Military Wash
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 7.66 mi
- Elevation gain
- 423 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 128 ft
- Max elevation
- 594 ft
- TrailRank
-
19
4
- Min elevation
- 171 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- one hour 32 minutes
- Coordinates
- 294
- Uploaded
- June 18, 2014
- Recorded
- January 2010
near Ocotillo Wells, California (United States)
Viewed 2178 times, downloaded 18 times
Itinerary description
It connects the Crossover Trail with the Cut across Trail and continues north into the Badlands.
A 4x4 with sufficient ground clearance is required. After a rain some passages may become difficult.
It was a military training area used by General Patton’s armoured troops in WWII. Lots of shell casings (even some pieces of live ammunition are found) and some concrete remains from rake stations can still be seen. There is also a half buried tank in this wash.
“Rake stations” were constructed to assist in accuracy training. A rake station is a four-posted tower in which observers would track the accuracy of bullets and bombs with the use of a four-tined instrument calibrated to line up the observer’s vision with the airfield. When bombs or bullets hit the ground they create dust “pick-ups,” by which an observer could gauge the accuracy of the shot with the rake. (explanation by Barbarella Fokos)
Other military training took place at Fault Wash, Clark Dry Lake, Benson Dry Lake and at the Carrizo Impact Area (still closed to the public).
For more details see:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/jan/30/desert-maneuvers/
http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060709/news_lz1mi9operati.html
Another war effort took place at the Calcite Mine in the Anza Borrego, see:
http://www.mindat.org/loc-212276.html for a short description.
A 4x4 with sufficient ground clearance is required. After a rain some passages may become difficult.
It was a military training area used by General Patton’s armoured troops in WWII. Lots of shell casings (even some pieces of live ammunition are found) and some concrete remains from rake stations can still be seen. There is also a half buried tank in this wash.
“Rake stations” were constructed to assist in accuracy training. A rake station is a four-posted tower in which observers would track the accuracy of bullets and bombs with the use of a four-tined instrument calibrated to line up the observer’s vision with the airfield. When bombs or bullets hit the ground they create dust “pick-ups,” by which an observer could gauge the accuracy of the shot with the rake. (explanation by Barbarella Fokos)
Other military training took place at Fault Wash, Clark Dry Lake, Benson Dry Lake and at the Carrizo Impact Area (still closed to the public).
For more details see:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/jan/30/desert-maneuvers/
http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060709/news_lz1mi9operati.html
Another war effort took place at the Calcite Mine in the Anza Borrego, see:
http://www.mindat.org/loc-212276.html for a short description.
Waypoints
Campsite
161 ft
Cove
Waypoint
302 ft
Cut across
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Waypoint
249 ft
Diagonal Track
Waypoint
249 ft
Fault Wash
Photo
210 ft
Rake station from the miltary
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Photo
328 ft
Tank Remains
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Comments (1)
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Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Easy
It;s a long flat wash on the west end of the Ocotillo Wells OHV area. This is a remote area of the park so I wouldn't travel it alone, But an awesome desert wash that is very long and scenic.