Dublin Gultch

A must stop for anyone traveling into Death Valley from this route. These caves are not only historical, but for those who are into true crime you may want to check these out. Manson Family members Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston and Paul Crockett (Charles Manson’s nemesis) stayed in these caves for a spell after Manson ran them out of Barker Ranch. Not long after all three went to the Shoshone Sheriff and spilled the beans on Manson.
Beside these caves (the ones that are in town) there’s a mound-​style burial ground that is also a must see. I will post photos of them here.

An aweome historic century old mining town that was caved from solid rock (volcanic ash) to make cave dwellings for the miner’s here. Started in the 1890’s to early 1900’s, miners lived here until the 1970’s! You can explore much of it on foot and even go in some of the cave dwellings. Some of them are boarded up and locked though. Piles of rusty old tin cans from the miner’s meals are still found in the gultch.
It’s fun to imagine living in these conditions but nothing I’d ever really like to do for any period of time.
My wife and I had a blast driving and hiking up the canyon too. We found this place because of geocaching as there are several leading from the cave dwellings up the canyon to the end. Some really great scenic views of the surrounding area from further up the canyon (Gultch). If you like this area, you should also check out the cave dwellings just like it but with better scenery on the other side of Shoshone on Hwy 178. I’m not sure if that area was also called Dublin Gultch but it’s close enough to think it may have all been one settlement back in the day.
Be careful when hiking as some of the volcanic rock can be sharp as glass (the dark brown to black stuff) and it can cut you easily while the white to light tan volcanic ash is soft and dusty.
Stop in at the Crowbar Café across the street from the entrance to Dublin Gultch for some good eats and a nice history of the area on the back of their menu.