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:

• N35° 02.309′ W115° 23.409′

North Turnoff:

• N35° 08.182′ W115° 24.156′

High Clearance Spur:

• N35° 07.079′ W115° 26.670′

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

• More of my Desert Photos
• Mojave NP Official Site

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Kelso Dunes at sunset

Pure randomness determined the name of Kelso and the giant dune field southwest of town. Randomness also seems to govern the dune field and much of the desert around it, as patterns emerge from the sand and weather determines if you will have a good day in the field or not.

Amidst one of the least hospitable and least visited places in California, the Mojave National Preserve, Kelso Dunes and Kelso Depot are the most prominent and most visited feature. Unlike most other large dune fields, no ATVs tear up the beautiful landscape.

Desert photography is special. The feeling of vast emptiness lets you concentrate on light and form without introducing distractions while the clean air and the unforgiving landscape introduce a sense of purity that eventually shows in your pictures. You can forget the life outside the desert, the busy schedules you left behind and enjoy the moment like nowhere else. Unrushed and alone, you become one with your camera.

How to get there

Take Kelbaker Road north from I-40 about 28 miles east of Ludlow and 29 miles west of Fenner or take Kelbaker Road south from I-15 in Baker. The turnoff to the Kelso Dunes is about 16 miles north of I-40 and 7 miles south of the Kelso junction. You can pick up a park map at the visitor center in Kelso or at the Hole in the Wall Visitor Center. The spur to the dunes trailhead is about 4 miles. It is a dirt road well suitable for 2 wheel drive cars.

Gasoline is very expensive anywhere near Mojave. Barstow offers somewhat reasonable prices, but you should fill up in Bakersfield (CA), Las Vegas (NV) or Kingman (AZ), depending on where you come from and only get as much as you need to get back there. There is no gasoline inside the Mojave Preserve. The stations in Needles and Fenner are very expensive.

GPS position

Trailhead Parking:

• N34° 53.535’ W115° 41.946’

How to photograph Kelso Dunes and Kelso Depot

Kelso Dunes and railroad tracks

I approached Kelso from the north on Kelso-Cima road. The dunes are visible for miles. Although I had the sun ahead of me, I decided to try a photograph from the train tracks that run parallel to the road. I had planned to photograph in the dunes during sunset on an overcast day, hoping for good cloud formations. Unfortunately, this put me at this spot at the wrong time. If you find yourself in a situation where you have trouble capturing the entire dynamic range, you can set up an HDR photograph or you simply expose for the highlights and brighten the shadows a bit in your RAW converter.

Union Pacific Railroad xing

Kelso Depot

I snapped a couple of railroad pictures, when a friendly park ranger pulled over to advice me that I was about to trespass on railroad property. Apparently, the railroad forbids standing on or walking alongside a railroad track. You must pass it quickly. Next time you find yourself near a photogenic railroad track, see that you stay away from it far enough while composing your shots.

We headed to Kelso Depot next. The historic Union Pacific Railroad building now serves as a visitor center and boasts a museum, bookstore, and cafe. The stylish yellow building fits perfectly into the desert landscape and the availability of water even lets trees grow. Stop for a few shots of the depot and visit the museum if you have time.

I headed into the dunes to look for a good spot to photograph the sunset. The clouds towards the west looked promising. I did not follow the main path to the top of the largest dune and kept to the left, following rogue footprints. The Kelso Dune Field is larger than I expected. There were also more people here, which meant I had to walk a long distance to find ground without footprints. From a distance, I saw a couple on a dune. The diagonal line greatly helped the composition and the size of the couple helps to understand the enormous size of these dunes. Make the best of other people on the dunes by using them in your compositions.

Dune Hikers

The ripples in the sand usually look best in direct sunlight during the morning or afternoon (see Guadalupe Dunes post). Since the sun hid behind thick clouds, I focused on the fine grasses and sparse plants that grow here instead. The muted pastel colors of the fading day were perfect for this. Use a wide-angle lens to emphasize the foreground and get enough depth of field for the distant mountains. Get low on your knees or belly to offer a much more interesting perspective.

I found a place that did not have any tracks and set up for my sunset shot. I decided against a classical curvy dune view and found a depression instead. This way I could play with shots in all directions and I could climb as far into the ditch as I wanted to hide much of the background, or do the opposite if I wanted more background.

Then I mounted a wide-angle lens and found a few pleasing spots before finally attaching it to the tripod. Unlike most of my colleagues, I prefer to keep the camera in my hand as much as possible to avoid tripod exhaustion. It is far easier to compose without it, by getting high, low and walking around, but I knew that I needed to expose for the sand differently than for the much brighter sky, making a tripod a necessity. Retaining a large depth of field with little light also calls for a tripod.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Sunset is clearly the best time. Sunrise photography will be difficult, since it will be tough to find a good spot in the dark. The ripples on the sand will be too washed out during the day.

Time required

I underestimated the hiking distance into the dune field. Although I arrived over one hour prior to sunset, I still struggled to get into position 20 minutes before sunset. I would have preferred more time to stake out a better position. I think you should plan at least 3 hours, preferably longer, if you wish to hike to the top of the largest dunes.

Equipment

• tripod
• cable release
• wide-angle lens
• normal lens
• split ND filter
• CP filter
• flashlight / head lamp
• handheld GPS unit
• cell phone
• water and snacks
• zip log bags and a brush to keep the equipment clean from sand
• large memory card (avoid replacing it, since you could get sand blown into your camera)
• superzoom lens (may not be a bad idea to avoid sand in your camera during lens switching)

Fees

There is no entrance fee for the Mojave Desert.

Difficulty Getting There

I completely underestimated the hiking distance. Fortunately, I always carry a small flashlight on all of my photography adventures and a larger one for sunset shoots. This really saved me, as it got completely dark when I made my way back. Don’t get caught in the dunes without a flashlight. I simply followed the breadcrumb trail on my GPS back to the car. You should have a handheld GPS unit too, since you could become disoriented in the dark in a dune field without one.

I did have cell phone reception in the dunes, so it may not be a bad idea to bring one for safety as well.

Close Locations – Mojave NP

• Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve
• Hole in the Wall scenic Detour
• 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)
• Cholla  Cactus Garden – Joshua Tree NP
• Death Valley National Park
• Lake Havasu City (Nevada)

Useful Resources

• More of my Desert Photos
• Kelso Depot on Desert USA
• Kelso Dunes on Desert USA
• Mojave NP Official Site

Subscribe to my feed and be the first to learn about the secret places to photograph.

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