of the road to the reservoir. Looking across the spring fed reservoir there is a small covered seating area and fishing pier (Fig.17). Also, on the far side there were a variety of water fowl and ducks playing in the water along the edges of the reservoir (Fig. 18). At the top of the road, above the reservoir, we turned right and headed west to the area of the waterfall (Fig. 19). This river is fed by the Willow Spring located beyond the reservoir. Though it was only a small stream today, over time during the rainy season, floods have carved a huge, deep slot canyon canyon below the waterfall (Fig. 20). This final picture (Fig. 21) is a picture of a Mesquite Tree found along the edge of the reservoir. To read more about this tree go to ... Mesquite Tree. Today all total we hiked about 3.8 miles. On a future visit I want to hike the Badlands Trail and the Mesa Trail.

(Fig. 17)

(Fig. 18)

(Fig. 19)

(Fig. 20)

(Fig. 21)

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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

China Ranch - Date Farm – Trip Notes for 05/20/2015

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This page last updated on 03/26/2018

(Fig.01)

(Fig. 02) 05/20/2015 Trip Notes: My friend Jim Herring and I decided to go hiking at the China Ranch Date Farm located just south of Tecopa, California. After turning onto the access road to the ranch you pass through a vary narrow slot-like canyon that that contains dozens of old gypsum mines along both sides of the road (Figs. 01 & 10). Mine shafts abound in the area around China Ranch, as the area has a rich history of mining booms and busts. Lead, Silver, Gypsum and Talc are the primary minerals that have been extracted here. These were all part of the Gypsum Queen Mine (see below for more). After stopping at the gift shop and bakery and eating an entire loaf of their delicious date nut bread, we decided to hike the Cliffs Trail (Fig 04). See below for a description. Their date nut bread alone is worth the trip 160 mile round trip dive to this desert oasis. After returning to the trailhead and enjoying a refreshing date shake, we walked along the Creek Trail, passing by several large patches of Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica) (Fig. 02) before reaching one of the date orchards where we just sat on a bench in quiet conversation, taking in the peacefulness of the area and enjoying the view (Fig. 03). We then walked back to the bakery and bought two more loaves of date nut bread to take home.

(Fig.03)

(Fig. 04)

The Cliffs Trail (1): From the trailhead behind the gift shop and bakery, this trail is a challenging trail  that requires hand and foot climbing over two ten to fifteen foot vertical dry falls, with a little steep climbing on loose footing at the end of the trail. Though this trail is about 2 miles or more in length (R/T), we did not climb the last of the dry falls. From the gift shop, walk straight down the canyon. When the trail forks bear left, dropping down into China Ranch Creek. The creek bed is wet and brushy, and the outlet on the opposite bank is marked with a rock cairn. One must carefully wind their way through the thorny mesquite, then across the mud flats. The trail will turn left into the major drainage between the soft, light colored clay hills on the left and the darker, hard rock mountain on the right (Fig. 05). As you follow the wash uphill you pass some very colorful geology and even a few plants (Figs. 06 thru 08). The plant in (Fig. 07) is a Desert Holly. Click here for more pictures and information ... Desert Holly (Atriplex hymenelytra). Continue climbing until you dead end at the base of a sheer vertical cliff several hundred feet high (Fig. 09). You are now in a nicely formed natural "bay", hidden away in these ancient lake bed sediments. Rather than hike the same route back we decided to cross the China Ranch Creek again and hike across the desert to the Acme siding and ore loading site and the old Tonopah and Tidewater rail bed. From here we hiked the Slot Canyon Trail back to the gift shop and bakery where we sat and enjoyed a nice refreshing date shake.

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

The Gypsum Queen Mine: The deposits (Figs. 01 & 10) of the Gypsum Queen mine are located on the China Ranch in Inyo County, just southeast of Tecopa, California. Operating primarily between 1915 and 1918, the Gypsum Queen mine was made up of nearly a half dozen individual mines sites (Fig. 10). The road leading to China Ranch passes right through the middle of the bed. Because the gypsum bed deposits found here are flay-lying with much over burden, it was mined with open stopes from tunnels. The room and pillar mining used here, seen in the collage in (Fig. 11), was used extensively in California. For a time mining was carried on at the rate of nearly a thousand tons a month. The mines were closed shortly after October 31, 1917 after two men were killed in a cave in.

