Hey riders! It's Guido, with our latest "Ridin-Recon" report from Calico Ghost Town. On January 4, 2014, the Calvary Chapel Vista Motorcycle Fellowship sent it's own team of "Ghost Riders" to investigate the haunts of the old Calico Ghost town. Our team left from Fallbrook at 8:30 am and included yours truly, Frank "Apostle in Training" Mendez, Ed "Olin Mills" Haunold and Dave "Bull" Lange.
The Calico Ghost town is a mere 150 miles from our starting location and is located in Yermo, along the I-15 corridor, North of Barstow. It took our team about 2.5 hours to get there, which included a break and fuel stop along the way.
Calico is an old West mining town that has been around since 1881 during the largest silver strike in California. With its 500 mines, Calico produced over $20 million in silver ore over a 12-year span. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population. The miner's packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living. It became a "ghost town."
Walter Knott purchased Calico in the 1950's architecturally restoring all but the five original buildings to look as they did in the 1880's. Calico received State Historical Landmark 782 and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.
Today Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system visited by people from around the country and all over the world. The park offers visitors an opportunity to share in its rich history and enjoy the natural beauty of the surrounding desert environment. Along with its history and attractions, Calico Ghost Town has shops,restaurants and offers camping and outdoor recreation not available at most of our other park facilities. The entry cost is $8 per person, however, when we arrived, we were offered the "group rate" of $4 per person, which we gladly accepted.
After touring the town and it's surrounding shops, our team had lunch at the "Calico House" restaurant. The food was great and averaged about $10 per person. After lunch, we hit the trail for home, leaving about 3:00 pm and reaching San Diego County by 5:30 pm. Our return trip also in included a fuel and rest stop. Total costs for this ride averaged between $45-$50 dollars. Total miles riding miles: A little over 300.
Our assessment as a future ride destination:
This was a great ride and we had a great time once we arrived, as the fellowship was awesome! However, this ride is not for all skill levels and should not be attempted by a beginner. Freeway driving can be difficult, with your focus mainly on the traffic. This requires a lot of concentration and "situational" awareness. Also our riders did encounter darkness on the way home, so if have no experience riding at night, this would not be the ride for you. Going to Calico is a "seasonal" ride and would not be recommended during the Summer, where temps can get as high as 120 degrees F. If we were to make this one of our monthly group rides, we would probably attempt to ride just before summer and after Daylight Savings Time returned. This ride is also a little on the expensive side as far as monthly rides go, so depending on your budget, it may be a little hard on the wallet.
Overall, it was a great day and a great ride! Until next time, ride safe and we'll see you out on the road!
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