Panamint Valley Days
Surprise Canyon 4x4 Trail
NE of Ridgecrest, California

by Vernon B Young

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My name is Vernon Young , I am a retired machinist and with my son James a building contractor and his wife Daisy a bookkeeper we go on frequent Jeep trips. One we try to do every year is "Panamint Valley Days". .This is the valley just west of Death Valley near Ridgecrest California.

"Panamint Valley Days"is an annual event put on by the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs Inc. There are several trails that they run from challenging to historical. They are all very good trails but the one that we wanted was the Panamint City run going up Surprise Canyon. My son sent the application in early so we hopefully would be drawn for it which we were. Panamint City is an old mining town from the nineteen thirtys and fortys. At one time there were several thousand people living there with several bars and houses of ill repute. Now no one lives there the year round, There are many old machines and mining equipment that could not be removed as the road was gone. There are several mines that can be explored at your own risk.

We live in San Francisco and by getting away about noon Thursday and with about eight hours drive towing the CJ7 behind the motor home we arrived at the main camp in Panamint Valley a little after Eight oclock.We signed in and had the Jeep checked and then hit the sack. Friday morning we got up at dawn and at six AM we lined up for the Surprise Canyon. run There were twenty or so Jeeps plus the trail crew from the Bakersfield Trailblazers [super guys] The leader is Dale Walton. There are a few miles of pavement and then the fun begins.

Surprise Canyon was improved [read, more interesting] this year. There are seven waterfalls in the space of a quarter of a mile and each one has to be winched up. The leader winches off a boulder, then the second Jeep winches off the first Jeep and so on. Going down is another story as you mostly skid but you have an experiensed crew to guide you and you better follow their instructions. The parts of the road [it really was a road at one time] below and above the falls have become quite interesting because of the heavy rains the last two years. The only troubles we had that I know of was one Jeep broke the winch several popped tire beads and two endos.

The trip up Surprise is an over-nighter, up Friday and down Saurday.They serve two great meals at the city and it is a great get-together. We slept in tents although there several old mining cabins which can be used. Panamint City is at about 7000 feet elevation and it can be cold at night. In the past there has been snow. The main thing about going down is to try to get to the main camp in time for dinner.

See also Rick Russell's Suprise Canyon story with video clip
Surprise Canyon Story | Rick's Slide Story | Surprise Canyon Map | Video Clip and Stills from Rick's Video

California Trail Guidebooks, Trail Maps, and Trail Videos

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