Bickel Camp: Explore this treasure trove of relics

Bickel Camp is the featured ghosted place in this month’s installment of Ghost Town Trails. This mining camp is for RVing desert rats snowbirding in the Mojave Desert, looking for somewhere to explore.

History of Bickel Camp, California

Like the thousands of people before him, Walt Bickel, a heavy equipment operator, came to the El Paso Mountains in the 1930s in search of gold. He left to serve his country during World War II and returned to stay after the war. His diggings became known as Bickel Camp. Walt was resourceful, learning to live, in part, off the land, as did the Indians and earlier inhabitants.

Walt was inventive and over the years created his own machinery to help him process placer gold as well as accomplish other chores and tasks he found necessary. While he didn’t make much money mining gold, he scratched out a living and called the place home.

At some point in 1986, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) began an aggressive campaign to rid the desert of cabins and camps to keep unsavory people from squatting on public land. Bickel Camp came under scrutiny and would soon be inspected. If the BLM determined that there wasn’t enough mining activity at the claim to qualify as an active mining venture, Walt would be evicted, and the camp would be razed.

Walt stayed as long as he was able

Walt refused to be labeled a squatter and stayed put in the place he had called home for 50 years. Sadly, on that fateful day, September 2, 1987, when the BLM came to inspect Walt’s mining operation, he suffered a stroke just hours before they arrived and was taken to an area hospital. Regardless of Walt being rushed to the hospital, the BLM deemed Walt’s mining operation insufficient to justify someone being permitted to live on-site. This ruling meant the cabin would be scheduled for demolition as well as the removal of most of Bickel’s equipment.

Outraged friends and family rallied to save Walt’s home of over 50 years, plus his impressive accumulation of equipment. A settlement was reached with the BLM allowing the camp to remain as a museum for the benefit of the public. Walt never returned to Bickel Camp. He died in 1996.

Today the camp is cared for by the Friends of Last Chance Canyon. The cabin and grounds have been left pretty much the same way Bickel left them in 1987 and are a true representation of a depression-era mining camp.

Our visit

My wife and I have visited the site twice. The first time we just happened upon it while exploring other forgotten and scenic sites in Last Chance Canyon, leaving no time to explore. The second time was intentionally, allotting time to explore the extensive relics at the site. Both times we arrived via off-road ATV and dual sport motorcycle.

Bickel Camp is a museum!

Items at the site include antique tractors, mining equipment, vintage travel trailers, antique appliances, rock samples, parts of classic automobiles and Rube Goldberg contraptions that only Walt himself knew what they were designed to do. Of particular interest to boondocking RVers will be the collection of absorption refrigerators “out back”.

There are also numerous articles to read about Walt and Bickel Camp. One of the more interesting stories is how Walt used to go into town and buy up the entire stock of day-old, or older, donuts. Walt would take them back home and lay them out in the sun to dehydrate. He would then stash them in coffee cans for storage and protection from critters. When he was ready to eat one, weeks or months later, he would reconstitute them with coffee. As we discovered from the many jerry-rigged items we found across the property, including his outdoor shower, Walt was a very resourceful man—be it dehydrating donuts or separating gold from desert dust.

On the hill behind Walt’s cabin, we found evidence of his mining operation, which included tunnels dug into the hillside and a couple of windlasses on the ridge used to lift buckets of ore from the earth.

Before leaving Bickel Camp, we enjoyed our lunch at the shaded picnic shelter provided for visitors. After lunch, we jumped on our off-road machines and rode back to our boondocking campsite just off Redrock Randsburg Road.

When you go:

Visitors are welcome when the caretaker is on-site (mostly on weekends). The grounds are considered closed when a caretaker is not present. If the caretaker is not present, much can be seen and enjoyed from the perimeter of the camp. You can learn more about the camp by clicking here.

Note: Rattlesnakes call the area around Bickel Camp and the larger vicinity home, along with friendly but fury tarantulas, so visitors should always watch where they step. Other hazards include numerous open mine shafts and flash floods. It is an area that you should visit with caution. This is just one of many reasons to carry a satellite messenger device, like a Spot X, with you.

Getting there:

Bickel Camp is accessible from either Harts Road, from Route 14, or from the Mesquite Canyon Road, off Garlock Road. Trail EP 15/26 leads to the site. A four-wheel drive vehicle with high ground clearance is recommended. Much of the off-highway route is sandy, and there are some steep, rocky inclines. Those navigating by GPS will find Bickel Camp at N35° 26.173 W117° 53.173

Where to camp:

Boondocking: If entering from Highway 14 from the “billboards” via EP15, the first decent camping spots can be found at N35° 29.600 W117° 56.565

If entering from the Garlock side via Mesquite Canyon, there is a nice boondocking spot (pictured) less than 300 yards off the pavement on the route to Bickel Camp at N35° 23.443 W117° 48.982.

The nearest developed campground is at Red Rock Canyon State Park. There are no hookups, so you might as well camp for free in the boondocks.

Dave will be speaking at the 2024 Knoxville RV Show February 10^th and 11^th. He would love to meet RVtravel.com readers who will be attending. Feel free to introduce yourself at one of his seminars.

Previous Ghost Town Trails entries you might enjoy:

• Ruby, AZ – Southern Arizona’s ‘best-preserved’ ghost town
• Finding the Christmas spirit in Poinsettia Mine, Nevada
• Dublin Gulch, California – Cave dwellers of the 20^th century
• Berlin, Nevada: Ghost town with ancient marine creatures
• Rhyolite, Nevada – An easy ghost town for RVers to visit
• Deadwood Mine, Idaho and its mysterious vault
• Eureka, Utah – Visit easily accessible old mining town
• Silver City, Utah – Heartbreak and thanksgiving
• Fort Macomb, LA – Does this picturesque Civil War-are fort look familiar
• Castle Dome City, Arizona – Perfect for nearby snowbirds
• Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory
• Coolidge, MT – ‘Montana’s Mystery Camp‘
• Ballarat, California
• Greenhorn, OR – Oregon’s smallest incorporated city
• Elkhorn, Montana – The cover photo of popular “Ghost Towns of the West” book
• Tunnel Camp, Nevada
• Bonnie Claire, Nevada
• Tumco, California
• Mackay’s Mine Hill, Mackay, Idaho

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