Introducing Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert covers a vast region, from urban areas on the northern edge of LA County to the remote, sparsely populated country of the Mojave National Preserve. Most people just pass through corners of the desert in Death Valley or Las Vegas, but there’s a lot more worth stopping for here.

The Upper Mojave is a harsh land, with sporadic mining settlements and vast areas set aside for weapons and aerospace testing. Driving around Mojave town, you might mistake it for a huge international airport, but all those airliners are actually in storage, since the dry desert air minimizes the deterioration.

Southeast of Mojave, Edwards Air Force Base(661-277-3512; www.edwards.af.mil) is a flight test facility for the US Air Force, NASA and civilian aircraft, and a training school for test pilots with the ‘right stuff.’ It was here that Chuck Yeager flew the world’s first supersonic flight; the first space shuttles glided in after their missions; and in 2004, SpaceShipOne became the first civilian aircraft to reach suborbital altitudes - twice. At press time, the base was open to visitors on a limited basis.