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California Peeps: Anyone Been to New Iridia Mine/Ghost Town?

My dad has been hill climbing there from 70s to late 90s. Started on a kx 100, moved to a rt1 360 mx, xr600 and finally a cr500.
 
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2020 trip.
 
The official notice sign: "no stoping"
:laughing:



Right on. That last picture really ties it all together, like a rug.
Did you come across any other visitors, or were and your party the only ones out there?
 
Yota Up said:
The official notice sign: "no stoping"
:laughing:



Right on. That last picture really ties it all together, like a rug.
Did you come across any other visitors, or were and your party the only ones out there?
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One guy in a red suburban was kind of chasing us to town and then out of town when we left :confused:.

Those steel doors were the Dynamite room and it is past town up the hill a ways. We passed several Mx and quad riders.
 
Captain Call said:
Last time I went back there I got stopped at the fruit stand. They asked me where I came from...they didn't like my response.

I said " aren't you supposed to ask me if I have any fruits or vegetables?"

D00d got all pissy and said "well do you have any fruits or vegetables?"

Nope!

Fucker got indignant and huffy. :lmao:

Fuck them.
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Last one I went through around the Mexicali area, they all looked like I was their last task before they were going to board a helicopter and go into an active Iraq war zone after they asked me if I had a fruit.
 
2big bronco said:
Did you get out and explore at all? Could my kids run around?
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I did a little bit, but I had my 2yo teen niece, wife and sister in law.
There are places to ride motorcycles a little higher with large flat areas for un loading and picnics.
 
AgitatedPancake said:
Huh I didn't know about this one either. I just surfed it on google earth, looks like somewhere you could burn an afternoon wandering around. The roads look decent from aerial views, nothing sketch that I saw at least from initial browsing. A few old structures to look at, but some right in the vicinity that look still maintained/lived in so it won't be a full death valley "ghost town" experience. Prob worth seeing at least once though
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I e been watching that Brent from ghost town living since he landed there in 2020 I wanna say. I enjoy most of his videos but lately he’s just been pushing his book he wrote, a little too much on that imo. I wanna see his hotel completed tho really.
 
rockmup said:
There used to be a bar on Panoche Rd that had wild pigs in back of the bar. On the west side headed to New Idria
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It's still there. I've been there a couple of times, I don't recall the pigs though.
 
M92PV4U said:
I've been there, you should be able to make it in a stock ½ 4x4.
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I've been there in a 2wd jeep. (No front drive shaft) I was there in the jl and never put it in 4x4.

My dad would go motorcycle riding there in the winter time. One time he forgot his helmet, so he called my mom to bring it to him. She drove it to him in a 2wd 87 b2000 Mazda :laughing:.
 
Captain Call said:
Last time I went back there I got stopped at the fruit stand. They asked me where I came from...they didn't like my response.

I said " aren't you supposed to ask me if I have any fruits or vegetables?"

D00d got all pissy and said "well do you have any fruits or vegetables?"

Nope!

Fucker got indignant and huffy. :lmao:

Fuck them.
Click to expand...
last time I went though there,
"you have any fruits or vegetables"
nope
'Move along, nothing to see here"
I drive away and after merging I look over at my brother eating a banana
evidently he was eating it the whole time :laughing:
so evidently they take their boarder seriously
 
The road to New Idria washed out in 2021 and is still not fixed. New Idria Road still nearly impassable | BenitoLink
When I was a kid it was still an operating town with store and post office, yes I'm old. We went about once a month to ride our dirt bikes. You could spend a whole weekend there and not cover the same trail twice.
You can get a day pass to go from the Clear Creek side and drive over. It makes for a fun day. Programs: Recreation: Permits and Passes: Lotteries and Permit Systems: California: Clear Creek Management Area | Bureau of Land Management
I have some pics and video I'll see if I can dig up from a few years back.
 
I have been to the other side of that area, I came in from the Clear Creek side. From that side you have to create an account and get permit to enter, they track days of usage due to asbestos. Those hills are white and there is an asbestos mine back there.

I have also been back on panoche road a bunch of times, an old coworkers family owns a massive ranch, something like 40,000 acres. We would head out there about once a year and go blast shit at their range. Someone would always have a few too many and take one of the trucks out for a late night run back in the woods and get stuck. Good times
 
Fishnbeer said:
I have been to the other side of that area, I came in from the Clear Creek side. From that side you have to create an account and get permit to enter, they track days of usage due to asbestos. Those hills are white and there is an asbestos mine back there.

I have also been back on panoche road a bunch of times, an old coworkers family owns a massive ranch, something like 40,000 acres. We would head out there about once a year and go blast shit at their range. Someone would always have a few too many and take one of the trucks out for a late night run back in the woods and get stuck. Good times
Click to expand...

Same for me, my dads cousins owned 30K acres on Coalinga Rd back from the 50's until the late 70's. Part of it butted up against Clear Creek and we used to ride our bikes into the park from the property.
Salinas Valley Ramblers also have a chunk I'd ride with my brother too.
Had a blast
 
jjeep71 said:
The road to New Idria washed out in 2021 and is still not fixed. New Idria Road still nearly impassable | BenitoLink
When I was a kid it was still an operating town with store and post office, yes I'm old. We went about once a month to ride our dirt bikes. You could spend a whole weekend there and not cover the same trail twice.
You can get a day pass to go from the Clear Creek side and drive over. It makes for a fun day. Programs: Recreation: Permits and Passes: Lotteries and Permit Systems: California: Clear Creek Management Area | Bureau of Land Management
I have some pics and video I'll see if I can dig up from a few years back.
Click to expand...
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This was march 2023 there was a poker run the next day. There was (is?) An alternate path just to the right in the picture. I bet that Creek is dry this time of year.
 
Fishnbeer said:
I have been to the other side of that area, I came in from the Clear Creek side. From that side you have to create an account and get permit to enter, they track days of usage due to asbestos. Those hills are white and there is an asbestos mine back there.

I have also been back on panoche road a bunch of times, an old coworkers family owns a massive ranch, something like 40,000 acres. We would head out there about once a year and go blast shit at their range. Someone would always have a few too many and take one of the trucks out for a late night run back in the woods and get stuck. Good times
Click to expand...
My dad used to always come in the Clear Creek side until someone showed him to come in the New Idria way. He had been riding there since the 70s and only went after it rained.
 
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