Mojave Road

We were on the trail Nov 25, 26, 27, and went east to west following the TOR app and the Mojave Road Guide book. We saw many other solos, and a few groups along the way. Everyone was super nice and helpful along the way. This was my first MR trip, and we tackled it in our stock Gladiator Mojave with no problems, while pulling our Oregon Trailer Do Drop. The trip was awesome! We spent the first night near Camp Phallus (cold, 28f) and the second night at Afton Canyon Campground (also cold, 27f) The water crossings were good, but navigation through the dunes after dark was challenging as daylight is cut short this time of year. Also, after the last train bridge you cannot go straight. You must turn right, and follow the fence line until you end up in the wash. This will keep you safe from the Riparians hiding in the river bottom.

Trail guide was pretty spot on. Didn’t see too much other traffic over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and had our pick of locations to camp. We decided to bypass pulling our camper down Watson Wash, no sense taking unnecessary risks when traveling solo (no matter how prepared). We skipped the lava tubes because NPS site said Aiken Mine Road access was extremely rough and we didn’t want to haul the camper up it. I wish I had seen latest reviews here because access is apparently in good shape(?). The only bad experience was West of Traveler’s Monument to mile 117. The late fall, late day sun combined with weekend SxS traffic made visibility very difficult. Once the sun set, it got a bit easier.

Still need bypass around Piute washout but otherwise open and passable. Another group we met said they made it through the washout but had to shovel, stack rocks and "fix" the road to go through. Tried to go up to Brannigan Mine Cabin and there was a sign at the gate that the road is washed out and not passable, we did not confirm, just turned around and camped on Paymaster Mine Road instead.

Just an update on trail conditions. Did MR this weekend 10/23/22 - 10/25/22. One section of MR is washed out, Paiute washout. Listed and updated on MR national park website. We didn’t actually see the washout ,just took the detour around. Soda lake bed is open and dry. Afton water crossing are very low to non existent. Road to lava tubes is clear and regular dirt road. Kelbaker road is still closed, intersection of MR and Kelbaker Rd, going into Baker. We were able to take Brannigan Mine Rd to Kelbaker Rd and bypass all washout areas. Spooky canyon had a lot of water from the summer monsoon and not the same easy hike, be ready to climb and scramble over boulders and ledges. Overall, road conditions are great and another great MR trip. Cheers Bob

Still issues from the monsoon damage: Washout on east side of Paiute Range (35.0905677, -115.0028316) make road impassible to all vehicles. Basically: CLOSED at Soda Lake and Paiute Gorge. Other portions of the road are open.

All roads in the Preserve are closed due to road damage from the recent monsoons.

All roads in the Preserve are closed due to road damage from the recent monsoons.

The Mojave Road has been on my overland route bucket list for a few years now, and I can honestly say it DID NOT disappoint. We completed the route in 3 days, spending 2 nights along the trail. I had a ton of fun filming and documenting our trip along the Mojave, and will include a link to the videos for anyone interested in a bit of a deep dive on this route, as well as some of the sights to see along the way!

Fantastic trail! My wife and I had a great time on this trail, from lava rocks to the frogs even driving through the river towards the end. We only had the gps trail and at waypoint 68 looked like it was going through a restoration period. I’m sure if you continue on the road it would continue the trail. We turned around and pulled through to I15. But still a fantastic ride. Can get pretty bumpy!

Started at the River near Avi Casino on 3/25 and finished 3/27. Last bit of the trail after Afton Canyon was a little hard to follow due to the number of trails (both marked and unmarked) through the Mojave River. Thank heavens for GPS. Camped in Caruthers Canyon the first night so we missed the Watson Wash hill (we went up Caruthers Canyon Rd to the campground then down New York Mt. Rd back to the trail). Camped at Seventeen Mile Point the second night. Lots of folks on the trail, most going east to west. Everyone seemed to be having a blast. Only negative was a bunch of trophy trucks on the second day that came flying down the whoop de do area at an excessive rate of speed. Luckily you could see them coming from quite a ways and could get out of the way.

