Introduction to Mojave National Preserve

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This land is difficult to get to know--but an easy one to get to like: 1.6 million acres that includes such wonders as canyons sculpted by the Mojave River, the vast caves of Mitchell Caverns, and the world’s largest Joshua tree forest. Mojave National Preserve offers the chance to relive history by hiking traditional paths to Fort Piute and Hole-in-the-Wall and by driving the old Mojave Road and fabled Route 66. In the preserve is a wonderful concentration of mining history, back roads and footpaths, tabletop mesas, cinder cones, and a dozen mountain ranges. This diversity, everything that makes a desert a desert, draws us to experience its silent places. It’s a call of the wild that can’t be heard, only felt and experienced.

It’s a grand view from atop the Kelso Dunes: the Kelso Mountains to the north, the Bristol Mountains to the southwest, the Granite Mountains to the south, the Providence Mountains to the east. Everywhere are mountain ranges, small and large, from the jagged, red-colored spire-like Castle Peaks to the flat-topped Table Mountain. In fact, despite evidence to the contrary--most notably the stunning Kelso Dunes--the East Mojave is really a desert of mountains not sand.

From the parks’ Kelso Depot Visitor Center, lonesome backroads lead toward Cima Dome a 75-square mile chunk of uplifted volcanic rock. A geological rarity, Cima has been called the most symmetrical natural dome in the U.S. Another distinctive feature of the dome is its handsome rock outcroppings--the same type found in Joshua Tree National Park to the south. Rock climbers, rock scramblers and hikers love Cima’s rock show.

On and around Cima Dome is the world’s largest and densest Joshua tree forest. Botanists say Cima’s Joshuas are more symmetrical than their cousins elsewhere in the Mojave, though to me every tree looks different, every one a rugged individualist with branches that seem like handfuls of daggers.

Hole-in-the-Wall and Mid Hills are the centerpieces of Mojave National Preserve. Both locales offer diverse desert scenery, fine campgrounds, and the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere though in fact located right in the middle of the preserve.

Linking the two sites is the preserve’s best drive. In 1989, Wildhorse Canyon Road, which loops from Mid Hills Campground to Hole-in-the-Wall Campground, was declared the nation’s first official “Back Country Byway,” an honor bestowed upon America’s most scenic backroads. Also linking Mid Hills to Hole-in-the-Wall is an eight-mile long trail, the best hike in the preserve.

Hole-in-the-Wall is the kind of place Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid would choose as a hideout. Geologists call this twisted maze of red rock rhyolite, a kind of lava that existed as hot liquid far below the earth’s surface, then crystallized. A series of iron rings aids descent into Hole-in-the-Wall; they’re not particularly difficult for those who are reasonably agile and take their time.

Kelso Dunes, the Joshua trees, Hole-in-the-Wall and Mid Hills--the heart of the new preserve can be viewed in a weekend. But you’ll need a week just to see all the major sights, and maybe a lifetime to really get to know the East Mojave. Return for a meander through a “botanical island,” the pinyon pine and juniper woodland in Caruthers Canyon; tour Ivanpah Valley, which supports the largest desert tortoise population in the California Desert, and see if we can spot one of the elusive, seldom seen creatures; climb atop enormous volcanic cinder cones, then with flashlights crawl through narrow lava tubes. Return to explore the ruins of Fort Piute, wonder about the lonely life of the soldiers stationed there, marvel at the ruts carved into rock by the wheels of pioneer wagon trains; guess at the meaning of the petroglyphs left behind by the Native Americans who roamed this land long ago.

You can see the lights of Vegas (50 miles away) from portions of the preserve, testimonial to both the clarity of the desert sky and national parkland’s proximity to civilization. The opalescent light, and the spectacular sunrises and sunsets in the East Mojave are grand. And for city dwellers all too accustomed to viewing murky night skies, gazing at the Milky Way on display is a revelation. This is a place where shooting stars and constellations appear with startling clarity and the New York Mountains seem sprinkled with stardust.

Mojave National Preserve is a worthy addition to the National Park system and a great place to explore. There are two visitor centers in the park: the information center located at Hole-in-the-Wall is open October-April, Wed.-Sunday 9-4. The main visitor center is located in Kelso Depot, open daily throughout the year, 9-5.

The Kelso Depot center is a dream-come-true for desert denizens who long promoted the notion of using the once-shuttered railroad station as an information center. The historic structure was built in 1924, closed in 1985, and re-opened in 2005.   

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