Bradshaw Trail

William Bradshaw's 1862 stage route to the La Paz goldfields, now a graded BLM byway running the Chuckwalla Bench from near the Salton Sea east to SR 78 by the Colorado River. Mostly smooth graded dirt with sandy washes, a perfect first desert overnight or big-bike shakedown. The route parallels the live Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range for miles: stay north of the boundary markers, never souvenir anything metal. Painted Canyon and the Mule Mountains add side trips. Fuel at Chiriaco Summit (I-10) or Palo Verde. Dispersed camping across Mule Mountains ACEC and BLM land. October–April; summer is a furnace. No relation to Arizona's Bradshaw Mountains, but a fitting name for the shop.