This trail was s perfect 3 day trip, You see just enough to keep it interesting. I suggest starting in AZ and finishing with the water crossings. The best places to stop will be from the dunes to the borax mine. If you do not have any lift on your vehicle be prepared to use the skid plate.

Ran the Mojave Road from Nevada west this weekend with Rogue Overland. The road is in its normal condition, but is busier than normal. Ran it in my NV3500, which was no problem, but I did tag the skids lightly on a regular basis. The desert is DRY and BROWN right now... more so than normal, if I'm not imagining things. Great stars. Gas was crazy expensive $7/gal in California along I-40.

We appreciated the author stitching together Mojave Rd. It was interesting that several sections of it have been replaced with different road names or removed altogether. We thought Waypoint 41 was too tough to try and there was an easy bypass by continuing on Cedar Canyon for 1.2 miles to reconnect with the other end of this section of Mojave Road. From there you could try going up the obstacle instead of down. The timing for arrival at Mojave Camp at Waypoint 50 was just right, for us slowpokes anyway, to setup camp with an hour of daylight left. A great campsite tucked against the rocks for shelter.

Started the Trail on a Wednesday and finished Friday! The Mojave Road is a wonderful trail I would do again only in parts to see certain attractions. During the middle portion of it after the penny can tree it got a bit boring until you reach the Wash Drop In and Bert G Home. Beautiful area for sure. From Bert G Home to the Mojave Camp and Mojave Sign in .... the whoop de doos were horrible LOL. The highlights of the trip were definitely the Lava Tubes, Afton Canyon, Triangles, and the Borax Mine. Most of these highlights are on the east side. Good to do it once in my lifetime. I’ll be back to hit the west side more.

Awesome trail! Traveled it eastbound. In order to get on the trail you have to go around a few road-closed signs to get to the marked trailhead. The road is in really bad shape and the small bridges look like they are close to collapsing. No problem! There are DIY roads to go around them into dry washes. Lots of sand to get started which was fun squishy driving. The trail map is more of a lose direction to follow, as the Mojave is crisscrossed with trails and drivable paths everywhere. Some sections were blocked off for land preservation purposes but we always found an easy path to go around blocked-off areas eventually, just heading back in the general direction of the mapped trail. Camped two nights along the way, could have easily stretched it out to 3-4 with all the fun little side adventures you can go on. It's the perfect trail to get a little taste of everything in as far as driving terrain and things to look at. Bring water and your own shade, cause both of those are not really a thing in this magical place.

Drove the trail west to east from 2/10-2/12. This was our first overland experience and what an amazing experience. The moonless nights really brought out the best stargazing possible. Then you follow that up with the multitude of sonic booms from jets flying nearby. If you are reading this and pondering the trail, do it. You will not regret it. As for the the trail conditions, the water crossing is less than a foot deep and still filled in with rocks. The various shrines have been removed as well as the bus. The dry lake bed was passable but still had some slick spots from recent rain so tread carefully if you wander off the trail.

Old Trail Video

Ran the trail and it was a good time. Had a few issues that slowed us down but didn't stop us. Can't wait to go back.

This trail definitely lives up to the hype! What an amazing overland route. I can't wait to come back and spend more time. We did 3 days/2 nights along this trail and it was just barely enough time to see a few side attractions. If I had all the time in the world, I would do minimum of 3 nights along the way stopping frequently to see all the cool stuff. Must do if you are in the area!

