Old Mining Trails Make Good Modern Rambles

Nineteenth century prospectors scratched trails and poked tunnels in the ridges around Ridgecrest in a mostly futile search for gold. Twentieth century miners continued the tunnel- and trail-building in the Rademacher Hills.

Today these old mining trails, realigned and restored, are part of the Rademacher Hills Trail system, which traverses the desert flatlands and rocky ridges south of Ridgecrest. The hiker’s reward for climbing these hills is a desert panorama that takes in the town of China Lake and Indian Wells Valley as well as the Panamint Mountains and Telescope Peak in Death Valley National Park.

Not long ago the area was a post-industrial mess. The hills were used as a dump site for everything from autos to construction debris and as a playground for motorcycles and off-road vehicles.

Beginning in the early 1990s, the Bureau of Land Management halted illegal off-highway vehicle activity and coordinated volunteers from the local high school, scout troops and the Sierra Club to haul away trash, remove graffiti and restore eroded slopes. Old trails were rehabilitated and new ones constructed.

Today the Rademacher Hills make up a 500-acre BLM recreation area attractive to joggers, hikers and horseback riders. A tip of the hiker’s cap goes to rangers and employees of the BLM’s Ridgecrest office who oversee millions of acres of remote Mojave Desert but who also spend considerable time and effort in demonstrating desert conservation on the outskirts of Ridgecrest.

The core of the trail system is a rough figure-8 of footpaths that contour around and cross over a 2,997-foot-high peak. This peak and its three miles of trail is a good place to start for first-time Rademacher Hills ramblers.

Sunland Trail, one of 11 offering access to the hills, is the best place to start and puts two destinations within easy reach--a summit viewpoint and the Ron Henry Interpretive Site, where there’s a modest desert plant display. Ambitious hikers can get oriented from the viewpoint, then choose to wander any of the 11 miles of trail.

Make the Maturango Museum part of your post-hike plans. Museum exhibits highlight the cultural and natural history of the western Mojave Desert. An adjoining visitor center offers maps and publications, particularly helpful for those desert travelers headed for Death Valley National Park. The museum store has some unique desert-themed items and a good selection of books about the Mojave. Maturango Museum, telephone (760) 375-6900, is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. You’ll drive past the museum, which is at China Lake Boulevard and Las Flores Avenue in downtown Ridgecrest, on the way to the Rademacher Hills trail head.

Directions to trail head: From California Highway 14, about 45 miles north of the town of Mojave, turn east on California Highway 178 and travel 14 miles to Ridgecrest. In Ridgecrest, the highway turns south and becomes China Lake Boulevard. At Ridgecrest Boulevard, Highway 178 heads east again, but you continue traveling south another mile on China Lake Boulevard to the south end of town. Turn left on College Heights Boulevard and travel two miles. As Cerro Coso Community College comes into view on the hill ahead of you, look left for the BLM sign directing you to the Rademacher Hills Trail. Follow dirt Belle Vista Road 0.5 mile to its end at a small parking area.

The hike: From Sunland Trail, the trail makes a slow ascent north, gaining better and better views of Ridgecrest. After surmounting a rocky stretch, you’ll come to a junction. If you want to gain the summit quickly, bear right and hike up a short but mountain-goat-steep section of pathway to the top of the hill.

A bench perched strategically on the flat-topped summit offers a place to contemplate the desert scene. The path then descends past a fenced mine shaft to a four-way trail junction and the Ron Henry Interpretive Site, honoring Ronald H. Henry (1916-1994), “acclaimed China Lake chemist and outstanding public lands volunteer,” according to brochures. If all desert bushes look the same to you, interpretive signs at the site identify indigo bush, wishbone bush, cheese bush, thorn bush, burro bush and creosote bush. From the interpretive site, it’s an easy quarter-mile descent back to the trail head.

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Rademacher Hills Trail

Where: Ridgecrest’s Rademacher Hills

Distance: Loop to Overlook is 1.1 mile round trip with 300-foot elevation gain; several longer options possible.

Terrain: Rocky ridges on the edge of Ridgecrest.

Highlights: Far-reaching desert vistas.

Degree of difficulty: Easy-moderate.

For more information: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Ridgecrest Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest, CA 93555; tel. (760) 384-5400.