01/03/2026
Next Club Run will be 1/17/26. Time for the full size rigs to play!
A fun day on dirt traveling Agua Caliente Road, detour to the Amtrak derailment site, a stop in Sundad, air up at a BLM campground with petroglyphs, date shakes (maybe), and dinner in Gila Bend at Little Italy (IYKYK).
Full size truck and Subaru friendly trip through the desert north of Gila Bend. Meet at Love's in Gila Bend at 9a, leave for 2nd meet-up spot at 9:30a.
*Highly recommended to stop at Sofia's for a lunch burrito before continuing to Love's to fill up (tip - wrap up in a jacket and you'll have a warm burrito for lunch).
33.226307,-112.773006 is a dirt lot after historic Gillespie Dam bridge, this is the 2nd meet-up spot at 10a to air down.
Lunch will be in Quail Springs Wash where the Sunset Limited line was tampered with in 1995, causing the train to derail and 1 fatality. The person responsible was never found.
After lunch, it's on to Sundad, an interesting collection of rock art located in a ghost town that doesn't seem to have ever been an actual town.
We'll stop at Painted Rock Campground to see the petroglyphs, use the block house, and air back up a few miles north of I-8. Online research identified the best date shakes in Sentinel but it has not been confirmed if the café is still open after an ownership change. Dateland is a little further west, if a Date Shake is a must.
Final stop is for dinner at Little Italy in Gila Bend. While this is another optional stop, it is a great place for dinner that while worthy of the drive to Gila Bend, hard to justify unless in the area.
https://azoffroad.net/sunset-limited-derailment
https://prestonm.com/sundad-ghost-town/
https://www.arizonahighways.com/agua-caliente-road
https://www.blm.gov/visit/painted-rock-petroglyph-campground