Not sure if true but I am seeing photos around the internet that the rail company filed in the water crossing

Our group of 5 vehicles did the trail west to east. We started at the Basin Rd intersection and ran it straight to Laughlin, we did it in 2 days and camped at Camp Mojave. Whole trip was 108 miles and my gas guzzling 96 Bronco did the whole trip on 3/4 of a tank. It was one of the most trail rides I have done. This GPS file is very accurate and made the trip stress free. We easily completed the whole trip in 2 days and even took time to stop at all the sights. Cell phone coverage (Verizon) was good for about 60% of the time. The weather was perfect. The landscape by Bert G Smiths homestead was the peak of the trip, absolutely amazing! The school bus was removed, the kids were bummed. The only issue we had was the amount of wash boards, huge wash boards at time. I aired down to 18psi and it was still brutal. So be mindful that probably a good 50% of the trip has big nasty wash boards. Either go 10 mph or 50 mph.

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the water crossing in Afton Canyon. Im planning a trip next week and wanted to check out how deep the water was. It is 30" deep. To bypass this water crossing going West to East-Take the Afton canyon road to the 15, drive east and get off at Bison Road, make a left at the fork in the road and it will meet up with the Mojave trail. Its about a 15 mile detour. Ill post pictures and current conditions next week after I complete it! Super excited!

Was only able to do a small portion of the trail and camped up at Carruthers, but the trail was easy and the landscape beautiful. They are currently doing a bunch of grading from waypoint 42 to 47 which has made it very nice and smooth.

Had to put this up brilliant trail! This time of year deep waters for the Mojave River. I was able to pass stock jeep gladiator with 33" Missed some sights and no more frogs!

Have tun this a couple of times. First time was a 2 night, 3 day trip east to west with two vehicles. Pretty much the entire route is doable with a stock 4x4 with 4 low. However if you intend to go off the main trail you will find some very loose sand. Nothing too drastic but better to have a partner vehicle just in case. You will traverse some really cool different terrain. The joshua forests are particularly pretty. The roads turn to washboard regularly so be prepared to take your time and enjoy the scenery. There is no cellular service in many sections Lots of really nice dispersed camp sites. I liked 35.14945, -115.35562 a lot. Sheltered by rocks you could watch the stars and listed to the coyotes at night,. Ideally you will take three days to do this trip. However there are many ways of doing day trips with access at Baker and other places to the trail. The water crossing on the East entrance should be spotted before crossing. When we were there is was over 3ft and we had to rescue a motorcyclist who learnt about the mix of oil and water the hard way. If it's too deep, or you just aren't sure.. no panic... turn around and go back past the dunes and ranches to Rasor Road and head out there. Also good to know, if you are low on fuel (or beer) for some odd reason, that both Baker and the Rasor Road entrance have gas stations.

The trail is great. Did it in two days east to west. Couple of things worth to note. Looks like the GPX file was created in 2016. Some time after at the waypoint 66 area where the trail used to be has been closed for recovery. If you want to continue at this point to the west trailhead you need to take another trail Mojave River/Wash. Or just continue onto Afton road straight to I-15. You will not miss much if you skip this part. Unless you enjoy driving in the sand with not much to see around. At Mojave camp (waypoint 50) at the farthest spot there is a large rock. I climbed it to shoot a video and got t-mobile reception there. No ATT though. Didn't try Verizon or Sprint. Forgot to say and added later: two full 3 gallon fuel canisters made a big difference: we did the entire trail without looking for a gas station.

I’ll try to keep this review short and to the point. When they say don’t cross the Soda Lake after rain, they aren’t joking. While our group of 6 rigs made it across without getting stuck (barely) the aftermath of the corrosive mud was not worth it. Leaving the mud on for less than 12 hours still did plenty of damage to our vehicles and took hours upon hours to clean off completely. And that was three days since the last rain. Other than that, the trail was absolutely amazing and made for an exhausting yet fulfilling adventure.

