East Ord Mtn

Revised may 2009 - please send updates to the webmaster

home See Driving Directions > Sonora Desert for context and how to get here.
info GPS waypoints: download GPX file
For a detailed climbing map, see this 2009 trip report.

NOTE: I only drove the northern approach (GPS Route EAST ORD NORTH) from Barstow, but the waypoint file also includes waypoints for the southern approach (GPS Route EAST ORD SOUTH) from Victorville. If you use the Victorville approach, please contact me to confirm the waypoints are correct! I think the best route is to exit I-15 on Hwy 18 in Victorville, follow Hwy 18 east to Hwy 247, then go north on Camp Rock Road.

Overview Map, see also detailed map below.   Labels on both maps are in the waypoint file>.

Barstow is on I-15 where I-40 (from Flagstaff) and Hwy 58 (from Bakersfield) both end. I-15 has a ridiculous amount and intensity of traffic, since it goes between Los Angeles and Las vegas. If you need supplies (groceries, restaurant, gas) the main drag in Barstow is around waypoint BARSTO.

However you get to Barstow, head east on I-40 about 7 miles to the Daggett exit. The exit for Daggett is well marked on both freeways, and a good paved road goes 3.5 miles between I-15 (waypoint DAGG15) and I-40 (waypoint DAGG40). This road is good to know about if you're headed from here toward Vegas for Clark, New York, etc, and don't want to go back through Barstow. Go south from I-40 to the frontage road (briefly called Pendelton Road, waypoint PENDRD), and follow it east. About a mile from the exit, you are forced to turn southeast as the pavement ends and the road becomes Camp Rock Road (waypoint CPRK01).

This dirt road is at times fast and at times rocky, but always suitable for passenger cars. I'm sure Camp Rock goes all the way through to the south, because we saw boats being towed past where we turned off on the 4WD road! (If it's more convenient, follow the GPS Route EAST ORD S from Victorville instead of following this description from Barstow.) Follow Camp Rock Road south past the brown stake at waypoint CPRK02, 4 miles from I-40, where a smaller road goes straight but you bear left to stay on main road. There are green road signs at waypoint CPRK03, 10 miles from I-40, and again you bear left to stay on Camp Rock Road (instead of Ord Mtn Rd, even though the wrong one looks tempting).

The next intersection is a big junction with lots of signs including the standard yellow 4-way sign (waypoint CPRK04, 18 miles from I-40) and another sign that says to turn right for Anderson Dry Lake and Johnson Valley. You'll cross a cattle guard just before the intersection and you'll turn right (south-southwest) at the intersection. Once again, turn to follow Camp Rock Road as per the green signs (instead of going straight on Troy Rd).

There's an unmarked fork at waypoint CPRK05 which won't bother you on the way in (south) but might trick you on the way out (north) when you'll need to keep straight on Camp Rock Road where the main road bears right to the Camp Rock Mine. On the way out I think I saw an arrow here that points the WRONG WAY to I-40.

The USGS topo maps show a 4WD road going NW from Camp Rock Road directly into the proper drainage of East Ord (at waypoint CPRK06). Folks, there's no road there! Maybe there was once, but not in 2009. There's a big berm and there's a wash with off-road tracks ignoring the signs prohibiting off-road travel, but there's nothing visible or passable here. Go further south to where road becomes parallel to a powerline (waypoint CPRK07). This location isn't important except that when you see the powerlines you need to start looking for the turnoff. Continue until the road crosses under the powerline (waypoint CPRK08). There is a marked junction here where you can turn east to Dry Lake (don't do that), and a brown staked (but otherwise unmarked) road that goes northwest under powerline.

Turn off Camp Rock Road just over 23 miles from I-40 (waypoint CPRK08), near the signed Dry Lake intersection but not right at it and in the opposite direction! Go northwest under the powerlines and across a sandy wash. There are brown stakes where we left the main road, but we didn't make a note of the number. They're the only stakes at the powerline crossing! Passenger cars must park near the main road. It's high clearance from here.

Go 0.2 miles from the main road, northwest across the wash to waypoint ORDWSH. The track turns more north and gets steeper after the wash. Just under a mile from Camp Rock Rd you bear right at the only fork we saw (waypoint ORDJCT). Later there's a wooden post in ground (waypoint ORDNOJ), but the junction shown there on the USGS maps seems not to exist. Beyond this post the road is not suitable for 2WD, even with high clearance (too steep and rocky). The crushed rock (mine tailings) is very loose near the end, and even in 4WD we were slightly sinking and spinning. We drove past my best guess at where the DPS Guide shows the trailhead, to where the road turns up sharply and has clearance problems with huge rocks in the road. Two miles from the main road, there's a place to park half a dozen trucks (waypoint EORDTH).

NOTES: The black dashed line on the topo map below is an alternate road. It works, but it's not the best way to go unless the other road is washed out! The climbing route goes up the drainage from EORDTH, so don't try to force your way up that bad hill in a vehicle or walk up it on foot. The peak takes only a few hours round trip - we easily drove there from the Bay Area and climbed the peak the same day. If you don't have 4WD it's feasible to hike up the 4WD road from Camp Rock Road and still dayhike the summit.

Detailed Map, see also overview map above.   Labels here, and on the overall map above, are in the waypoint file.


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