[2] The Panoche Inn is one of few area landmarks which was owned and operated by Frank and Juana Mendez until they sold it to the McCullough Brothers.

The bar and restaurant is busy with motorcycle Some customers camp at Mercery Hot Springs, while others ride off-road vehicles at a nearby Bureau of Land Management tract in the Panoche Hills.

On the drive from Interstate 5, motorists will pass Little Panoche Reservoir: about 12.6 straight-line miles distant at 7.6 degrees off true north.

Mammals in the area include three federally endangered species; the San Joaquin Kit Fox, Giant Kangaroo Rat, and Nelson's Antelope Squirrel.

It is believed that this is the origin for the name panocha, a popular Mexican and Filipino sugar (though processed somewhat differently from each other), and a pudding eaten during Lent in New Mexico and southern Colorado.