This trip was planned for a few months in advance for our 2019 Thanksgiving trip. Fast forward to about 4 days before our trip and San Diego was gong to get hit with a hard Thanksgiving storm. We debated going and against better judgement, decided we had put too much thought and planning into it so we went. And boy are we glad we did! We got out there at about midnight on the 27th of November. Set up a quick camp and went to sleep. Woke up to the sound of rain on our tent but the day cleared for the most part. We set out on the first leg of our trip and we were not disappointed. It was a day mixed with sun and clouds. It was perfect. We made it out to Fort Piaute, saw the ruins and found some petroglyths. Spent about an hour there and then went on our way. As we progressed in our trip, the weather started to change. When we got to the downhill portion of the road, it had started to rain but not too heavily. We made it down and moved on and made it to the Rock House. At this point the rain was coming down pretty good and we decided we needed to find a place to camp for the night. As we drove, the rain turned to sleet and then to snow. We finally made it to an amazing campground that had a few fire rings to choose from. Somewhere between Rock Spring and Marl Springs. We had our choice of spots.As we were setting up camp, the rain turned to snow and we were in for a cold night. Good thing we came with that in mind. As we woke up the next morning, we (I-the wife) was pleasantly surprised that there was no snow on the ground, though there could have been as it was extremely cold. We packed up camp and started our next day. The higher up we went, the more snow was on the ground, and we were the first to travel through it. It was amazing. As we were on our search for the "mailbox", the snow kept getting thicker and thicker. We finally came to the mailbox and all its monument gloriousness only to find out that they will soon be removing them in 2020 (get out there and see them now before they are gone). We took a quick walk around to check everything out. It was breathtaking with all that snow cover. As we came down the mountain, the snow began to thin and we were back on dry (sorta) ground. We took some time to check out a few other things along the way to Soda Lake. We knew at this point, crossing Soda Lake was likely out, and it was. Even the detour around it was almost out of the question as the water line was higher than we expected, but we went for it, and boy was it fun!! With Travelers Monument out of the way, we made our way to Baker, filled up on gas and headed a few miles down the freeway and exited on Rasor Rd to back track to leave our rocks. We finally made it there, left our rocks, read the secret plaque and headed on our way. We decided it was it was time to find a place to set up camp and found a hidden wash in Afton Canyon to stay for the night. It was perfect! We were tucked away from the wind for the most part and enjoyed reflecting on the days adventure. When we woke up the next morning, we decided to take our time to pick up camp and cook a nice bacon, sausage and egg breakfast (again, me the wife ). We knew what the day ahead entailed. As we drove along the trail, there were so many amazing and beautiful things to see. Slot Canyon, the Spooky Cave with a passing train (put a quarter on the tracks and bring the kids home a prize) and best of all, the dreaded water crossing. Now as you might imagine, there was so much rain that we were all a bit hesitant at first but the husband decided that we were gonna give it a go. We jumped in the jeep and went for it. It was the most crazy feeling. It felt like we were floating, cause we probably were lol. Needless to say, we made it across with little water intake. My sister and her boyfriend went next and that was fun to watch. Adam, the husband, decided he wanted to go again, mainly because I wanted to get a video of our jeep crossing ( I may have missed that opportunity) and he took in a lot more water ( yes, my jeep, my daily driver STINKS, but it was so worth it!) Anyway, there is a great little campground right there and we used the facilities and left some money to support it just because it is awesome that it is there for us to use. We moved along and at this point there really weren't too many places to camp as I think most people end their fun here. We weren't ready for that just yet so tried to find one last place to camp. We had to find a place in a wash up in the hills and make do. It was by far the best place we camped. The fire was perfect, the hiking and views of the 15 were on point and the company could not have been any better. To end this long fairy tale, I just want to say if you plan on doing the Mojave Rd, just do it. Get out there, enjoy the ride and live life to its fullest. If you stuck around this long to read my short story and check out our short video's I cannot say thank you enough and I appreciate you for it! And thank you to Trails Offroad for the GPX, it was an invaluable tool! -The Wife

Did the trail mem day weekend, overall it was really great, but a couple things to consider. 1-the trail up to the mailbox wash washed out for us, ~1-2m cliff, so we chose to drive around it. It has been marked as such by the rangers as well, we just walked around the barrier to check out how washed out it really was. 2-The water crossing seemed high compared to the pictures, it came up to the top of my 33s during the last stretch of the crossing 3-PSA: DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE PATH ON THE SODA LAKE BED. It's not clearly marked, but deviating from that central path can land you with big fines and the rangers were camping out there this weekend to enforce it. Beyond that, there are endangered species in the dirt so you don't want to be harming them anyway. OHV land is just past the lake for silly stuff. Definitely want to do this trail again, it was an awesome experience!

