High Sierra Topix

My brother and I are planning to do a few days out in Mojave National Preserve in February doing some dispersed camping wth his Toyota FJ. We have never been to the preserve and I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions of trails to drive and/or areas to camp. Solitude preferrable and would like to tie some nice hikes into this. Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide and I wish you all a Happy New Year.

I'm working on a TR for our trip to Big Pine Lakes this past July and hope to have something posted in the next couple weeks. My 5yo nephew's first backpacking trip!!

Try to catch the morning light on the Kelso Dunes. You can camp next to the dunes - just drive down past the restroom and parking lot.

A nice drive is the one where you drive to the Lava Tubes and the Petroglyphs. The roads are pretty good dirt roads on that route. Here's some pics and a map from when we did it: http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... /i-BBcbHdg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I'm pretty sure you can camp anywhere out there along those backcountry roads.

There are lots of other place to explore too. Have fun!

I'm going to head out there soon to check out the area around Providence Mountain, Hidden Hills, and Big Horn Mine. I'm not sure what the roads are like in that area, but I'll find out. The Mojave Desert is so beautiful and so peaceful.

Thanks so much for responding and for the helpful suggestions, Kathy.

Enjoy your upcoming trip and be sure to let us know what those areas are like!

Cheers
Jeff

Found a pretty cool website for "all things Mojave" for anyone who is interested. There is a lot of good information on here:

http://www.birdandhike.com/Hike/MOJA/_M ... A_Over.htm

Kathy- We wound up just camping up in Carruthers Canyon for 3 nights and exploring that whole area. What a fantastic place, I highly recommend it! I'll post a TR when I get a chance. I love the desert so much, just such a sublime, peaceful place.

Try Mid Hills campground (5,600 ft), if you don't mind camping in a primitive campground. It's beautiful. I did a 4-day cross-country backpack that took our group through Mid Hills and beyond to a dirt road where our shuttle cars were parked. Wildhorse Mesa is not far from Hole-in-the-Wall campground. It's off trail, but if you're skilled at navigation, you could explore around its base. At another time on a 4-day cross country hike, our group went up the mesa to the one break (least-steep break) in a cliff where we then dropped off the mesa and walked another couple of miles, if that, to Hole-in-the-Wall campground. At Hole-in-the-Wall, you can do some scrambling in a canyon and there's a trail/dirt road that we took to (I believe) the Cottonwood campground in Joshua Tree after a half a day's walk, but it's been a while, and I'd have to look at a map to be sure. There's a trail there at any rate. It was an easy, nice walk in the desert.
(Edited for more accuracy on the trail from Hole-in-the-Wall).

Pulpit - I'm glad you had a good time.

I went out at the end of January to do some exploring in the Providence Mountains. The roads were not too bad - just high clearance needed. Some pics and maps from my trip: http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... Providence#!/