After the Ash Meadows Wildlife Preserve, we decided to make a few more stops before heading back home. The first stop was at a giant fiberglass cow in Amargosa Valley along highway 373. It stands at the parking lot of the Longstreet inn and Casino, but was formerly on top of the Holy Cow Casino which went out of business in 2002. The owner of the Longstreet Inn bought the cow for $2200 and is now memorialized in their parking lot.

Our next destination will be to the China Ranch Date Farm, a family owned and operated date farm amidst the forbidden Mojave Valley near Southern Death Valley. According to available sources, in the 19th century, a Chinese man who worked in the Death Valley borax mines, started growing produce and raising meat for the local mining camps. And it became known as the chainman’s ranch. The farm had changed hands many times up till the 1970’s, when the ranch was purchased by Charles Brown Jr and Bernice Sorrells, and it remains in the family today. The original date grove was planted in the early 1920’s and yields about 100 to 300 pounds of dates in a season.

An Old Spanish Trail is within walking distance and is fun and easy for small children. The trail follows a section of China Ranch Creek, which is flanked by water-loving plants, including screw bean and honey mesquite. Wildlife also frequents this area and is a great place for birding with more than 225 species identified here. I don’t know what happened here, but there are parts of old cars all over the trail. Looks like it could have been used as a shooting range.

Date trees can grow as large as 120 feet and can live for 100 years. They need temperatures above 20 degrees Fahrenheit and it will take 12 years to bear fruit. One date tree can produce thousands of dates, and they catch them inside these giant bags.

Address: China Ranch Rd, Tecopa, CA 92389
Website: https://www.chinaranch.com/