El Mirage Lake is a

dry lake bed A dry lake bed, also known as a playa, is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceeds recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline c ...

in the northwestern

Victor Valley The Victor Valley is a valley in the Mojave Desert and subregion of the Inland Empire, in San Bernardino County in Southern California. It is located east of the Mojave's Antelope Valley, north of the Cajon Pass and the San Bernardino Valley, n ...

of the central

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

, within

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the ...

. The lake is located about west-northwest of the town of

Adelanto Adelanto (Spanish for "Advance") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is approximately northwest of Victorville in the Victor Valley area of the Mojave Desert, in the northern region of the Inland Empire.Lint ...

and north of Highway 18 in

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

. The dry lake, at an elevation of , is approximately long.

El Mirage Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (OHV)

Formerly open to all visitors, it has been a popular spot for many activities ranging from

gyrocopter An autogyro (from Ancient Greek, Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift (force), lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an ...

and

ultralight aircraft Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

operations to automobile racing. The

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

has installed a fence to enclose the lake and some of the surrounding areas, and now charges fees for entry to what is now known as the El Mirage Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Area. It is a popular filming location for automobile commercials. Permits for the Recreation Area can be purchased on-site, at local retailers and online. Annual permits are $90, weekly permits are $30, and daily permits are $15.El Mirage Permits
/ref> Private aircraft may still land on the lakebed. For 50 years the lakebed has been used by the

Southern California Timing Association Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) is a competition sanctioning body that maintains rules and record for Land Speed Racing events held at El Mirage Dry Lake, California and at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. It is a non-profit, volunte ...

for timed speed runs. The club also operates the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...

speed runs.

Climate

El Mirage Lakebed experiences a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

climate, with cool winters and hot summers. Due to the lakebed's

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

ity and high elevation, the

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak d ...

is substantial. Though summer days can be very hot, summer nighttime temperatures are cool. The lakebed receives an occasional dusting of snow in the winter months, however,

snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

usually melts within 24 hours.

References

*''California Road & Recreation Atlas'', 2005, pg. 104

External links

*
El Mirage OHV Recreation Area

El Mirage OHV Recreation Area Online Permit Sales

{{authority control Lakes of the Mojave Desert Lakes of San Bernardino County, California Endorheic lakes of California Salt flats of California Victor Valley Landforms of San Bernardino County, California Lakes of Southern California Lakes of California

El Mirage Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (OHV)

Climate

See also

References

External links