Cholla Tree, Mojave National Preserve
One of the least visited parks in California, the Mojave National Preserve offers great value for photographers and outdoor enthusiasts. The desert landscape is especially interesting for purists who love to explore shapes, light and color free from distractions.
Desert landscapes look barren only at first glance. Upon closer inspection, they reveal an immense beauty. Drive through this landscape with open eyes and you will want to pull over constantly to jump out of your car.
How to get there
Mojave Map (click to enlarge)
Take Essex Road from I-40 (south) to Black Canyon Road. Head to the Hole in the Wall Visitor Center and pick up a free map. Back trace on Black Canyon Road, for a few hundred yards, and turn west on a dirt road. You will drive over a cattle guard at a fence shortly after leaving the main road.
From I-15 (north), take Cima Road. After about 18 miles, turn right onto Kelso Cima Road and after another 5 miles left on Cedar Canyon Road. After about 6 miles (half of it unpaved), turn right onto Black Canyon Road. After another 3 miles, turn right onto the loop or go straight for another 7 miles to the visitor center.
You should be able to drive this dirt road with a 2WD passenger car, unless it just rained or is raining. Rain is a rare occurrence here, but in some years it gets wet enough to cause trouble.
The spur to the mid hills viewpoint requires a high clearance vehicle.
Gas up before you head into the Mojave National Preserve. There is no gas station inside the desert and gasoline is very expensive in cities bordering the Mojave. Fill up when you are still 50 miles away and top off before going into the desert.
GPS position
South Turnoff:
North Turnoff:
High Clearance Spur:
How to photograph the Hole in the Wall scenic detour
This description starts at the entrance near the Hole-in-the-wall visitor center.
Burned Tree
When you enter the scenic detour from the south, stop near the cattle guard. This is where I shot the picture of the Cholla Tree at the start of the article. Right after the cattle guard, a dirt trail leads to the right, towards the lonely butte. This is also a great place to photograph some big leaf cacti and yucca trees. Get out of your car and go for a short walk around the butte. You should be able to get some good photographs.
The first few miles lead past jagged rocks, sparsely populated with cacti. Depending on the light, the rocks and the shadows can create interesting looking pictures. Further down the road, you will enter a fire-devastated area. The fire created a ghostly atmosphere. The trees stretch their tentacles towards the sky like a bizarre otherworldly being (see above). I did not spend a lot of time here.
After a while, I came to a high clearance road leading left off the main road. I had spotted a large, promising looking granite rock protruding ahead of me. I took the drive (high clearance required) that lead to an overview / dispersed campsite. This place offered superb views towards Cima Dome, Kelso Wash and Marl Mountains. I also had a better view of the granite rocks whose tip I had seen earlier (below).
Back on the main road, you will pass a field of granite spires and marbles that reminded me a lot of the rocks in Joshua Tree National Park.
Mid Hills Granite Rocks
I should also mention that you will find a number of trails in this area. The visitor center newspaper will list them with a short description.
The Hole-in-the-Wall nature trail is the easiest and probably only interesting to botanists. The Rings Loop Trail sounds technically difficult but interesting. The Mid Hills to Hole-in-the-wall trail is long but sounds good. It would be best if you could arrange for pickup at the opposite side, so that you don’t have to backtrack the entire 8 miles. The Barber Peak Loop Trail is a 6-mile interesting sounding trail.
Best Time of the Day and Best Season
You will have the best light during late afternoon or early morning hours. If you don’t plan on staying several days, it may not be possible to be here during these times. I visited during the early afternoon, to be at Kelso Dunes for sunset pictures.
The Hole-in-the-wall campground and the Mid-hills campground at either end of the loop offer a chance to stay a little longer and experience more.
Plan a visit around the wildflower season from late February to early May for some extra color.
Time required
You can drive the distance in less than one hour. Two hours is plenty of time for photography.
Equipment
- Since you don’t need to go on a long hike, I recommend to bring all your photography equipment.
- water
- GPS
Fees
Visiting the Mojave National Preserve is free.
Close Locations – Mojave NP
- Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve
- Kelso Dunes
- Cinder Cone, Lava Beds, Lava Tube
- Evening Star Mine
- Cima
- Ivanpah (Ghost Town)
- Clark Mountain
Close Locations – outside Mojave NP
- Calico (Ghost Town)
- Rainbow Basin NP
- Red Rock Canyon State Park
- Randsburg (Ghost Town)
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Calico Ghost Town
Useful Resources
Subscribe to my feed and be the first to learn about the secret places to photograph.
If you like this post, use the buttons below to bookmark it or vote for it.
Tweet This! :: 
E-Mail This!
Do you find this post 
de.licio.us? Tell people that you 
reddit!
One Comment
Great photographs in this post Andre. Love how you have captured the Cholla Tree illumination.Dark photo but effective as leaves the viewer investigating the frame…