Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2010, Mojave National Preserve / Day 5: Woods Wash mountain-bike ride via Gold Valley from Mid Hills campground, Mojave National Preserve 73
Today I finally ride a few of the old dirt roads that cross the Gold Valley area of Mojave National Preserve. Excellent mountain biking. 35.4 round-trip bicycle miles from Mid Hills campground plus two hiking miles.
After sleeping in a bit, and eating breakfast, I pack up and leave the tent for today's ride across Gold Valley to Woods Wash
A quarter mile down the road from my campsite at Mid Hills campground, I turn right on Wild Horse Canyon Road
About two miles down Wild Horse Canyon Road, I reach my next turn, an unnamed road that I'll call Gold Valley Mine Road
Gold Valley Mine Road passes briefly through a patch of juniper and sagebrush that escaped the 2005 brush fires
Gold Valley Mine Road rolls over a series of natural drainages as it climbs gently up the hill
I ride up a few unevenly banked segments on Gold Valley Road
I reach a crest on Gold Valley Mine Road and try my cell phone: it works!
I pass through an old ranch fence and a sign marking the adjacent hiking trail
After a short climb to a crest at about 5440 feet elevation, Gold Valley Mine Road begins heading downhill
The scenic views, hills and rock piles on upper Gold Valley Mine Road would make it a good place to camp
Views toward Wild Horse Mesa on the way down Gold Valley Mine Road
I whoosh down Gold Valley Mine Road, toward Gold Valley itself
I reach the old Gold Valley Mine site and stop for a tourist break
The windmill at the Gold Valley Mine site is from the American West Windmill Company in Amarillo, Texas
A full water trough at Gold Valley Mine
An old sink (pierced by bullets, of course) at Gold Valley Mine, Mojave National Preserve
I stand on a small tailings pile at Gold Valley Mine and look down at an old pit
Close-up of the pit at Gold Valley Mine, Mojave National Preserve
I drop another 400 feet of elevation as I ride down the bottom of Gold Valley Mine Road
The lower part of Gold Valley Mine Road passes through a sandy area
Lots of bright yellow flowers near the lower part of Gold Valley Mine Road
I take a detour and visit the Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor Centre to refill my water bottles from its outdoor tap
A poster at Hole-in-the-Wall visitor centre warns of possible mountain lions in the Mid Hills area, where I'm camping
After my break at Hole-in-the-Wall, I make my way over to the dirt road that will take me to Woods Wash after 7 miles or so
After 1.5 miles on Woods Wash Road is government property, probably a residence for Preserve staff
Woods Wash Road makes a two-mile U-shaped detour around the government property
East of the government-owned house, Woods Wash Road passes through gentle hills
Ah, a gate to pass through!
I pass an abandoned corral, with the Woods Mountains in the background
Another fence boundary to pass through as I ride down to Woods Wash
The last couple of miles toward Woods Wash are a bit sandy in places, but rough enough to provide traction for a mountain bike
I arrive at the Woods Wash Wilderness boundary, stash my bicycle behind a bush and convert from biker to hiker
Indian paintbrush blooming in Woods Wash
I reach the lava flows of the historic Woods Wash area
Yucca spines
White thistle growing in Woods Wash
I climb a hill and get a glimpse of Woods Wash northward toward Twin Buttes
Barrel cactus, cholla cactus, and white buckwheat blossoms in Woods Wash
I walk across to the other side of Woods Wash and note some pink cactus blooms
It's even hotter on this hill than it was on the hill behind me on the other side of Woods Wash
Yuccas in Woods Wash near the exposed rock
I climb down the hill for the hike back up Woods Wash (to my right), but the canyon ahead into the Woods Mtns gets my attention
As I hike back up Woods Wash to my bicycle, I try my cell phone, and it works
Back at Woods Wash Road, my backpack goes back into my saddlebags and I start the ride back to Mid Hills campground
Abandoned cistern in Woods Wash
As the road rises slowly out of Woods Wash, it heads toward Table Mountain for a while, then turns left (west)
As the road rolls over the hills, I'm sometimes looking straight at the Woods Mountains
At other moments, the road heads straight toward the Twin Buttes
After passing the southern tip of Twin Buttes, I open and close the old gate again
With Wild Horse Mesa in the backgound, I spot an oversized and eroded old tire along Woods Wash Road
"For flat base truck rim only"
I decide to try a possible shortcut road that veers north (the right fork) off Woods Wash Road
The shortcut road enters a sandy area, which I eventually forces me to dismount and walk the bike a bit
The road pops out of the sandy wash briefly, and I arrive at the remains of an old cabin in Gold Valley
I peek inside the one-room Gold Valley cabin
The rear (west side) of the Gold Valley cabin has a window
The stucco exterior on the south exterior wall of the Gold Valley cabin is peeling off
I take one last look at the Gold Valley cabin, with the Woods Mountains in the background
A half mile further up this unnamed Gold Valley road, I encounter a fence (or is it a locked gate?)
I ride back down the 1.3 miles of this road in Gold Valley, passing the cabin again on the way
The sandy part of this road is hard to ride, even in the downhill direction!
Back on Woods Wash Road and approaching the government-owned residence, I notice a "No-hunting zone" sign
Back on "the good part" of Woods Wash Road, the final 1.5 miles to Black Canyon Road rides smoothly
Pink Desert four o'clock flowers and the yellow blooms of Snakeweed(?) pick up the sunset glow nicely
Table Mountain and Twin Buttes take on a postcard-photo aura as I ride slowly up Black Canyon Road
I look back regularly while climbing Black Canyon Road to take in the purple haze in the warmer areas south of Mojave Preserve
At sunset on Black Canyon Road, I pass the Gold Valley Ranch
Just north of Gold Valley Ranch, Black Canyon Road is signed as a four-wheel drive road
Bumpy, bumpy, slowly uphill pedaling on the upper part of Black Canyon Road
My headlight goes on as Black Canyon Road turns black
After the four short hills on Wild Horse Canyon Road, I reach the entrance kiosk at Mid Hills campground
Mountain-bike route elevation profile across Gold Valley, Mojave National Preserve, from Mid Hills campground to Woods Wash
Mountain-bike route across Gold Valley, Mojave National Preserve, from Mid Hills campground to Woods Wash