Jerry Bransford's Geezer Jeep Site    |   home                                                    Doran Canyon, January 2003 Near Barstow California and next to Calico Ghost Town, several rocky canyons including Doran and Odessa have become favorites of offroaders due to the scenic canyons and challenging trails.  The area is full of old abandoned silver mines so the trails are from what the old miners used.  Some trails even used to be paved with asphalt which just makes them all the more challenging now due to the uneven leftover chunks of asphalt that create off-camber situations. Getting up the opening to Doran Canyon often takes a little help from your friends.  Take the right line and it's only difficult due to a Jeep-swallowing hole.  Take the wrong line and it becomes nearly impossible. Though the Jeep slid off a rock and slammed into a large boulder, damage was minor and consisted of a little wrinkling of the sheetmetal under the rocker guard and  paint ground off the rocker guard itself. The straps worked well to prevent it from rolling completely over seconds before this photo was snapped.  This is what happens if you get a little off the right line up Doran Canyon. A minor tip-over doesn't hurt a Jeep. That smoke is either from the clutch or the Goodyear MT/R tires...  both were  being smoked that day. Stuck in a hole... Finally on top and on the way up into the rest of the canyon.  Where getting up the opening to Doran Canyon took me less than a minute three years ago, it took me around 25 minutes this day.  What changed?  The Jeep was better set up this last time with front and rear lockers plus larger 35" tires... what happened this time was that the canyon has gotten a little tougher, it's more dug out, and that I didn't take a good line... which is why rock crawling can be so challenging.   Oh... there is a bypass around Doran's opening. This is in Odessa Canyon, which is next to Doran Canyon.  This whole area is beautiful and is a must-see area for anyone wheeling  in Southern California.  It's right off I-15, the highway that leads to Las Vegas.  It's around ten miles North of Barstow. John EJP (as he likes to be known by), Robert Yates, and Art Welch on our first trip to Calico... three good guys you'll find where the action is.  That is Art's Jeep in the background when it was still shiny and nearly stock... it is a monster rock-crawling Jeep today.