Notice: Flash floods have affected routes in the area of the Bradshaw Trail. Exercise increased caution when visiting the area, check the weather before your trip, and be prepared.

Bradshaw Trail National Back Country Byway

Phone:
Email:
Address:

Bureau of Land Management Palm Springs South Coast Field Office Palm Springs, CA 92262

Latitude/Longitude:
33.559479, -115.584333
Directions:
From Blythe,
  • take Interstate 10 west for about 17 miles to the Wiley's Well exit.
  • Go south (left) on Wiley's Well Road for about 9 miles to its intersection with the Bradshaw Trail, just past Wiley's Well Campground.
  • Turn right and proceed west towards Indio.
HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITE
CAMPING
OFF HIGHWAY VEHICLE
HUNTING
HORSEBACK RIDING
WILDLIFE VIEWING

Bradshaw Trail National Back Country Byway

The first road across Riverside County to the Colorado River was blazed by William Bradshaw in 1862 as an overland stage route. Beginning in San Bernardino, the trail was used extensively between 1862 and 1877 to haul miners and other passengers to the gold fields at La Paz, Arizona (now Ehrenberg). The Bradshaw Trail is a 70-mile dirt road, periodically graded by the Riverside County Transportation Department. Four-wheel-drive vehicles are recommended due to stretches of soft sand. The trail traverses mostly public land, and offers spectacular views of the Chuckwalla Bench and the Orocopia, Chuckwalla and Mule Mountains. The Bradshaw Trail National Backcountry Byway is administered by BLM's Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office.

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