Red Rock Canyon State Park
Mojave (Hwy 14) · near Mojave / Ridgecrest · California Desert
Camping · parks · Stargazing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Elevation
- 2600
- Campsites
- 50 sites
- Season
- Year-round (best Oct–April)
- Fee
- ~$25/night
- Size
- 25325
- Established
- 1970
- Best season
- Fall–spring; summer heat harsh; go near new moon
Permits and booking
- Reservation required
- No
- How to reserve
- FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED. Dramatic red-and-white eroded cliffs and canyons on Highway 14 in the Mojave — a scenic, convenient stop. Pit toilets, no water/hookups. Cool-season best. A classic film-location landscape.
What is here
- Setting
- desert
- Amenities
- Dramatic eroded rock cliffs · First-come flexibility · Film-location scenery · Desert stargazing
- Best for
- Convenient scenic desert stop
- Features
- Striking red-and-white rock cliffs · Right off Hwy 14 · First-come (spontaneous) · Great desert stargazing
- Highlights
- milky-way · astrophoto
- Landscape
- desert
- Amenities
- Colorful banded cliff foregrounds · Accessible off Hwy 14 · On-site campground · Classic film-location scenery
- Best for
- Accessible desert darkness with dramatic cliffs
- Features
- Striking banded desert cliffs · Accessible Mojave dark site · On-site camping · Cinematic badland foregrounds
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Hazards
- Summer heat harsh — visit cooler months · Cold nights; carry layers · Some light from Hwy 14 & distant towns · Uneven terrain in the dark — bring red light
- Beginner friendly
- Yes
Camping detail
- Camp type
- developed · rv
- Intl tip
- FIRST-COME (rarely fills). Right on Hwy 14 — a convenient scenic stop en route to the Eastern Sierra. Dramatic red-and-white film-location cliffs; short badland trails. No water — bring your own; pit toilets. Cool-season best. Great stargazing. Combine with a trip up Hwy 395. Easy, scenic desert camping.
parks detail
- Hook
- Fluted scarlet cliffs where the Sierra meets the Mojave — a movie backdrop since the silent era
- More
- Every western from the silents to Jurassic Park has borrowed these fluted cliffs, and the badlands yield some of California's richest Miocene fossil beds — digging is illegal, reporting finds is encouraged. Ricardo Campground sits beneath the White House Cliffs; spring wildflowers and dark skies are the seasons.
Stargazing detail
- Designation
- informal
- Reach
- roadside
- Darkness
- 4
- Sky notes
- Dramatic banded desert cliffs and eroded badlands under dark Mojave skies — a scenic, accessible state park off Highway 14 whose colorful sandstone formations make striking Milky Way foregrounds, long a favorite film location
- Stats note
- ~Bortle 2–3; colorful eroded cliffs & badlands; easy Hwy 14 access
- Campground
- Yes
- Intl tip
- A scenic, accessible Mojave dark site off Highway 14, where the southern Sierra meets the desert — dramatic banded white-and-red sandstone cliffs eroded into badlands (a classic film location) make striking Milky Way foregrounds under ~Bortle 2–3 skies. Easy highway access with an on-site campground makes it a low-effort dark-sky escape from LA. Summer heat is harsh (visit cooler months); nights are cold; a little light from the highway and distant towns; bring a red light for uneven ground. Go near a new moon.
The guide
Red Rock Canyon State Park is a scenic Mojave Desert gem right on Highway 14 — a landscape of dramatic red-and-white eroded cli…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Red Rock Canyon State Park — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 35.373, -117.991