Quick 1.5 day trip from east to west (3 vehicles, stock Silverado, modified T4R, Jeep Renegade), GPX map from here to Gaia was spot on with all points of interests. Joshua tree "forest" neat to see. We bypassed Watson drop due to night time and found camp site up in hills south of Bert G home. Backtracked to Watson drop in daytime, a 4th vehicle (Jeep rental) joined in at Kelso Cima road, lots ground covered, lots of whoops, more whoops, hit up mailbox/shrines, lava tubes, minor vehicle problem prior to dry soda lake, rock drop off at travelers monument, R/R bridges to Afton water crossing. After seeing the high water markings on a lifted jeep that went thru and discussion, we opted to backtrack to Basin exit. Great time, need another trip with extra day for for time at the dunes and other camping sites.

AWESOME TRIP - video says it all!

Although I only did the first half of the trail from Bullhead/Colorado River, it was amazing. A completely awesome scenic route and with almost a scavenger hunt game feel when you read along the markers only to discover the information to be exact. I was alone and decided I had enough fun after navigating and stopping for pics and video all day. It had just got dark and I was at Cima Road and had a gut feeling to come on back with friends and finish the trail from there another time. Perfect stopping point to start up again when return. I simply got too lonely after an amazing day with nobody to share it with. I scrammed to Big Bear to do some extra wheeling around company.

I headed a group of 4 trucks on this trail, started it 3/22. our group was my stock height, open diff 2wd 99 F150 on 35s( camo with 2 American flags incase anyone saw us out there) a lifted 2013 Tundra 4x4 on 37s, a 09 2wd f150 with limited slip on 33 mud terrains and a 2015 4x4 Ram 2500 on 35s. We started the trail at the Colorado River and made the drive up to Fort Piute and then to camp Phallus on day 1. Camp Phallus was quite full but a beautiful area. day 2 we made it to the Watson Wash drop in, the rock house, government holes, the mojave mailbox, the lava tubes and to our campsite at the base of a sand dune past Kelbaker Rd.. Day 3 we got a late start from our camp site(left camp just before noon), from our camp site it was a 20 minute drive to Soda Dry Lake which we were able to cross without issue, dropped our hitchhikers at the travelers monument(loved the plaque!) had some fun in the sandy section and in to Afton Canyon. had a lunch break in the shade of the RR bridge and worked our way to the water crossing. considering how much rain we had I wasn't sure how the crossing was going to go but since I had a coiled tow strap in the bed of the truck already hooked up to the receiver mounted shackle and the water wasn't flowing I went for it. The water went about 1/3 of the way up the doors on the truck but didn't get anything in the bed wet. the group made it through without issues and we were eager to press on. we had some confusion at the RR bridge after it and weren't sure which way the Mojave rd. went. pics above said to continue straight but the way ahead of us was blocked off with cables and a gate(also pictured above) after a few minutes of discussion and heavy consideration of the fading sunlight we decided we needed to call it for the trip at Afton Canyon Rd. we will be returning to finish the trail although I'll be in a different truck. all in all the trail was a lot of fun, we managed to get through what we did without mechanical failures, punctures or major injury(couple of scraped heads from the low clearance in the lava tubes) and we had an absolute blast doing so. be warned there are some tight sections through the Joshua tree forest and desert pinstriping is likely(especially in longer and wider vehicles) definitely a trail to do at least once!

