McIvers Cabin
We camped in Dove Springs then took Aqueduct Road over to Horse Canyon (SC65). After a few miles of soft dirt and some whoops, you start to climb up into the mountains. At some point (many years ago) this road was paved with asphalt. Not much remains but it does make the road a bit more challenging to navigate over or around the large patches that still remain. The road turns into many switch backs as you climb up to the summit. Once you reach the top, you have about 12 miles of a twisty narrow trail in the trees that is a lot of fun. The cabin is located at 6600 feet so make sure you bring a warm jacket. At the top, the road turns more into a trail and requires you navigate around rocks and tree stumps. There are several interesting sections that require you pick you route carefully. The good news is you are not riding along any cliffs so the worse that could happen is that you will get high centered and need to try a different approach.
Here are the GPS coordinates for the Dove Springs campsite: 35°25'33.1"N 117°59'46.8"W. You can reach Dove Springs by heading North on Highway 14 out of Mojave. Continue on Highway 14 past Jawbone Station. Stay on Highway 14 through Red Rock Canyon, clear your trip odometer when you pass the turn-off for the Ricardo Campground. Continue North on Highway 14.about 3.4 miles and look for the Dove Springs sign on the right side of the highway.
The round trip ride from the Dove Springs campsite to McIvers Cabin is about 45 miles but about half that distance is high speed dirt roads until you get to Horse Canyon.
We camped in Dove Springs then took Aqueduct Road over to Horse Canyon (SC65). After a few miles of soft dirt and some whoops, you start to climb up into the mountains. At some point (many years ago) this road was paved with asphalt. Not much remains but it does make the road a bit more challenging to navigate over or around the large patches that still remain. The road turns into many switch backs as you climb up to the summit. Once you reach the top, you have about 12 miles of a twisty narrow trail in the trees that is a lot of fun. The cabin is located at 6600 feet so make sure you bring a warm jacket. At the top, the road turns more into a trail and requires you navigate around rocks and tree stumps. There are several interesting sections that require you pick you route carefully. The good news is you are not riding along any cliffs so the worse that could happen is that you will get high centered and need to try a different approach.
Here are the GPS coordinates for the Dove Springs campsite: 35°25'33.1"N 117°59'46.8"W. You can reach Dove Springs by heading North on Highway 14 out of Mojave. Continue on Highway 14 past Jawbone Station. Stay on Highway 14 through Red Rock Canyon, clear your trip odometer when you pass the turn-off for the Ricardo Campground. Continue North on Highway 14.about 3.4 miles and look for the Dove Springs sign on the right side of the highway.
The round trip ride from the Dove Springs campsite to McIvers Cabin is about 45 miles but about half that distance is high speed dirt roads until you get to Horse Canyon.
Next to the cabin is an old outhouse and below the cabin is a natural spring.
The trail along the top of the ridge can still have some snow into late April or early May. As you can see by one of my videos below, after a rain storm during the winter months, the trail is completely covered with snow. |
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This is a good early ride on a Sunday morning before packing up and heading home. I can usually complete the entire round trip in less than 3 hours. While in the Dove Springs area, there are plenty of things to see. I often camp there and ride into the El Paso Mountains which is just East across Highway 14. In the El Paso Mountains you can crawl through Last Chance Canyon, visit the Burro Schmidt Tunnel, take a tour of Bickle Camp, check out the Holly Ash and Dutch Cleanser Mines, or climb up and check out the view from the Walsh Cabin. You can also ride South into Jawbone Canyon and stop at the Jawbone Canyon Store for a drink or lite lunch.
I posted this ride on my Meetup Site (Valley Dirt Riders). You can checkout my other rides on that site as well as my YouTube Channel.
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Below are two videos of rides up to McIver's Cabin. The summer ride is longer but the Winter rides shows you how much snow you can encounter.
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