Treasures off the Beaten Track: Escapes in the East Mojave National Preserve
Let us change scenery altogether this time and move to my chosen home in the Desert Southwest and focus on one of the most beautiful desert landscapes in the area - the so-called East Mojave National Preserve.
When traveling between Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California, most motorists will opt for the fastest route along Interstate 15 via Primm, Nevada, then Baker and Barstow, California.
There is, however, a far more scenic route along the former Route 66, leaving the Interstate just past the Californian border and exiting into the East Mojave National Preserve at CIMA. The latter is nothing more than a deserted ghost town in the middle of the desert, but surrounded by beautiful fields of Joshua Tree cacti along the highway.
The little ghost town itself looks like something right out of a western movie - it even has a semi-deserted store with a post office boasting the sign "CIMA CALIFORNIA, 92323" in the front.
The highway then follows along the railroad tracks along the original Route 66 and the ride can be as bouncy as a rollercoaster with the road surface reshaped and pot-holed by weather and time.
Next stop is KELSO, another ghost town but dominated by its railroad station recently refurbished and the pride of the Mojave Desert.
As the highway then curves away from the railroad en route to Interstate 40, one of the most spectacular sights of the entire Desert Southwest opens up: the mighty and magical KELSO DUNES.
It is possible to leave the highway on a little dirtroad and approach the dunes right up to a parking lot with facilites and area maps. The rest must be done by foot - a gorgeous majestic stroll up into the dunes themselves treading on soft sand feeling as if just imported from the Sahara desert.
With each step uphill and each additional slope, the view over the valley gets ever more spectacular, the so-called DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, as finally the true sense of desert space is tangible - the wide open and majestic Desert Empire - miles and miles of vast openness and empty space.
The return downhill is much faster and less strenuous - and the highway is resumed quickly - heading south past Interstate 40 and into military exercise zones north of Palm Springs. While still beautiful and spectacular, the ensuing landscape is no longer as scenic as further north, and trailer communities start opening up along Highway 62 en route to Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree. The highway then descends into the Coachella Valley with a view of vast amounts of windmills built along Interstate 10 between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. The choice is then between heading East into the desert communities of the Coachella Valley, most notably Palm Springs, Cathedral City and beyond to Indio, or to head right into the Los Angeles Metropolitan area or further south to San Diego.
When returning to Las Vegas via Interstate 15, it is then also possible to take a little sidetrip north of Baker, California, the little town with the thermometer showing the heat of the desert in neon colors to motorists at all times both day and night.
Traveling North en route to Death Valley, Highway 127 goes through rather uniform desert landscape until a little oasis opens up to the right of the road right past the so-called DUMONT DUNES. Again, a small dirt road invites travellers to veer off the main highway and enjoy this rare biotope, the small SALT CREEK NATIONAL PRESERVE, a protected area in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
There is yet more water in the surrounding communities - thermal water that is - a rare commodity in this, one of the driest desert areas of the country. In TECOPA, California, a hot spring thermal pool, open every day until 9pm, allows locals and visitors alike to bask in thermal water bliss before resuming the road from Inyo county California back across the border into Clark County, Nevada. As we cross Spring Mountain, we see what seems like aurora - or dawn - a shimmering horizon in the distance.
As we descend Stateroute 61 down from Spring Mountain, we then see this dawn is nothing more than the glittering casino lights of Las Vegas, the shining star and our home in the Mojave Desert.
When traveling between Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California, most motorists will opt for the fastest route along Interstate 15 via Primm, Nevada, then Baker and Barstow, California.
There is, however, a far more scenic route along the former Route 66, leaving the Interstate just past the Californian border and exiting into the East Mojave National Preserve at CIMA. The latter is nothing more than a deserted ghost town in the middle of the desert, but surrounded by beautiful fields of Joshua Tree cacti along the highway.
The little ghost town itself looks like something right out of a western movie - it even has a semi-deserted store with a post office boasting the sign "CIMA CALIFORNIA, 92323" in the front.
The highway then follows along the railroad tracks along the original Route 66 and the ride can be as bouncy as a rollercoaster with the road surface reshaped and pot-holed by weather and time.
Next stop is KELSO, another ghost town but dominated by its railroad station recently refurbished and the pride of the Mojave Desert.
As the highway then curves away from the railroad en route to Interstate 40, one of the most spectacular sights of the entire Desert Southwest opens up: the mighty and magical KELSO DUNES.
It is possible to leave the highway on a little dirtroad and approach the dunes right up to a parking lot with facilites and area maps. The rest must be done by foot - a gorgeous majestic stroll up into the dunes themselves treading on soft sand feeling as if just imported from the Sahara desert.
With each step uphill and each additional slope, the view over the valley gets ever more spectacular, the so-called DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, as finally the true sense of desert space is tangible - the wide open and majestic Desert Empire - miles and miles of vast openness and empty space.
The return downhill is much faster and less strenuous - and the highway is resumed quickly - heading south past Interstate 40 and into military exercise zones north of Palm Springs. While still beautiful and spectacular, the ensuing landscape is no longer as scenic as further north, and trailer communities start opening up along Highway 62 en route to Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree. The highway then descends into the Coachella Valley with a view of vast amounts of windmills built along Interstate 10 between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. The choice is then between heading East into the desert communities of the Coachella Valley, most notably Palm Springs, Cathedral City and beyond to Indio, or to head right into the Los Angeles Metropolitan area or further south to San Diego.
When returning to Las Vegas via Interstate 15, it is then also possible to take a little sidetrip north of Baker, California, the little town with the thermometer showing the heat of the desert in neon colors to motorists at all times both day and night.
Traveling North en route to Death Valley, Highway 127 goes through rather uniform desert landscape until a little oasis opens up to the right of the road right past the so-called DUMONT DUNES. Again, a small dirt road invites travellers to veer off the main highway and enjoy this rare biotope, the small SALT CREEK NATIONAL PRESERVE, a protected area in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
There is yet more water in the surrounding communities - thermal water that is - a rare commodity in this, one of the driest desert areas of the country. In TECOPA, California, a hot spring thermal pool, open every day until 9pm, allows locals and visitors alike to bask in thermal water bliss before resuming the road from Inyo county California back across the border into Clark County, Nevada. As we cross Spring Mountain, we see what seems like aurora - or dawn - a shimmering horizon in the distance.
As we descend Stateroute 61 down from Spring Mountain, we then see this dawn is nothing more than the glittering casino lights of Las Vegas, the shining star and our home in the Mojave Desert.
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