. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Directions:
Start at the Pine City Backcountry Board.
Descend into a well-traffic’d wash, follow an emergent trail skirting the desolated Desert Queen Mine.
Follow a waning trail beyond the Desert Queen to Eagle Cliff Mine, equally dilapidated.
Nearby, spot a deserted stone cabin, built into the cliff face, among other points of interest.
Alternatively:
Start at the Split Rock picnic area.
Round the left side of Split Rock, proceeding toward a cave on the north side of the formation. Take a trail headed north from the cave until it splits, continue right/straight.
Head north until reaching a gully between two peaks. Cross on the left side, breaking right as terrain demands, aiming for a large pine on a ridge ahead.
Descend to a hollow, cross over another ridge and down toward white tailings and a horizontal mine shaft.
From the tailings, head north, passing right of a large boulder, then left of several leaning slabs.
Follow a trail over a ridge, descend to a sharp bend, leave the main trail in favor of an obscure trail headed north, toward a small, open plateau.
On the plateau, a mine hides near an oak in the center. Boulder House waits to the east. Huddling up a trail from the cabin is another rock shelter.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Notes:
Boulder House is striking. The man-made walls embellish a natural hollow—its form suggesting discrete “rooms” within the dwelling. At time of writing (January 2025), every pane of the window is intact. A stone fireplace with chimney, and dozens of period artifacts remain.
The mine is dated c. 1895, placing it in the McHaney mining district, among the earliest in the area.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This hike appears in/routes informed by:
On Foot In Joshua Tree
Hidden Joshua Tree