![]() This is another hike that came up a few times in our research but we skipped it since we were short on time. But for most people, I think your time is better spent at Kelso Dunes and Hole-in-the-Wall. If you have a high-clearance 4X4 and like the idea of traveling to a remote area of the Mojave National Preserve, this could be worth it for you. Mojave Road | Best Things to Do in Mojave National Preserve Along the drive, you get to see a lot of Joshua Trees and the cinder cones off in the distance. It is only 5 miles to get to the mailbox but it took us about 45 minutes to drive out and back to the mailbox. From Aiken Mine Road, turn onto Mojave Road. The road is narrow, bumpy, and covered with thick sand. To get here, you must have a high-clearance 4WD vehicle. Inside is a book where you can sign your name and leave a comment (and read the comments of past travelers). The Mojave Desert Mailbox is covered with graffiti and stickers. Mojave Road is a narrow, sandy, rough road that runs through the center of Mojave National Park. The Mojave Desert Mailbox is located on Mojave Road. We chose not to do it, since we had other more important things we wanted to do later in the day (Vegas, baby!). The road quickly becomes impassable and it is roughly a 1 mile walk to the trailhead, turning this hike into a 3-mile hike. We drove this road in a high-clearance 4WD SUV and could only make it a short distance. The hike is located on Indian Springs Trail, which is a sandy road that is only suitable for high-clearance vehicles. It’s a challenging hike on a gravelly trail and those who do it say that it looks like you are walking on another planet.ĭirections to get here are sketchy. The Lava Beds Trail is a 1-mile loop hike to the top of a cinder cone. Frankly, in this area, my favorite thing was the view of the Providence Mountains. ![]() All that remains of the ghost town are a few abandoned buildings so it’s nothing to go out of your way to see. The visitor center was closed with no plans to reopen until 2023 at the earliest. The area is also home to the Kelso ghost town. ![]() It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 2005 it became the visitor center for Mojave National Preserve. ![]() The Kelso Depot is an old railroad depot that dates back to the early 20th century. Here are four more things to do in Mojave National Preserve, if you have more time. Petroglyphs on the Rings Trail | Best Things to Do in Mojave National Preserve The area is marked with an informational sign like the one in the photo below. Look closely for petroglyphs on these boulders. If you do this hike in a clockwise direction, you also get to climb up the rings, rather than down them, which I think is easier.Ībout five minutes into the hike, you come to a pile of boulders. We did the hike in a clockwise direction, which saves the rings for the very end of the hike. The trail makes a loop, starting at the Hole-in-the-Wall Information Center. The scenery is much different than other areas of the preserve, and with the added bonus of rock scrambling up the rings, this hike is fun to do. This short hike is one of our favorite experiences in Mojave National Preserve. Hole in the Wall Rings Trail Elevation Profile Kelso Dunes | Best Things to Do in Mojave National Preserve On our visit in February, we were here on one of the rare days that it snows. In the winter, a dusting of snow is a possibility. Average highs in the summer are in the low 90’s, sometimes getting above 110☏ on unusually hot days. The preserve sits at a high elevation so temperatures are cooler here than what you might expect for southern California. Mojave National Preserve is home to the largest and densest population of Joshua Trees in the world (even more so that its nearby neighbor, Joshua Tree National Park). National Preserves are managed by the National Park Service and some preserves have maintained hiking trails and even a visitor center. It is a national preserve, which means that the land is protected by an act of Congress but hunting and mining are still permitted. Mojave National Preserve is not a national park. In the contiguous United States, Death Valley National Park is the largest (3.4 million acres), Yellowstone National Park comes in second (2.2 million acres), and Everglades National Park comes in 4th. Mojave National Preserve, with a size of more than 1.5 million acres, is the third largest unit in the US National Park System within the contiguous United States. Interesting Facts about Mojave National Preserve
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