Idyllwild Ghost Town?

[RM]

Friend of mine was telling me that there's actually a ghost town located near Idyllwild, and that it makes a good hike. Thing is, I can't find it on any of my maps.
Wikimapia does, however, have a square marked off as "ghost town" west of Idylwild.

Here:

http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=33865213&x= ... 15&l=0&m=m

Any of you guys ever heard anything about this?

[BobM]

The map must be a hoax (or a serious error). Many of the roads that are shown do not appear on the U.S.G.S. 7.5 minute maps or Google Maps.

[zippetydude]

Hey RM! If you remember, I mentioned to you over on the San G bulletin board to post here because someone might know something about it. I hadn't looked at the map link, because I don't know the area over by Idyllwild, but I just now pulled up the map and found you're talking about an area many miles from Idyllwild that I just rode my mountain bike through a couple of weeks ago.

Here's the scoop.

If you are going out the straight part of the 243 just off the 10 fwy, you'll see that the road continues straight ahead, but the 243 veers off to the left and begins climbing up the mountainside. If you continue straight, you'll be following the Old Idyllwild Road, and it continues on up to around 4000' elevation. It comes back to the 243 at the junction of Poppet Flats Road. I rode the entire route, and there were no buildings or any apparent structures left of the ghost town, but there is a large, flat and fairly level area off to the south of the road not far from where Mt. Edna Road runs into Old Idyllwild Road.

If you want to explore it yourself, the easiest way would be to go all the way up the 243 to Poppet Flats Road, turn right, go about 100 feet, then turn right again onto the smooth, well graded dirt road on the right. That's the Old Idyllwild Road, and if you just stick to the main part, it will take you right down to where the Ghost Town is supposed to be located, figure about 3 or 4 miles. The road is in good shape - you can probably do it in any vehicle you like (well, I wouldn't recommend an RV, but you get the idea) and the large open area is fairly evident as well. I believe there is a sign where Mt. Edna Road comes in as well, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding the spot.

You can get there from the bottom too, but the road passes along a couple of washes that are flat but very sandy, and you run the risk of getting stuck. Also, it's probably 7 or 8 miles up from the bottom, but only 3 or 4 miles from the 243 if you start from the top.

Sorry I didn't recognize the place sooner, or I could have helped out some time ago.


Incidentally, I'll be camping up at Silent Valley (about a mile from the junction of Poppet Flats and the 243) this weekend, so if I get a chance I'll run over and check it out. If there's anything to show, I'll try to post a couple of pictures - though sometimes that doesn't work out. I could always email them to you if you like. If you're up there this weekend also, maybe we'll run into each other.

z

[CaptainSwab]

I'd be interested if you find anything. I often run on old Idllywild road (lower section) and have driven it a few times and haven't even noticed anything about a ghost town.

[zippetydude]

My trip up got postponed for a couple of weeks - I should be up there the weekend of the 19th, so if I make it this time I'll post whatever I find.

z

[zippetydude]

I found the "Ghost Town" easily enough - I had gone right past it before and never even noticed it.

Perhaps a better description might be "ruins" because there are clearly remains from houses, but not like Calico or Bodie where buildings are still standing.

There are concrete and stone chimneys, some block walls, but no remains that I came across of walls or roofing. There is also some evidence of a fire, many years ago, and it seems possible that an intense fire may have gone through the area and destroyed all the homes, which were then abandoned and never rebuilt. Of course, all this is strictly a guess.

An interesting note about the construction - it was very hodge podge. On the best preserved site, highest up the hill, there was a small room made of concrete reinforced with rebar. Apparently they ran out of rebar, because there were old car parts - like axles and leaf springs - that had become exposed over time. They weren't ornaments - when the wall was still smooth, they would have been invisible inside the concrete. Interesting construction method.

I don't know how to find out more about the history of the site, but if anyone here does any research, please post it. It would have to have been relatively recent if those were car parts. Then again, there's no reason they couldn't have been from a wagon ...

Anyway, that's it for the report. I took some pics - if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll try to post them on Webshots.

z

[ptillett]

I was just there yesterday. We took the old road from silent valley to banning. I didn't know anything about the "ghost town," but will take a look next time. Thanks!

[ptillett]

While on the old Idyllwild road yesterday, we did see a ruin pretty close to the Mt. Edna turn off. Pretty much all that was left standing was a chimney and some foundation. It looked really old. Anybody have any idea what it was? When it was something...
thanks!