Picacho and the Cargo Muchachos: Gold, Guns, and Geology of Eastern Imperial County, California

Several self-guiding road logs enrich the traveler's experience with the natural science spiced with the lore and lure of the region. Picacho Road departs I-8 northward to the famous Picacho Gold Mine and the Picacho State Recreation Area on the Colorado River via a moonscape of craggy volcanic outcrops and sweeping vistas far into Arizona. The paved Ogilby Road strikes northwest between the Algodones dunes and the Cargo Muchacho Mountains, past ghost towns and storied gold mines such as Tumco, Padre Y Madre, and the American Girl Mine. Nineteenth-century Mexican boy porters carrying abundant gold in their shirts from these mines and placers were known as 'muchachos cargados' thereby becoming the namesake for the region. Additional road logs and sights include Barney Oldfield Road, Railroad Canyon Road, the Indian Pass 4WD Route, and the Mesquite Mine, one of the largest and richest open-pit gold mines in America.