Looks like me and my oldest son will be making our T-Giving trip solo, my calendar does not jive with the crew's.


So, I was thinking about checking out Gordons for the first time. Never camped down there b4. I've been doing Glamis for years, time for a little change maybe.

With a 2WD Truck camper, and a buggy, where should I head to to look for a safe spot? Heading out Monday AM before Thanksgiving till Wed. Gotta be home for TG.



Suggestions anyone? GPS coords?

Stay along the canal or vendor's row if you're afraid to get stuck.
Everyone refers to Gordons/dunebuggy flats as a baseball field. When you first enter in at the ranger station, that's home plate.
We usually are out in center field, but it gets soft out there.
The whole place is "safe", but as you would expect, the deeper back you go, a little less rowdy..
You'll find everyone at Pattons mid-day and the drags are right above dunebuggy flats at 1st base.

agree with Legit.. I would suggest staying more down the 3rd base line though.. down towards 1st base tends to get more traffic ripping by.Shouldn't be too bad early in the week though. Also, be careful while traveling to the dunes, they are a ways away. There are some nasty drop offs that sneak up on you pretty quickly. Duners Diner for a breakfast bowl in the morning..

SUper helpful info guys, thanks.

So stay along 3rd baseline, and the traffic along first base gets hectic.... is that how you would get to test (freeway) hill?

Breakfast bowl in the AM sounds perfect to me, look for my yellow buggy!

Yep!!!
And pattons is directly behind, 3 valleys in, but be careful of the closure area, stakes seem to pop up outa no where.
If we see you out there, I'll come grab ya and give you a "tour"...

I'm sorry.....but I have to disagree here.....Legit is waaaaaaaaaay out in left field!

I thought we were telling everyone that Gordons was closed! If you follow 3rd baseline in a ways you will run into a cool 8 track for the kids!

No, that's just what we told you!






Welcome back to the O.G. side Large, see ya out there.

Or grown ups on 70s

I'd suggest third base line also. Careful the kiddie tracks on dune buggy flats.

X10. This is where I camp also. If you go down first base line I personally feel it is softer that way and is more of a thoroughfare for Buttercup visitors going to the drags/hill.

Ok, we are down with Gordons~!

Thanks for the info, at least as I pull in for the first time alone, I'll have a good idea of what to look for and where to go.

If anyone see's me, and wants to stop by and say hi, please do. I'm also up for any rides into the dunes as I can keep up and am a good follower!


Park near by, and I'll get some aerial photos of your camp for ya.

Look for my rig:

I usually go down first base line then over to get out to centerfield. 4wd stock donunts on a f250. 3rd baseline is the safest, but your good as long as you keep your eyes open and get on it when you need to. The soft stuff is near the pitchers mound, and home plate to 2nd for the most part.

Check out my google map. You might have to zoom out a little to see all the points of interest. We like to camp along 3rd base line too. If you go as far as the big kiddie track, I would suggest parking after it, otherwise it seems more dusty when people are riding in it. The wind tends to blow towards the I8. Being that your going Monday to Wed it should be wide open. You can either park along 3rd base line and stay close to the out houses, or park down by the kiddie track. I like the kiddie track because you are closer to the 2nd and 3rd set of dunes, it's really not that far of a ride into the dunes. We won't be arriving until Wednesday night so enjoy your trip and I am sure you will have fun!!!


Gordons Well Map

It is! I think these guys are just fooling around. Glamis is where you wanna be!

PC Awesome map - did you put it together?

I just conquered Gordon's Wall this saturday, didn't realize it was called that. The group I go with call it "Patton tonight" I guess one afternoon they wanted to go out to Patton and just never made it that far for various reasons, so they stopped in that valley and said this will be Patton tonight for us You aren't kidding when you call it steep!

I did make it. I love Gordon's , the group wanted to change things up so we have been at Glamis lately and I can't wait to hit Gordon's for T-Day.

Congratulations on the hill. It's intimidating. Here's a pic I took at the top looking down at the riders.

