While spending Thanksgiving week (2018) at Calico we did a little exploring around the foothills on the north side of Calico (on the Ft. Irwin side). About 4.5 miles northeast (straight line) of Calico Ghost Town and not far from the KRXV-FM Yermo antenna towers, we found what looks like was once a road, now washed out, going from the base of one of the canyons, over the mountains, and connecting on the other side to the maze of roads in the Calico Mountains.
Once upon a time this road probably had a name, but since we could not find it on any maps, we decreed that henceforth it’s new name shall be: NOTARUBCON CANYON TRAIL.
The difficult section of the trail that runs up the steep and narrow canyon (outlined in red in the map above) is less than 1/2 mile long. At the top the trail splits and turns into two semi-flat dirt roads that lead back into Calico, eventually connecting back up with Wall Street Canyon Road and Doran Road.
The 1/2-mile long difficult section is very steep, very loose, and off-camber in several spots and there are several ledges to get over. The canyon is very narrow and not wide enough to turn around for the first 3/4 or more of the way up.
As with most photos, these pictures do not fully show how steep the trail is, how large the ledges are, and how loose the ground is. On our next trip here we will get some brave Jeepers to go up and we will bring the video cameras.