Waypoint 64, at the water crossing, be very wary after the heavy rains. For reference, the photos above were taken in dry weather conditions.

A must do. I used it to avoid driving on freeway and to check overall condition for future exploration trips. Beautiful location with almost nobody on the trail. East side from Kelso road is easy and fast. West side is slow, lots of ‘waves’ or ‘whoop dee doo’ and washboard. Whatch your speed as there are ‘surprise’ dips and bumps. The drop in the Watson wash (point 41) is a dangerous one so continue on the main road if you don’t want those types of thrills. The photo in this trail guide does not do it justice.

First time on the Mojave. Loved the history of this trail. The whole trail was in great shape and the detour wasn't necessary. Even did the water crossing. Full triplog and photos are here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nTmHOMWjya5Uw5gK_IDokg5J87srmQgy7nXaW9Vu5fk/edit?usp=sharing

I led a group of 6 vehicles in November 2017 along portions of the Mojave Road. We ventured away from "The Road" every day to check out lesser known areas of the Mojave National Preserve. Highlights included: - Piute Gorge - Hart, which only had the remnants of a chimney - Hike to Sagamore Mine - OX Ranch and the Mojave National Preserve's Artist Foundation - Carruthers Canyon's Big Foot Rock, Phallus Rock, and Tigershark Rock - Evening Star Mine - Riley's Cabin - Geer Cabin - Mojave Mailbox, where we kindly added a "Trailsoffroad" sticker

This is a must do road and lives up to its hype. Its not a hardcore wheeling trail and there are few challenges. The reason you do this road is the experience!

Was with 10 members of Jeep Expeditions on April 8th & 9th, 2017 crossing the Mohave Road. We decided to skip the bypass and see if we could navigate the washout area. Now there are signs at the trail head leading to the washout that says the trail is closed but people are using it anyway. One area of the washout was a bit tricky but everyone got thru it just fine. Part of the washout seems to have been partially filled in by concerned off-roaders. Someone, perhaps Park Rangers have put orange cones and caution tape in the area to keep you from slipping off the trail. Trail from Cima Road full of whoop de doos and going faster than 5mph for the next 15 to 20 miles is just about impossible.

Fantastic trail! I did it solo and the sense of solitude is incredible. There's a travelers log box along the route which can tell you how many days apart you're from the next vehicle and there are some cool stories to read. I went through about a week after torrential rain in CA after their drought and fires. The Afton Canyon water crossing went up to the grill on my Tacoma with a 3.5" lift and Soda Lake had super thick mud but was not impassable. I switched on my rear locker with 4wd and had no problem, so long as I didn't stop. I completed the trail in 3 days and 3 nights but I recommend at least another day if you want to have some time to stop to hike and relax. 31.5" KO2s had no issues traversing the ever changing terrain. There's so much to see. I highly recommend it!

Traveling the Mojave Road in Autumn is really fantastic. The weather and light conditions were phenomenal, and made the adventure truly epic. It's a long, long, road, but there are so many points of interest to see along the way--the journey truly is the destination! There were historical points of interest from multiple eras, and an eclectic kind of Americana dispersed throughout, which made the voyage fascinating.

Love this trail! It is fine for newbies and experienced wheelers alike. It's the journey that makes it worthwhile. Also, the route is filled with historical markers, derelict vehicles, and other peculiarities. Learn about them and enjoy them, don't pass them by!

We did the trip in 2 1/2 days and that was too fast. Spend an extra day and enjoy the side trips. Don't miss the lava tubes; they are a short distance off the main trail and you'll know when you're at the cinder cones -- they're impossible to miss!

While it is not necessary, this is a great trail to bring a second driver on, especially one who isn't sure he wants a jeep. The driving is fun and easy and after spending a few days on this trail, he'll be at the jeep dealer once he's home!

Just the two Mojave River water crossings make this trail worthwhile.

I've attached below some pictures and a video of my rig crossing the Mojave River.