(Fig. 10)

The ore, seen in the collage in (Fig. 03), was transported on the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad to a Los Angeles mill that produced plaster of Paris, wall plaster and fertilizer. As a fertilizer, gypsum is used to improve penetration by water during irrigation, particularly for potatoes in Kern County. Other crops in the area of greatest use include citrus and deciduous orchards, vineyards, cotton and vegetables. The Portland cement industry in California is another important consumer of uncalcined gypsum, using between 100,000 to 150,000 tons a year. Its function is to retard the naturally fast set of Portland cement. A little more than half of the gypsum consumed by the building industry is in the form of prefabricated products, By far the most important are gypsum wallboard, lath, and sheathing board.

(Fig. 11)

Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

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China Ranch - Date Farm - Summary Page

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(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

Directions: Located southeast of Death Valley, China Ranch is approximately 77 miles from Las Vegas. Take Interstate 15 South to highway 160. Go west (toward Pahrump) to Tecopa Highway. Go west on Tecopa Highway (which becomes Old Spanish Trail Highway in California) to Furnace Creek Road (Fig 02), and turn left. Follow the signs to China Ranch. Go about another 3 miles and turn right onto China Ranch Road and follow it to the end.

Area History: About 12 million years BP, the area in and around China Ranch was a landlocked basin, much like one of today's dry lakes. For the next three million years it was intermittently dry then filled, catching the run-off and sediment from the surrounding mountains. Over the eons more than one thousand vertical feet of sediment collected in the basin. Other forces of nature were at work on the more ancient China Ranch lake bed. Minor uplifting occurred in some areas, while other portions of the sediment settled and dropped. Sometime between 1 million and a half million years ago nearby Lake Tecopa, which was the terminus of the Amargosa River, was breached. The resulting flow carved the dramatic Amargosa Canyon 1 mile to the south, and steepened the drainage from the China Ranch area. This in turn accelerated the erosion, carving this canyon and creating the spectacular topography you can now see around you.                        It is believed that early hunters and gatherers were roaming the edges of Lake Manly (located north in Death Valley) by 10,000 B.C. The discovery of bone chips indicate that they hunted large game, probably deer or big horn sheep. Shell beads indicate that they had contact with groups along the Pacific coast. The Shoshone and Paiute Indians migrated into the great basin sometime after 1000 A.D. These Nomadic hunters and gatherers used the various resources of the canyon for food and shelter. Because they needed to be mobile, they traveled in small groups of a few families with few physical possessions. The village at Tecopa Hot Springs, known as Yaga, was the largest settlement in the area and had about 70 inhabitants when it was visited by New Mexican horse trader Antonio Armijo in the spring of 1830. Armijo's visit is the first known recorded visit by a European to this immediate area. He established what came to be known as the Old Spanish Trail, which was the route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to the Spanish settlements in California. It followed a winding route from water hole to water hole across the desert, and so was known as the "longest, crookedest, most arduous trail in the west."  John Fremont traveled on the Spanish Trail in the spring of 1843, on his way east after heading a reconnaissance expedition to California. On April 29 he passed the confluence of China Ranch Creek and the Amargosa River, about 1 mile to the south.                                From 1830 until 1849 the main customers on the trail were a ragtag group of American, Mexican, Canadian and Indian horse raiders known collectively by their victims as Los Chaguanosos. The large and fertile ranchos of California had an abundant supply of horses and mules, but in Santa Fe and points east a scarcity of animals drove the prices extremely high, a fact that did not go unnoticed. The raiders would steal all the animals they could find from the Spanish Ranchos in California, and then drive them as fast as possible into the desert and east along the Spanish Trail. The horses were eventually driven to Santa Fe and some on to the Missouri River, where they fetched premium prices. It is said that one raid made and estimated 100,000 dollars from the sale of the surviving animals, making it an attractive venture for others. A decline in fur prices and the lure of big profits to be made drew many of America's most famous mountain men into the horse "trading" business along the Old Spanish Trail. Among these were Jim Beckwourth, Pegleg Smith, Bill Williams, Walkara the Ute raider, and Dick Owens, for whom the Owens Valley is named. The gold rush in 1849 created a ready market for horses in California, and effectively ended the horse stealing business along the trail.

