On Tourism: With Sports Industry Closed For Coronavirus It’s Day Trip Time
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
No lines for food here.
I have two plastic containers of dates — honey and gourmet — and a homemade date nut bread.
I paid friendly manager named Travis Brown at the China Ranch Date Farm, about 80 miles from Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert in California, not too far from Death Valley.
Is this a dream-like oasis with a stream and date orchard in the middle of the desert? Let me answer that one this way: Are people hording toilet paper in Las Vegas?
Damn straight this is a secluded date farm a few miles from a desert hamlet called Tecopa.
I’ve been meaning to come here for months on the Old Spanish Trail road south of Nevada State Road 160 and I couldn’t have picked a better day to make the pilgrimage to the dates, which come in a more than half-dozen varieties and are stored in containers in a refrigerator. There’s a gift shop, too, with funny signs, earrings, caps, shirts and artwork.
It rained a lot this past week, so — guess what? — it’s mud season along the trails that branch out along a couple of arroyos and a slot canyon a half-mile from the China Ranch. Don’t believe me? You should poke your toe in this goopy trail pudding.
Take a hike — along one of several trails. I strolled about a mile away to get this perspective.
And yes, yes, yes. I ordered one of the $6 date shakes, plus another 50 cents if you add something like chocolate syrup. Man, it was addictive, big-time.
Not that I’ve had one I’m going to bug you — “Have you had a date shake at China Ranch?”
So, here’s a little history lesson on the place. I found this framed history tale in a shed-sized “museum” near the dozens of date trees. The date palms are pollenated by hand, according to China Ranch Date Farm Facebook page.
Here’s a little more history on the place, according to the date farm’s website: “In 1970, the property was purchased by Charles Brown Jr. and Bernice Sorrells, the son and daughter of area pioneer and long time State Senator Charles Brown of Shoshone. It remains in these families today.
“The date grove was planted from seed in the early 1920’s by Vonola Modine, youngest daughter of Death valley area pioneer RJ Fairbanks. Approximately half of the trees are male and produce only pollen. The females bear in the fall, yielding from 100 to 300 pounds of dates in a season.”
The place is peppered with fun little gems and signs:
Today is more quiet than usual, Travis told me. Indeed, maybe 25 or so visitors have come and gone as I stroll the ground from quaint store to grove to creek. The neighboring Armagosa River is buffeted by some cool bluffs and badlands terrain, easily accessible from the parking lot serving China Ranch.
These being unusual times in Las Vegas, it’s worth a day trip to pick up some dates, a date bread and a shake.
One the way home, I made a pit stop at Lovell Canyon, which offers some extraordinary views of the Spring Mountains. Rain in Las Vegas meant snow at elevation and I could not resist bicycling on my super fat-tired Surly Pugsley for this view.
This is Forest Service land and people had campers and tents along the road. Some visitors were also checking out the views.
Sometimes the bicycle is parked at T-Mobile Arena or at the Raiders stadium construction site.
Sometimes it makes stops here:
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