Mojave Road & National Preserve
Mojave National Preserve · near Baker / Nipton · California Desert
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- expert
- Best season
- Late fall–early spring ONLY (summer is dangerous)
What is here
- Terrain
- desert
- Amenities
- Historic Mojave Road route · Vast empty Mojave Preserve · Lava tubes & Joshua-tree forests · Dark-sky desert camping
- Best for
- A classic self-supported desert bikepacking crossing
- Features
- Historic desert-crossing route · Empty Mojave National Preserve · Lava tubes & cinder cones · Immense dark-sky solitude
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Dangerous summer heat (avoid warm months) · Deep sand (much hike-a-bike) · No water or services, total remoteness · Navigation across faint tracks
- Good for a first timer
- No
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- bikepacking · adventure
- Surface
- sand
- Remoteness
- 5
- Riding
- A historic desert crossing through a vast, empty preserve — the sandy Mojave Road past lava tubes, Joshua-tree forests, and cinder cones, a classic self-supported desert bikepacking route
- Terrain note
- Below 1,000 to 5,000+ ft; deep sand & washboard; extreme heat & aridity
- Camping
- Yes
- Intl tip
- The historic Mojave Road across the vast, empty Mojave National Preserve — a classic self-supported desert bikepacking route past lava tubes, cinder cones, and Joshua-tree forests, with immense solitude and dark skies. EXPERT expedition terrain: deep sand (much hike-a-bike), NO water or services across huge distances, careful navigation, and dangerous summer heat (cool season ONLY). For experienced, fully self-sufficient riders. Carry all your water and respect the desert. A serious, beautiful crossing.
- Trip lengths
- multi-day
The guide
The Mojave Road, an ancient desert trail once used by Native peoples and later by wagons and the military, threads across the M…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mojave Road & National Preserve — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 35.1, -115.5