China Ranch History (1): China Ranch (Fig. 01) is a family owned and operated small farm on a lush piece of greenery amidst the forbidding Mojave Desert near Southern Death Valley. Old journals note that during the fall and winters of 1849 and 1850, dozens of parties of 49'ers used the Old Spanish Trail to reach the gold fields of California. Although this route took them far to the south of the gold country, it was warm enough not to present the risk of freezing to death, as the story of the Donner party was already well known. Beyond this, very little is known about the activities or people at China Ranch from 1850 until the turn of the century. According to available sources, a Chinese man named either Quon Sing or Ah Foo came to this canyon after many years of work in the Death Valley borax mines. He developed the water, planted fruits and vegetables, and raised meat for the local mining camps. It became known as Chinaman's Ranch.                      Sometime in 1900, a man named Morrison appeared, and, as the story goes, he ran the Chinese farmer off at gun point and claimed the Ranch for his own. Morrison eventually sold out, but the name had stuck. Since then the canyon has had many owners and worn many different faces, including a fig farm, cattle ranch, hog farm, alfalfa farm, and others. The date grove was planted from seed in the early 1920's by Vonola Modine, youngest daughter of Death valley area pioneer RJ Fairbanks. Approximately half of the trees are male and produce only pollen. The females bear in the fall, yielding from 100 to 300 pounds of dates in a season. In 1970, the property was purchased by Charles Brown Jr. and Bernice Sorrells, the son and daughter of area pioneer and long time State Senator Charles Brown of Shoshone. It remains in these families today.                                      The adobe ranch house (Fig. 01) was completed in 1991 after 5 years of work. It is built from over 18,000 hand made adobe bricks, manufactured from native materials found at the ranch. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and encompasses about 4500 square feet. It is reinforced, completely up to building code standards, and did not suffer any damage during the string of earthquakes in June of 1992. In addition to its cultivated date palms, the grounds of the ranch contain towering cottonwoods and willows along a wandering stream. Due to the abundance of water, the area is filled with abundant wildlife. Surrounded by mines, the ranch's’ rich history includes its proximity to the Old Spanish Trail and the historic Tonopah & Tidewater railroad. The Old Spanish Trail, which passes through the heart of the area, has been recognized as a national historic trail. There is pending congressional legislation to make the twenty-two mile section of the Amargosa River a national wildlife refuge and scenic river designation. 02/28/2018 Trip Notes: Today Bob Croke, Harvey Smith, Ron Ziance and I came out to the China Date Ranch for a day of hiking and some fresh baked date bread. Once we reached the ranch, because Ron had never been here before, we decided to re-hike two areas that the rest of us had hiked on previous visits; the Slot Canyon Trail and a portion of the Ranch View Trail. For detailed descriptions for each of these hikes, pictures, and hiking descriptions, click the following link for more ... China Ranch/Date Farm -Trip Notes for 02/28/2018.                               05/20/2015 Trip Notes: I made my second visit to this ranch with my friend Jim Herring. On this visit I spent more time exploring some of the property's old gypsum mines and hiking the Cliffs Trail. As with almost any visitor to this place, we just had to have some of their famous date nut bread and a cool date shake. These items alone are worth the trip. Click the following link for more information and pictures of our hike and a history of the gypsum mines ... China Ranch - Date Farm - Trip Notes for 05/20/2015.

02/10/2015 Trip Notes: Today Harvey Smith, Bob Croke, Bake Smith and I arrived a little after 8:30 and found that the gift shop, bakery and information center did not open until 9:00. While waiting for it to open we decided to walk the short Creek Trail (Fig. 03) located behind the gift shop.

