Macedonia Canyon

Eastern Mojave Vegetation	Macedonia Canyon Road - Mojave National Preserve
	Tom Schweich

This page logs Macedonia Canyon Road from Wild Horse Canyon on the East end to Kelso-Cima Road on the West end. This is also the down hill direction.

Literature Cited:
- Burn Area Emergency Response Team, 2005.

Other articles:
• Wild Horse Canyon Road: at Macedonia Cyn;

Locations: Macedonia Canyon.

Junction

Wild Horse Canyon Road

Macedonia Canyon Road joins Wild Horse Canyon Road just south of where Wild Horse Canyon Road starts to climb out of the head of Macedonia Canyon. You can't get into Macedonia Canyon by following the wash next to Wild Horse Canyon Road, due to fences and road closure signs.

Gate

Please close the gate behind you.

Other articles:
• Field Notes: Apr 1995;

Upper Macedonia Canyon

Macedonia Canyon Wash

Be careful of rocks sticking up out of the sand.

Other articles:
• Field Notes: Coll. No. 284; 30 May 2005;

Locations: Macedonia Canyon.

Purple Mat (Nama sp.) in Macedonia Canyon.

Washout in Macedonia Canyon

Coll. No. 284, Nama demissum var. demissum

Washout in the canyon in 2005.

Images:
Macedonia Canyon

Stone Cabin

The remains of several stone cabins can be found in the upper reaches of Macedonia Canyon.

Canyon Narrows

Other articles:
• Field Notes: 30 May 2005;

Locations: Macedonia Canyon.

Washout in Macedonia Canyon

In 2005, the road in the canyon was washed out.

Other articles:
• Field Notes: 20010527020;

Eaton's Firecracker in Macedonia Canyon.

Penstemon eatoni in the wash of Macedonia Canyon.

Images:
The Columbia Mine.

The Columbia Mine is a little bit off of the main road through Macedonia Canyon. I'll leave it to your map reading skills to find it. Don't be deterred by the big gate. Everyone else just drives around it. You can too.

Images:
Chemical storage at the Columbia Mine.

Here's the chemical storage area at the Columbia Mine. Are these chemicals hazardous? How would you know?

Right Turn, Out of the Wash

Locations: Columbia Mountain.

Columbia Mountain as seen from the Blue Rock Mine in Macedonia Canyon.

At the very top of Columbia Mountain is an excellent example of supergene enrichment of copper ores. The idea behind supergene enrichment goes something like this. In the beginning there was a small amount of copper mineralization in the ore vein. As the mountain eroded away, the copper minerals were dissolved and then redeposited a few feet deeper in the vein. As a result the copper vein at the surface looks to be very rich. But just a few feet below the surface there is very little copper. Someone built a road to the top of Columbia Mountain, and dug some exploratory trenches in rich copper veins right on the very top of the mountain. However as soon as they got a few feet down, the vein was not rich enough to continue digging.

Locations: Blue Rock Mine.

Blue Rock Mine.

I met Bill Brown, owner of the Blue Rock Mine, one afternoon in about 1985. He told me the Blue Rock Mine was his, and that he mined "pods" of scheelite (tungsten ore) even though there was substantial copper mineralization on his property. He also said he lived in Los Angeles, and drove out to his mine on the weekends. He kept his trailer and "jeep" at the Cima Store.

I haven't seen Bill since, the roof is torn off of his cabin and the trailer at Cima Store looks to be abandoned.

Images:
Tortoise in Macedonia Canyon.

Gate

Please close the gate behind you.

Images:
Railroad bridge over Macedonia Canyon Road.

Macedonia Canyon Road joins Kelso-Cima Road in a wash. It immediately passes under a Union Pacific Railroad bridge. The bridge is labeled "B-252." Across Kelso-Cima Road is a dark green water tank and a corral.

Other articles:
• Kelso Cima Road: at Macedonia Canyon Road;

Junction

Kelso Cima Road.

If you have a question or a comment you may write to me at: tomas@schweich.com I sometimes post interesting questions in my FAQ, but I never disclose your full name or address.

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Date and time this article was prepared: 8/1/2026 2:55:12 PM