Panoche Hills is an interesting piece of BLM land! http://www.blm.gov/visit/panoche-hills When I visited the last week of October 2013, the gates had just been opened for the winter season to vehicles. With DRY roads, during the winter months, this was an easy 2WD drive (take the main road P1 to P2). Park in the turnaround spot when you're about 500 feet from the cache, below the gate to the white fence.
IF YOU TRY TO DRIVE AROUND to the other side of the white fence in a 2WD car, you may regret it. It gets rough with very little space to turn around.
Panoche Hills is CLOSED to vehicles, without a permit, from May to October. Call the Hollister BLM office to apply for a permit 1-831-630-5000. If you get a permit, I believe you'll only be able to drive about half-way to the cache (the observation point), but I'm not sure.
...or, you can leave your car down at the paved road any time of year and hike or bicycle up here. Bring water and tell someone where you're going. There's no phone signal out here!
