Desert Training Center, California-Arizona Maneuver Area - Camp Pilot Knob

Patton picked this desert because nothing else was as bad. The Desert Training Center sprawled across southeastern California and western Arizona, and the plaque's claim that it was the largest military training ground ever to exist is not obviously wrong. Camp Pilot Knob was one unit of it, busiest between June and December 1943. By then North Africa was won, so the divisions that suffered here went to Europe instead. The training outlasted the reason for it.

What the plaque says

Site of Camp Pilot Knob Camp Pilot Knob was a unit of the Desert Training Center, established by General George S. Patton, Jr., to prepare American troops for battle during World War II. It was the largest military training ground ever to exist. At the peak of activity here at Pilot Knob, June - December, 1943, the 85th Infantry Division, and the 36th and 44th Reconnaissance Squadrons of the 11th (Mechanized) Cavalry trained for roles in the liberation of Europe, 1944-45. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 985 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management and Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus, November 10, 1990.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Charley's World of Lost Art — 2.2 mi
• Hernando de Alarcón Expedition — 2.4 mi
• Fort Yuma — 8.1 mi
• Mission La Purísima Concepción (Site of) — 8.2 mi