You can spend an entire day or just a few hours driving around the free Mojave National Preserve (nps.gov/moja), taking in natural sights such as giant "humming" dunes, an extinct volcano, a huge Joshua-tree forest and sculptured rock walls.
Occupying a swath of wilderness wedged between two interstate highways (I-15 and I-40), Mojave National Preserve is a less-visited desert park guaranteeing space for solitude. Spanning Mojave, Sonoran and Great Basin Desert zones, its landscape varies from sand dunes to piñon-and-juniper woodland. With a density of Joshua trees in some parts of the park that rivals the landscape of Joshua Tree National Park, the preserve offers all of the wild Mojave Desert beauty without the selfie-snapping human component.
Pick up information and maps at the main Kelso Depot Visitor Center in an old railroad depot in Kelso. Very few visitor amenities exist here. But for the self-sufficient traveler, Mojave National Preserve is truly a refuge and a rich setting for sitting with the elemental delights of the desert.
