Lost Breyfogle Mine: The legend of the Lost Breyfogle Mine holds an important place in the lore that enriches the heritage of the American West. While there have been numerous published versions of the tale, few have captured the full range of the adventures which led Charles Breyfogle to his chance discovery of gold in the Nevada desert. Charles Breyfogle got his start as a prospector during the great gold rush to California in 1849, when he and his older brother Joshua joined 100,000 people – the "49er’s" – drawn from throughout the world to the Sacramento Valley and Sutter’s Fort by James Marshall’s discovery of "…something shining in the bottom of the ditch…"

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Bradshaw Trail - The first road through Riverside County was blazed by William Bradshaw in 1862, as an overland stage route beginning at San Bernardino and ending at La Paz, AZ (now Ehrenberg, AZ). The trail was used extensively between 1862 and 1877 to haul miners and other passengers to the gold fields at La Paz. The trail is a 70 mile graded road that traverses mostly public land between the Chuckwalla Mountains and the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. The trail offers spectacular views of the Chuckwalla Bench, Orocopia Mountains, Chuckwalla Mountains and the Palo Verde Valley. More...

Imperial Sand Dunes - The Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest mass of sand dunes in California. This dune system extends for more than 40 miles along the eastern edge of the Imperial Valley agricultural region in a band averaging five miles in width. It is roughly bordered on the west by the Coachella Canal which delivers Colorado River water to the fertile agricultural valley to the north.  More...

Spirit Mountain, Nevada - The temperature was pushing 90 degrees as we climbed out of our air-conditioned car. The hot sand radiated heat as we dropped down to the sandy wash. Our destination was about 3/4 of a mile up the wash to a place known as Grapevine Canyon near Spirit Mountain. As we walked up the wash, I wondered what it must have been like some 1500 years ago when the Indians were the sole inhabitants of the area. More...