Phillips Canyon is a harder trail in the Calico mountain range network. Phillips Canyon is a narrow path, just a single vehicle width with several hard obstacles. Some of these obstacles are a double 3-foot waterfall, rocky hill climb with 1-4 foot ledges in the middle, narrow canyons with large boulders, and a long, even steeper hill climb with 3-foot ledges in the middle. But the obstacles are not what most people remember of Phillips Canyon. Phillips Canyon has some of the most amazing views in Southern California, including red rock canyons, mud hills you can explore, sandstone canyons, natural stone arches, and old silver mines. Besides the trail, there are ample things to do in the area, including Calico Ghost Town, the robust trail network in calico, exploring abandoned mines, the Mojave River / Road, and exploring the Mojave Desert.
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From Highway 15 heading North/East.
Exit the second calico exit and head North towards Calico.
Take the first dirt road North (Mule Canyon) 34.921333, -116.848928 (0.0 Miles from start).
(Go ahead and air down here, recommend low tire pressure due to shale).
As you are going up the Canyon, go left at the big-ish Y 34.940444, -116.839785 (1.6 Miles from start).
Follow trail up and stay right 34.944489, -116.844829 (2 Miles from start).
Follow trail up and stay right 34.947250, -116.844736 (2.3 Miles from Start).
Proceed up old broken asphalt road. The trailhead is in front of you 34.950294, -116.844594 (2.6 Miles from Start).
***BLM has plans to close most of the trails in the area, please call Matt Toedli at 760-252-6026 and voice your opinion***
The trail can be hard to follow when in the red rock area. Once you get to the slot canyon (we ran this from waypoint 8 to 1) that is where the waterfalls begin. It is about as challenging as I would safely say a stock Tacoma could handle without sliders and rear quarter panel protection. I did barely drag the rear bumper, but luckily only scuffed the black plastic on the bumper. Capable stock, midsize SUVs (4-Runners and Grand Cherokees) can probably avoid the drama that a Tacoma or Gladiator at stock height deal with. I did not measure some of the drops, but due to our heavy rains, I am going to say that the waterfalls are larger than before our record rainy season here in Southern California.
A couple of good rocky hill climbs on this one. Not overly technical, but the bounciest trail that I encountered until we got to some of the red trails.
We ran this trail just before sunset and it offered just enough of a challenge to keep it interesting. Our friend in his largely stock 60 Series Land Cruiser opted to stay behind while we ran up the trail and back in our two Wranglers.
Just did a night run with a large group. We went north on Mule Canyon, then East Phillips Drive, and part of Doran Scenic Drive. We then camp back south on Phillips Canyon West. Still being fairly new to Jeeps off road, I was a little worried about the planned route based on the rating here for Phillips Canyon West(moderate-difficult), However, I can say going south, other than one drop on a waterfall, to me, it would be a low moderate. I was further back in our group so I was able to watch multiple vehicle's lines, so I felt very comfortable on the entire route.
To help you with my opinion, here is a little about my off road experience. I have had my Jeep for 1 year, and have only been out about 6 weekends in that time. I do have experience in desert buggies, but not rock crawling. Below are some photos from the entire run.
This trail offered the perfect amount of challenge. The first waterfall section looked pretty intimidating but with the right line, we made it up. The rest of the trail was equally fun if not a little less challenging.
This is a great trail and gets you stretching your vehicles legs a bit. It doesn't feel like the third hardest in the area. We got a bit of armor rash with our 3rd gen. Tacoma though nothing serious and overall, very doable with a small lift and proper tires. This trail broke in our new Wildpeak MT's and they definitely helped us over the waterfalls. Can't beat off-roading through old mining territories. So much to see and so much history to drive through.
This is a great intermediate trail and an excellent place to teach newbies how to rock crawl. You can camp at Calico for the weekend and spend a couple days helping new guys learn the basics on this trail. There are so many trails that you will not be bored.
Love this place. Tons of fun. All the obstacles are so much fun. Can't wait to go back after it cools off.
My Falken Tires did their job and more....
#FalkenTires
An absolutely beautiful day on the trail. The paid campgrounds were full, but not many on the trail. The trails have been built back up evidently from lots of rock stacking by previous visitors. This is a wonderful time of the year to visit Calico, CA.
Phillips was all torn up. It appears a flash flood has gone through there and changed the trail quiet a bit. The double water fall was tore up, so was the hill climb. Even the flat areas that allowed fast movement are so messed up that you have to be in 4 low.
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Joshua Noesser grew up in Southern California but has lived in different parts of the country during his young adult life. Josh was first turned to four wheeling when he road with one of his friends dad up Surprise Canyon in the Panamint Valley at age14. After nearly 3 different roll overs later and a half dozen intense waterfalls, Josh was hooked. At 16 he purchased his first Jeep a CJ 7 and by 17 was putting his first locker in it.
Currently, Josh is the owner and CEO of Nybble, an IT Solutions Company based in Orange County, California. Nybble isn't your normal IT company where everyone stays in and plays video games. Nybble's average company trip is out on the trails since a good amount of his staff enjoy wheeling too. As Josh likes to say, he offers the only IT Company with the ability to provide services in extreme locations. "If you want a server at the top of The Hammers, we will take care of that for you."
Today you can find Josh out on the trail behind the wheel in one of his three different off-road vehicles. See the vehicles below for more information.
If you ever run into Josh, please say high, he is a very friendly person and is always happy to have a new person join the group.
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