Having spent a lot of time camping, hiking and exploring the Mojave Desert a kinship with the wondrous place has been developed. From Ghost towns to Mountains to wide open swaths of beautiful desert. It has so many opportunities for Camping that it really is a wonder there are not more developed campsites out there. As I sit and wait here for the hours to tick by, I find myself reading the history of the area quite often. Camping is awesome, Hiking is awesome…but it’s always made that much better by knowing even a small piece of history in the area. One of my favorite secret spots (Not really a secret) Is Afton Canyon located near Yermo, CA. It’s one of the only places in all of the Mojave Desert where water runs freely all year long. They have about 12 sites, Pit toilets and hiking trails to history everywhere. While the desert may look like a desert, Just like any other spot on earth it has a rich history just waiting to be discovered, and even richer ecology system just waiting to be observed.
Death Valley is the lowest and hottest point anywhere in North America.
There are over 1800 types of plants that grow in the desert, 200 of those are native species native to the Mojave Desert
The Mojave Road while being a famous Pioneer migration route, was only in use for a short time after the Civil War.
There are over 16,000 abandoned mines in the area, many that are uncovered and dangerous.
Both Mojave and Mohave are acceptable spellings.
The total area is over 130,000 KM
Las Vegas and the surrounding areas make up almost 80% of the population of the entire Mojave Desert
There are over 15 Military Installation including Fort Irwin, marine Corp Logistics base and the Secretive research facility Skunkworks.
The world’s tallest thermometer is located in Baker, CA
Jedidiah Smith explored the Mojave Desert to reach California, and was one of the the first Americans to enter the state while coming from the east
The tallest dune in the Kelso dune range is over 1200 FT tall.
The largest ever solar powered steam turbine generator on earth was custom built and ordered for the Ivanpah Solar Plant.
The famous U-2 Spy Plane was tested over the Mojave Desert.
Route 66 in the Mojave Desert hosts some of the most popular tour destinations on the entire nationwide route such as, Roy’s Motel and Café, The Amboy Volcanic Crater and Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch.