Bruce Tropple ( Indian Camp) and BBQ Flats Horse Camps, Washington

I had heard Bruce Tropple in the Teanaway had a new and improved camp, and I figured it was about time I checked it out, as well as BBQ Flats which was also a recommended destination, especially for spring riding.

Views are great from the ridge above BBQ Flats.

The day I left Oregon turned out to be VERY blustery in Washington, and as I was leaving Ellensburg heading into the Teanaway, my truck was sucking through twice the amount of fuel, just trying to battle the crazy winds. Once at Indian Camp I ran around trying to get my corral set up and hoping a tree didn't fall on me or my pony. Eventually things settled down a little bit and I was able to check out the new camp, and the old one, which is still in use. There were actually a group of horse people in the old camp and I noticed during the course of my stay that everyone that drove in still camped over there, and I was all alone at the new one.

The new campground sign at Indian Camp.

Indian Camp ( the new one) has 8 graveled spots with high line poles, plus a picnic/barbecue site, a bathroom, and a big day use/group camping area, also with high line poles. The spots are big enough for large rigs, only three are back-in, the rest are park- beside. While I was there people were constructing what I think is going to be a wheelchair mounting ramp. Although the Middle Fork of the Teanaway River is nearby and you can walk your horses over to it, it is not close enough to haul water easily. Camping is free with a Discover Pass and there is no garbage or manure bin. There is some cell service in camp, but it is spotty, although there is plenty once you get up a little higher in elevation.

The new Indian Camp.

The old camp has five quite large pull through spots, but it is not graveled and there are trees for high lining, but no poles. There is a people campground right across the road with a bathroom. This camp is a bit closer to the river for getting water, but you still have to haul it a ways.

The Middle Fork of the Teanaway River.

The next day I decided to ride up the road that leaves right from the new camp, it climbs up high enough to get some nice views of the Stuart Range. The road has a junction, so after I went as high in elevation as I could go, I also followed some lower roads for awhile.

Views of the Stuart Range.

Plenty of flowers in June.

Wide open views from above Indian Camp.

Riding on a dirt road above Indian Camp.

I remembered that I had a map of the area, which I had left at home...however looking at the map after the fact, it would not have done me any good. This area has some trails made by horse people and cyclists, but they are not marked very often, sometimes just a little flagging, so it is a fun, (if you have a sense of direction) time just following whichever ones you come across. If you don't have a sense of direction, I know there are local horse groups that have maps.

On day two, I followed the road the camp is on, until it dead ended, whereupon I noticed a faint path that continued on from there. After awhile it got even fainter, but I just rode cross country using my handy dandy sense of direction, back over to the road. I had gone through a meadow earlier and on the way back I found another trail beside the same meadow that led me up on the ridge across the river from the camp. This is where there are a boatload of trails, some of which have been named with wooden signs on trees. Eventually I followed a trail that lead me to the parking area at the end of the Teanaway Rd. West Fork. After that it was a matter of following the correct trails that would lead me back to the exact place to cross the river, to get back to camp. This is a beautiful area with meadows, rivers and ridges, and most of the trails are pretty easy.

A meadow near Indian Camp.

Found this little guy who had just fell out of the nest.

The Middle Fork of the Teanway River, where the road dead ended.

Some signage, if you keep an eye out for it.

Another very large meadow near the West Fork of the Teanaway River.

This trail led to the parking area on Teanaway Rd. West Fork.

Orange Honeysuckle draping itself around some of the trees.

There are certainly more areas to ride from Indian Camp. I missed out on seeing some caves and rocks and whatnot, but I will most likely return one day, and I was wanting to stick to the plan and visit BBQ Flats on my way back.

I drove back to Ellensburg and at this point I needed fuel in a big way, but Ellensburg does not have as many gas stations that have diesel, which was a little frustrating, but after finally filling up, I took the back way over to BBQ Flats. If you drive there from Yakima/Naches it is a straightforward paved road up until the last few miles, but from Ellensburg, unless you want to drive about 80 miles out of your way, the best thing to do is take Umptanum Rd. It is a gravel road which is in decent shape, although there are certain sections that might not be as great, if the road is wet.

The entrance to BBQ Flats.

BBQ Flats is a big flat, treed, open area, that is somewhat rocky, and you can pretty much just park anywhere with any sized rig. Most people congregate near the creek, but the creek was already dry when I was there, so I didn't bother trying to find a spot near it. There are three bathrooms in a row along the loop road and a spring fed water trough across the creek. A guy was filling his personal water jug from it, and told me how good it was, so I guess it's potable, in his mind anyway, but I would probably not drink it.  There are no other amenities, but I had great cell service while there. This is DNR land so camping is free, but you need a Discover Pass and it is closed from December 8th through May 1st. Be advised BBQ Flats is also used a lot by RVers with ATV's. 

Pull in anywhere at BBQ Flats.

Still plenty of flowers and greenery, although the creek was already dry.

This area has a lot of canyons and so most of the riding is going uphill, alongside, or in a canyon, and then you can loop around and come back down another way. There are roads that the ATVers use and then there are some gated roads that are non motorized, and lastly horse people have made their own trails. So for my first ride, I followed one of the horse trails until I got to a road, then I found Box Spring Canyon which was fun to ride up. After exited the canyon, I was just a short jaunt from the ridge where the views are pretty awesome.

Starting to ride uphill from camp.

In Box Spring Canyon.

Great views from up on the ridge.

Up on the ridge.

I rode around for awhile on the ridge, but then decided to head back down a different way. I learned quickly not to try a short cut, or to ride cross country like I usually do, because I would end up coming across yet another deep canyon. Finally I found another horse trail which dropped me back down right near camp.

Saw this guy stalking a critter hole.

The evening before, a large group of Mexicans had arrived after dark with quite a few rigs, and even though there was a lot of room elsewhere, they had parked right beside me, and were setting up camp and playing music. They also ran their generators all night and the next day. By the time I got back from my ride the amount of people had tripled. They were wandering through my camp spot, some of the kids were playing soccer right beside my horse pen, but the last straw was when I saw a car pull up and they started unloaded amps and electric guitars. Thus started one of the worst camping experiences I have ever had. They had a band that started playing very loudly and of course there was a certain amount of drinking going on. I ended up having to take down my corral and leave, but I didn't really know where to go that late in the evening, so I made do with just driving to the far side of the camping area, where I had to set everything back up again. Some other ATV guys that were camped nearby, walked over to commiserate with me about the circumstances. The only other horse people that had been camping there had left at that point. The band played way into the night, but at least where I was newly situated, and with all my windows shut, the noise was blocked out significantly.

In the morning I did another ride, this time finding the cabin that is along one of the trails to the north. Then I continued north, ending up in a low elevation lush canyon for awhile, and riding towards, but not all the way to, another camping area called Cascade.

The cabin at BBQ Flats.

On one of the horse trails from BBQ Flats.

Riding beside a lava flow.

At a spring in one of the canyons.

Lush canyons right next to dry hillsides.

On my last evening, (Sunday) the loud people had all left, and it was much more peaceful. I walked back down the road to a large cow pasture that I had seen on private property nearby. I wanted to take photos because the field was full of lupine, and as I was walking, I noticed cows scattering and running around. Eventually I realized it was me they were reacting to, having apparently never seen a person walking before. They do live in an isolated area. At one point they all ran up to the fence, then I hopped across a small ditch and scared the crap out of them, so they all ran away, but they would get curious again, and every time I moved, they moved.... either following me, or running from me.

Disrupting the cow's day.

I left the next day and drove back out the nicer paved road way, since I was headed back home. Even though I had a less then stellar experience at BBQ Flats, it is a nice place to camp, and it was just bad luck, timing wise. If I had to do it again, I would go to BBQ Flats during the week to avoid the weekend hullabaloo.

GPS COORDINATES TO INDIAN CAMP

                                                    GPS COORDINATES TO BBQ FLATS

Virgin Valley and Fish Spring Campgrounds, Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada

Since visiting Hart Mountain in 2020 I have had Sheldon on my radar, both refuges being vast and remote with stock camps that never get used. I like checking out places that are off the beaten path and Sheldon fits that, with over half a million acres of mostly unpopulated land. There are no trails, but you can ride pretty much anywhere, and there are old two tracks and other roads to follow.

Riding from Virgin Valley Campground.

The refuge does not allow dispersed camping so you must use a designated campground, and they are all free! You can camp with stock in any campground, but there are only two that have horse facilities, Fish Spring and Badger. As I was nearing Road 8A that leads to these camps I slowed down and checked out the signage, but it was not marked, so I figured perhaps I wasn't quite there yet. I realized shortly afterwards that it had indeed been the right road, but by then I was close to Virgin Valley Road, so I pulled in to this campground instead. This ended up working out better for my first two nights anyway, since this more popular camp is at a lower elevation ( less cold at night) and within 2 miles of the highway. I was concerned about driving on Road 8A in bad weather, it can have a lot of sticky mud. That evening was a little bit stormy so rather than risk trying out that road in the rain, Virgin Valley was a great Plan B.

Virgin Valley Campground.

Virgin Valley is known for black opal mining and it's hot spring. I was excited about the hot spring until I actually saw it, in fact, even though I had come prepared with swimwear, I did not partake. The water is lukewarm and the pool has a lot of algae in it. But the rest of the camp is quite nice, there are a lot of picnic tables and fire rings set up and you can pull in next to one of those, or park anywhere really, it's just a wide open area with plenty of room for any sized rig. There is drinking water from a frost free spigot that you can attach a hose to, 3 bathrooms, a little free library, a fishing pond, and a bath house where hot spring water,( minus the algae), runs constantly and you can have a refreshing, albeit it, lukewarm shower. There is no garbage service and I did not have cell service at camp, although I did when I was riding at a higher elevation. 

Virgin Valley Hot Springs.

The first night I learned all about opal mining from a guy camping nearby, it was quite interesting and I was hoping I would trip over a fire opal, worth thousands of dollars, but alas it was not to be. In the morning a wild burro wandered into camp. He seemed surprised to see my horse, and hung out from afar, watching us for about an hour and a half. I got tacked up and headed out following Sagebrush Creek Road, passing a multitude of what look like abandoned homesites with mostly ramshackle dwellings and/or with a plethora of RV's and travel trailers. Judging from what I learned about the mining, the summer season opens and everyone comes back to their little plot of land to resume digging, but I was seeing everything before anyone had returned.

Stalker burro.

Just a few of the deserted mining areas.

Just as I was leaving Sagebrush Creek Road to follow a two track, I ran into the only people I would see all day, some of the refuge employees. I had a chat with one girl who was quite delighted and surprised to see me there. Her and her boss both have horses, but she has never seen anyone ride on the refuge. I told her about the burro that morning in camp, and she said that he has stood around and watched her working, so clearly his official moniker shall now be Stalker Burro. I also asked about Fish Spring and how Road 8A was, and she said it had just recently gotten graded, so my timing couldn't be better.

I followed the two track, eventually getting to some large ponds, and then riding cross country for awhile, making a big loop back to camp.

Following a old two track to the top of a hill.

Views from on top of a hill.

Lots of water in the refuge.

Riding cross country.

The following day I got going fairly early and followed a road that leads north from camp, and in a short distance I came across Thousand Creek Gorge. There's no way to ride into it but you can view it from the mouth. As you approach, you can't even tell it is there until you go around a corner and.... tada!

Thousand Creek Gorge.

Riding back from Thousand Creek Gorge.

The next obvious choice was to take a side road leading up into the hills, because there are a couple of viewpoints where you can look down into the gorge from above. If you are traveling in any way besides on a horse this will work out well, but unfortunately, once I got to the cattle guards that are out of the actual refuge boundary, the gates were chained and padlocked shut, so I could not go through.

Sadly a padlocked gate was as far as I could go.

Riding out of the refuge on McGee Mt.

Taking a little break on McGee Mt.

I could have followed some of these roads forever, but I cut this ride a little short so I could pack up and drive back over to Road 8A and make my way to Fish Spring Horse Camp.

The road turned out to be nice, pretty wide, and in good shape, however I am glad I did not try it two days before. When I was getting pretty close to camp there was one area where water had been diverted under the road, but that area had gotten pretty muddy and people had driven over it causing big ruts. I put the truck into 4 wheel drive and got through it. All in all, this was 17 miles going about 20 miles an hour, at which point I arrived at the completely deserted camp. 

Fish Spring has three spots with fire rings. a bathroom, a frost free water spigot that you can attach a hose to, and a large horse corral. There are no picnic tables and although the water worked, it has very low pressure, so it takes a long while to fill a bucket. I could tell no one with horses has used this place in a long time, if ever, the corral gate had sage growing around it, and I had to force it open. There were quite a few large badger holes in camp and I learned to keep an eye out for them while riding as well, since I wouldn't want my pony to step into one of those. There is a frog pond nearby, and they will sing you to sleep every night.

Fish Spring Horse Camp.

 

Fish Spring Horse Camp.

The next day I followed the two track that leaves right from camp but it didn't go very far, I ended up near a spring fed water trough on a hill. So after that I rode cross country for awhile heading towards Little Catnip Springs Road that I could see way in the distance. This area is quite flat, which is deceiving because it seemed like I could just ride straight across, but as it turned out there was a canyon in the way. I could see an old homestead from up on the rim so of course I needed to check that out. This meant riding across some really rocky ground, until I found a way down into the canyon, crossed over Fish Creek and then made it to Andy's Place, the official name on the refuge brochure map.

The two track that leaves from camp.

This area has very few trees, just a solo Mountain Mahogany every once in a long while.

Andy's Place, from up above on the canyon rim.

Andy's Place.

This had already taken over two hours, so after that I followed the road past Andy's Place, but it, like a lot of the roads out there went on forever, so although I got a view of Swan Lake Reservoir from afar, I had to turn back. Although this is a wildlife refuge, I did not see much wildlife, a few antelope, but that was it. No more wild burros or horses, other than obvious signs that they had been there before me.

Little Catnip Spring Road, goes on and on and on.

Looking at Swan Lake Reservoir.

This was the only day I encountered people, as I was on my way back three guys on dirt bikes went by, going on a little excursion, stopping at Andy's Place and doing some sightseeing. Although I am not a dirt bike person I could see how this would be a good way to see a lot more of the refuge.

This area can be quite windy, and I noticed that when I would get back to camp, the wind would gust quite a bit, but for some reason it never continued overnight. The next morning it was pretty consistently windy for the first two hours of my ride. First I climbed up onto a butte across from camp, where I got some more cell service. Then I followed Mud Spring Canyon Road all the way to Hell Creek Campground which is one of a few backcountry camps on the refuge. No amenities, just a cleared spot to camp near the creek. The roads that get to the backcountry camps are not easily driveable without a high clearance 4x4 vehicle and in spring at least, there will be some flooded areas.

Fish Springs from atop a nearby butte.

I rode a little bit past the back country camp and came across a very pretty area with some high snow capped mountains in the distance. This was my turn around spot, since according to the map there was no way to make a loop all the way around Blowout Mt.

This whole area is chock full of Obsidian, it's everywhere.

At the junction to Hell Creek backcountry camp.

Snow covered mountains in the distance, from Hell Creek Road.

Sand lilies as far as the eye can see on Hell Creek Road.

On Hell Creek Road.

That night it rained and I did worry a little bit about the road getting mucky again, but everything was fine on my drive out the next day, the rutted area had gotten packed down, and was considerably better. 

Since I had ended up going to Virgin Valley first, I did not have time to check out Badger Horse Camp, but it is another 10 miles or so further into the refuge, past Fish Spring.

GPS COORDINATES TO VIRGIN VALLEY

GPS COORDINATES TO FISH SPRING