General Patton Memorial Museum — Chiriaco Summit

Chiriaco Summit is a wide spot on I-10 where the desert opens up, and the General Patton Memorial Museum is the reason to pull off. It sits on the ground where Patton trained a couple hundred thousand troops for North Africa in 1942, and the yard is full of real tanks and hardware. Inside you get Desert Training Center history, vehicles, and artifacts. Plan an hour if you like old iron. The roadside services here (fuel, a café, a store) make it the usual last stop for top-offs before the Bradshaw Trail or Box Canyon Road.

It’s right off the interstate, so any vehicle gets here on pavement. Hours and admission change, so verify ahead before you build a day around it. Summer heat is brutal, so most of the traffic comes October through April. The Bradshaw country east of here still carries the scars of those training maneuvers if you know where to look. Fill your tanks, top off your water, and eat something that isn’t from a pouch.

Have a dirty day.

Patton's desert training ground, tanks included