Located just outside Barstow in California’s Mojave Desert, Calico is a legendary destination for offroad enthusiasts seeking challenging trails, historic sites, and wide-open desert terrain. With its rugged canyons, steep rock climbs, and scenic desert views, Calico offers some of the most iconic offroad adventures in Southern California.
Calico’s trail network includes a wide range of 4x4 routes—from mild scenic drives to hardcore rock crawling. Routes like Doran Scenic Route and Odessa Canyon are known for their technical challenges, tight canyon walls, and rocky obstacles. These trails are recommended for experienced drivers with high-clearance, modified vehicles.
In between the adrenaline, Calico delivers a heavy dose of Old West history. Many trails pass by abandoned mine shafts, rusted equipment, and historic structures, remnants of the area's 1880s silver boom. It’s one of the few offroad destinations where you can climb a rocky ledge and stumble upon a ghost town cabin.
Calico Ghost Town Regional Park offers improved camping with facilities, while dispersed camping is available throughout the surrounding BLM land. The area is accessible year-round, but trail conditions can vary depending on weather—check each guide for seasonal access notes.
Whether you're chasing technical climbs or the echoes of mining history, Calico offers an unforgettable mix of challenge and character. Start exploring with Trails Offroad and make your own mark in Calico’s rugged landscape.
This short 0.4-mile spur offers inspiring geology at an impassible shear-walled box canyon that looks back over the desert basin. Some maps show CM7606 continuing through to Mule Canyon, but whatever road once existed has long ago disappeared, leaving only an impassible shear wall of rock.
Only a high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle should attempt this rough rocky trail. The road narrows at its end, requiring a careful turnaround to keep the tires on the road. A spotter is very helpful here.
There is no flat camping area here. The best nearby campsites are on the connecting CM7600.
CM7600 parallels the paved Calico Road for 0.8 miles from its trailhead at Mule Canyon. It provides convenient access to large flat sandy staging areas and dispersed camping with many existing rock fire rings.
The trail is easily driven by large recreational vehicles. The location is conveniently close to gas, charging, and supplies at EddieWorld, only about 1.5 miles to the south. Also, Calico Ghost Town, with its improved camping, is only two miles north.
Two interesting connecting spurs, CM7606 and CM7608, invite exploration, but these require four-wheel drive high clearance vehicles.
At its end, CM7600 connects to the paved Calico Road.
The Bismark Shortcut in the famous Calico Ghost Town area, located in Yermo, CA, is a shortcut on Doran Canyon to the Bismark Mine. For the longest time, people thought this was Doran Cayon Trail. To many's disbelief, it isn't. This trail immediately turns right where the canyon opens up and heads up a tailing pile/jeep trail up the side of the mountain. You pass many open mines just feet off the trail along the route, so use caution while driving the trail. Once on top, you are at the Bismark Mine main spot that everyone photographs, which is the towering open-face mines where the cliff wall was just destroyed by what looks like a giant woodpecker looking for what might be his last meal. The trail is comprised of mine tailings, with rocks ranging in size from golf balls to baseball. These rocks have been compacted into a solid surface for the last 100 years. It is common for rocks to move around a little near the top of the trail as they are still settling in. This trail is suitable for any high-ground clearance vehicle with aired-down, durable off-road tires. Offroad experience is recommended, and 2WD is generally sufficient. Less experienced drivers may require 4WD.
Since this is just a shortcut, there are no suitable campsites along the trail. One spot at the top could support a group of 5+ vehicles at the top of the trail at the Bismark Mine. The spot is flat but mostly tailings, so the ground wouldn't be conducive to sleeping on it. Also, watch out for all the open mineshafts, as they have been known to ruin people's days.
CM7608 is a short drive up this rocky spur into a box canyon with a wide rocky floor. The trail becomes impassible in the canyon. The return trip provides lovely views back down the trail to the desert basin.
The best location for a flat, comfortable campsite is near the trailhead.
The Wall Street East Connector is a short, ridgeline connector between the north ends of Wall Street and Vodkaberry. It is a rough and rocky road with moderate grades, suitable for any high clearance vehicle. Along the route as you traverse the Mojave Desert above the famous Calico Ghost Town, expect great views and absolute silence.
Doran's Bypass is the most popular route to access Doran Canyon. This route allows drivers to skip the infamous gatekeeper obstacle while still enjoying the canyon’s rocky terrain, tight lines, and scenic desert walls. It’s the preferred entry point for most rigs and the primary way in and out for those looking to experience Doran without committing to the extreme obstacle right at the start.
Just feet past the entrance to the trail are the famous mud arches people love to drive through. The route skirts along the top of the ridge, looking down into Odessa Canyon and Doran's Gate Keeper, making for interesting views when people are trying The Gate Keeper. On the other side of the trail are some great views of the historic Calico Ghost Town that was built in 1881.
This trail has some mild off-camber spots, but is primarily hard-packed dirt with some exposed rocks.
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