Mojave National Preserve

The Mojave National Preserve is an easy day trip from Twentynine Palms, although we suggest your tour through this "lonesome triangle" between I-15 and I-40 be taken in small nibbles rather than large bites, for the flavor can be intense. The Preserve's unique landscape supports a diverse natural history while providing opportunities to explore western history, ancient geologic times, singing sand dunes, volcanic explosions, limestone caverns, and the largest Joshua Tree forest.

Support Material - Regional Guide Books & Maps

Available at Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center

74485 National Park Drive at Utah Trail, Twentynine Palms 

Mojave National Preserve Park Guide and News

Official Mojave Preserve Map

AAA San Bernardino County Regional Guide - shows park and wilderness areas and gives mileage

National Geographic Trails Illustrated- Mojave National Preserve

Mojave National Preserve-A Visitor's Guide Cheri Rae & John McKinney

A note about travel times

Out here the long vistas, empty of human constructions, tend to slow your journey's speed, quieting your mind while exciting your imagination and curiosity. This is a place to relax into your surroundings-take a walk and add a nap to your picnic lunch. Bring binoculars, a camera, and even a tape recorder to capture desert sounds. Or you could find a place without the sounds of technology cracking the stillness.

Suggested day trips exploring the Mojave National Preserve

The paved road surfaces are passable by all vehicles. Dirt roads may require high clearance or 4-wheel-drive. Questions can be directed to the Information Center staff in Baker (760)255-8801. Food and gas at Baker and Cima Road exit off I-15.

1. Twentynine Palms to the Mojave National Preserve via Kelbaker Road to Baker

Points of interest: The Granite Mountains, Kelso Dunes, Kelso Depot, Cinder Cone Lava Bed, and the Mojave Desert Preserve Information Center in Baker.

Distances: (most roads are two lane)

Twentynine Palms to Amboy - 50 miles.

Kelbaker Road - 65 miles from its beginning at National Trails Highway (Route 66) to Baker, its terminus

Cima Rd/I-15 to Kelso Depot - 36 miles

Zzyzx Rd.- 6 miles south of Baker; 4 miles over a passable dirt road to Zzyzx and the Soda Springs Desert Studies Center.

Soda Dry Lake and California State University Desert Studies Center

(Via Zzyzx Road) The Desert Studies Center is operated under an agreement with the National Park Service and is located at the historic Mineral Springs and Health Resort which operated from 1944 through 1974. Even a short visit is an adventure in contradictions--a once pampered spa experience in fresh hot water springs located at the edge of a salt crusted dry lake, all surrounded by a wild and majestic desert landscape. The Center offers classes, supports research projects, and is home for the Desert Symposium. Both binoculars and a camera are suggested. Restrooms, non-potable water, picnicking, and nature walks are available.

Elevations

The elevation rises from 639 feet at Amboy to 4,024 feet at Granite Pass and then descends to 2,126 feet at Kelso, reaching 923 feet at Baker.

From Twentynine Palms travel east and then north via Amboy Road to National Trails Highway/ Route 66 (see map). Kelbaker Road is approximately 6 miles east of Amboy, turn north. Kelbaker Road bisects the Mojave Preserve and connects Route 66 to I-40 and I-15 at the town of Baker. Returning by the same route provides different vistas.

On the Way

Between Route 66 and I-40 you will pass between the Bristol Mountains to the west with its strikingly colorful mining area and the Marble Mountains in the Trilobite Wilderness Area to the east.

Mojave National Preserve

The 1.6 million acre Mojave National Preserve is the third largest national parkland in the continental U.S. (Yellowstone National Park and Death Valley National Park are larger). The park does not come with many of the improvements you might expect. The campgrounds are few and small and the visitor information center modest. What it does come with is extraordinary scenery and the chance to explore at your own whim.

When entering the Mojave National Preserve at I-40 via Kelbaker Road, the Granite Mountain Wilderness Area is to the west and the Providence Mountain Wilderness area is to the east.

The Granite Mountains are home to the 9,000 acre University of California Granite Mountains Natural Preserve, an ecological research and education station. "No Trespassing" signs along the fenced perimeter help to protect the ongoing natural science research projects.

The majority of the Granite Mountains are designated wilderness and provide excellent opportunities for leisurely walks or more ambitions hikes to Silver and Granite Peaks. You get to the wilderness boundary and the trailhead on a dirt road crossing the alluvial fan. Maps of this area may fail to show the warren of roads, but you will see them. While these roads are on firm enough ground for the average vehicle some do have high centers. You want the most obvious dirt road-the one in the center of the fan which is nearly opposite to a road leading east into the Providence mountains.

A Nice Walk

At the trailhead, an old dirt track leads down from the bank into the wash. Once in the wash, you can either follow the track to its end or follow the wash when it branches toward Cottonwood Springs. Before the track branches watch for the remains of a ranching operation. The track ends at an old homestead adjacent to a spring. Aging litter (future artifacts?) suggests that the area was once used extensively for camping and target shooting. Footprints in the sand show heavy use although you may be the only ones in evidence. This short walk not only stretches your legs but it also allows you to experience a natural diversity only hinted at through the car window. As with any of the suggested stops, you could profitably spend the rest of the day here or just take an hour to absorb the scenery close up. On the trail you will walk through a sage and yucca landscape with cactus on the slopes. Higher up pinyon pines and juniper grab the sparse soil found on the rocky slopes.

2. Cima Dome and the Teutonia Peak Trail

Cima Dome is a place you can see from a distance but scarcely feel when you are on it. It is amazing to realize that that this uniquely rounded geologic formation was once a high rugged mountain now worn down to a 75 square mile dome rising only 1,500 feet above the desert floor. The USGS topographic map shows the regular topographic lines expected of a meteor crater. Cima Dome is home to the largest and densest forest of Joshua Trees and a walk through their upraised arms feels like you are moving among gesticulating giants. The heart of this special place is accessible by foot and, on its edge, by 4-wheel-drive dirt roads. The Teutonia Peak Trail is an easy 4-mile round-trip walk through Joshua Trees and past an old mining operation before it begins a quarter-mile ascent to the ridge. On the ridgeline, before reaching the 5,755-foot peak, the trail moves through stunted junipers and over some large boulders. The 360-degree views pay for the day. The trail begins 6 miles north of Cima on Cima Rd. There is a signed trailhead on the west side of the road.