(Fig. 03)

Creek Trail: This short trail (Figs. 04-06), roughly 200 yards long, starts out behind the gift shop and ends at the crossover road. It follows what is known as the China Ranch Creek through thick native vegetation. Some of the trees and plants are labeled with interpretive identification signs. Its stream contains frogs, crayfish, and speckled dace, a rare native fish. The only thing was noticed was some small speckled dance. From here we turned left onto the “crossover road” and back to China Ranch Road. Before heading back to the Gift Shop, we stopped at the museum (Fig. 07).

(Fig. 04) (Fig. 05) (Fig. 06)

Rustic Museum: Located in an old, well worn building (Fig. 07), this small museum included exhibits and artifacts from early Indian sites and archeological digs, and photographs of the pioneer families that were here in the early 1900's. I found it not to be very well maintained. One really interesting item was a wall map of the United States that showed all of the Indian Tribes that were at one time, scattered throughout the country (Figs. 08 & 09). After returning to the Gift Shop and obtaining some information on the various hikes that surround the ranch, we decide to start out by hiking the Ranch View Trail.

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08) (Fig. 09)

Ranch View Trail: From the gift shop, take the cross over road and then head north up the canyon past the date groves (Figs. 10 & 11). This two mile round trip trail starts out rather easy as it runs past all of the ranches' date groves. Following a large above ground pipeline up hill for about a mile, you come to a reservoir, fed by the Willow Spring. It supplies all of the irrigation for the date groves. At the reservoir (Fig. 12), the trails turns right and heads west down the flood levee until it reaches some small hills directly in front of you. Suddenly it begins a climb up a steep section that takes you up onto the spine of the hill in the center of (Fig. 13). The trail that runs this ridge-line is quite narrow. At this point we split up, and while Bob and Blake headed back the way we had come, Harvey and I then hiked this trail to the top of the ridge line and back to the ranch (Figs. 14 & 15). In addition to the loose gravel footing, the wind was blowing quite hard, which at times made it seem just a little scary in some places. Overall, this trail had an elevation gain, and then loss, of about four hundred feet. The views of the area and the ranch below made for a rewarding hike (Fig. 01). We followed the ridge all the way to its end, which led us down into the middle of a date grove that we then crossed to get back to the gift shop. Once we got back to the gift shop, we met back up with Blake and Bob (Fig. 16) and snacked on some freshly baked datenut bread that was absolutely delicious. After placing an order for several loafs of datenut bread to take home, we decided to hike the Slot Canyon Trail.

(Fig. 10) (Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13)

(Fig. 14)

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(Fig. 17)

Slot Canyon Trail: Walking straight down the canyon from the gift shop, this four mile round trip hike (Fig. 17) had an elevation drop and then gain of about 350 feet over its course. About a third of the way out we found two old cars that made for some fun pictures (Figs. 18 thru 21). When the trail forks, bear to the right and continue past the historical assay office and saloon building (Figs. 22-24). The view in (Fig. 25) is looking back to the trailhead. Figure 26. is of the Cliffs Trail, east of the Slot Canyon Trail. Continuing on you eventually come to the top of a mesa that overlooks the old Acme Siding (Figs. 27 & 28), an ore loading site and stop on the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad from 1905 until 1938. From here we followed the cairn-marked trail to the right down off the Mesa, and walked the bed of the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad (Fig. 29) until it reached a bridge that was now washed out (Fig. 30). Rather than continuing on, down to the Amargosa river, which looked completely dry, we decided to begin the hike back to the ranch. The collage in (Fig. 31) is a grouping of shots taken around the ranch.

(Fig. 18) (Fig. 19)

(Fig. 20) (Fig. 21)

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(Fig. 23) (Fig. 24)

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(Fig. 26)

(Fig. 27) (Fig. 28)

(Fig. 29)

(Fig. 30)

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All total, we hiked more than six miles and there were still three more hikes that we didn't have time to do; the 2.5 mile Mesa Trail, the 2 mile Cliffs Trail, and the 1.5 mile Badlands Trail. Can't wait to go back for more hiking and some more date bread right out of the oven.

References: (1) The China Ranch Date Farm website {History of China Ranch} [http://www.chinaranch.com/]

Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.