I know the one labeled perfect bowl as Sombrero bowl

How far back is the big kiddie track we are also heading out Monday and would like to get back away so I can let my son ride his lt80 around we are also leaving Saturday will it be hard to get out.

That is an awesome map. Worthy of a keeper for sure!

I'll take your wind advise too... North of the Big Kiddie track if possible.. check.


I'm really loving the fact that a stop at the hot springs is now on the way home, not an out of the way extra trip!

From the Outhouses to the kiddie track I woud definately say less than 2 miles. Some people count the telephone poles. I would guess about 15.
I have seen a soup pile of sand about 5 camps North of the big kiddie track, we pulled 5 people out one night. But you can read the sand in Gordons though, if it looks softer you have lots of other roads to cross over too.
Also the KiddieTrac makes a jet out into the main road. So if its dark out and you don't know what to look for you will end up in the track. I know of a few other big tracks in the flats. When we head out or come back we are cruising in 1st or 2nd just waiting to hit a track. Once you hit Sand Highway it's on.

If you know the soupier spots you can head about 3 miles in and have the flats to yourself.

Thank you! I would suggest when your ready, to start at Test and head North straight towards Patton, you can dune 5 sets and get used to it. For your first time I would stay to the West and Middle, I personally find the East side more soft, technical and drop offs.
Then you can cut out of Pattons and take sandhighway back to camp. Once you see that then you can dune around each set and not feel lost.

Also heading to Pattons on Sandhighway can be confusing to some. There is a little triangle of closed off dunes. So the first couple of times that I thought I was heading in I wasn't far enough, they have some closure signs that kind of look the same and make you think you are entering but you aren't.

the best spots are if you follow the canal by vendors then up to the sand hiway were the drags are make a left and follow that road for about 30 min's you will pop out at a sweet paved road with hookups and and all you need for most weekends, have fun!

cool thanks for all the advice

I will be there saturday the 20th through the 28th. I take 3rd base line to the kiddie track then hang a right and go straight to the bottom of the sand highway. My group wont be showing up til wednsday so if you want to camp with us that would be cool. Just pm me and let me know!

I'm a Gordon's Noob also and I'm going to be meeting some friends tomorrow night (as in DARK) who are camping somewhere along first baseline.

Any kiddie tracks or real soft spots I need to be watching for? Two wheel drive towing a little open 12' trailer.

Thanks in advance.

Whipkiller, you may or may not run into a kiddie track. Sorry that's not very informative, take it slow and easy. There's not as many tracks as say centerfield but you still may run into run. The only soft spot is where there's a little dip - you go downhill for just a bit, maybe 20 ft, not steep at all, just a minor change in elevation - so be wary of that. Is someone going with you? For Tony and I, he drives and I spot kiddie tracks and call them out.

D.O.N.E., thanks for the info. Nobody going with me but my buddy will have already made it through there (hopefully) in his Moho, so I'll be able to get a scouting report when I call to find out where they're camped.

He's also going to have his 4x4 truck out there so no big whoop if I do get stuck, but it's always better to pull into camp under yer own power.

Have a fun safe weekend everybody and to all you Veteran's, thank you & God bless you for your service.

Thanks for the hookup Big Daddy!

I'll give you a call as I get to home plate Monday the 22nd.

My buddy just called and said the wind is calming down, the sand is smooth, and no trouble getting his moho in over between first and second.

About 5 hours 'til I got my azz in the sand... WOOOHOOOOOOOO!!

No problem SD MINI were looking forward to it!

YES!

Wow ABC, your laptop is as big as my Server is...

Fun stuff indeed! Sadly, I had to return for Thanksgiving, but it was evident I was leaving just as the party was starting to shape up.

BIG THANKS to BIG DADDY and crew for showing me how its done down at Gordons.
First day we went for a dune run that was super fun. It took me 2 seasons at Gecko to have a run like that one.
Every run was fun and I can appreciate the difference in the dunes from north to south much better now.

Alan, thanks again. I'll be getting the calendar organized for new years and I will let you know what we can work out.

http://vimeo.com/17194777