Mojave National Preserve

I left Death Valley via highway 178 and Jubilee Pass where there were quite a few blankets of wildflowers. Then took highway 127 down to interstate 15 towards Vegas for a few miles before hopping on Cima Road into the Mojave National Preserve.

I was pleasantly surprised by Mojave. About halfway into the park, I cut off the paved road and up into the mountains on Cedar Canyon Road and then took the Wildhorse Canyon loop to the Mid Hills area. It was great.

In a short while I had climbed to a relatively wooded area. I stopped at the Mid Hills campground, but decided to boondock to save the money. A few hundred yards from the campground was a small dirt road loop with some very nice shaded camp areas with views. It was really nice.

The area was covered with fresh animal tracks. It was like there was a small herd of deer in the area that were traversing back and forth to some of the creeks in the area (yes there was fresh running water!) right around the campground. And there were several cat signs and tons of rabbits.

I went for a short hike that evening, and then it started to rain, so I snuggled up in the van. Good thing. It rained and hailed hard that night, for about 14 hours in a row. Plus it got cold.

I had left the camp chairs outside, and they filled with water and froze. There was a quarter inch of ice on them in the morning, so it must have been below freezing for many hours. However, I was snug and warm in the Van, with the heater keeping me warm thru the night, and when I woke up the next morning, it had cleared, and was beautiful, if a bit chilly, for a morning hike.

I really enjoyed this area. As I drove out thru the very scenic Wildhorse Canyon, I decided I'd come back and camp here again. The temperatures in this little mountain range probably stay manageable well into the summer.

Continue onto the next page of my Death Valley Trip ..