Mojave National Preserve is a

United States National Preserve There are 21 protected areas of the United States designated as national preserves. They were established by an act of Congress to protect areas that have resources often associated with national parks but where certain natural resource-extract ...

located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994, with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act by the US Congress, which also established Joshua Tree National Park and

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...

as National Parks. Previously, some lands contained within the Preserve were the East Mojave National Scenic Area, under the jurisdiction of 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 ...

. At , within the contiguous United States it is the third largest unit of the National Park System and the first largest National Preserve. The preserve was created within the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service and remains within that jurisdiction today. Natural features include the Kelso Dunes, the

Marl Mountains The Marl Mountains are located in the Mojave National Preserve in eastern California in the United States, northeast of the Kelso Mountains. The Marl Mountains lie just east of Kelbaker Road, which connects the town of Baker with the small communit ...

and the

Cima Dome Cima volcanic field is a volcanic field in San Bernardino County, California, close to the border with Nevada. The volcanic field covers a surface area of within the Mojave National Preserve west of the Cima Dome and consists of about 40 volcan ...

, as well as volcanic formations such as Hole-in-the-Wall and the Cinder Cone Lava Beds. The preserve surrounds

Providence Mountains State Recreation Area The Providence Mountains State Recreation Area is located in the Providence Mountains, within the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California. It is also home to the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve. Geography The Recreation ...

and Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve, which are both managed by the

California Department of Parks and Recreation The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

. Impressive Joshua tree forests are found in parts of the preserve. The forest covering Cima Dome and the adjacent

Shadow Valley Shadow Valley is a north to northwest flowing drainage within the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California. A section of Interstate 15 passes through the valley between Mountain Pass and Halloran Springs. The valley drains to the north ...

is the largest and densest in the world. In August 2020 a wildfire destroyed 1.3 million Joshua Trees around Cima Dome. The ghost town of Kelso is found in the preserve, with the defunct

railroad depot A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a Rail transport, railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passenger train, passengers, freight rail transport, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one r ...

serving as the Visitor Center. The preserve is commonly traversed by 4 wheel drive vehicles traveling on the historic

Mojave Road The Mojave Road, also known as Old Government Road (formerly the Mohave Trail), is a historic route and present day dirt road across what is now the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert in the United States. This rough road stretched f ...

. Climate in the preserve varies greatly. Summer temperatures average , with highs exceeding . Elevations in the preserve range from at Clark Mountain to near Baker. Annual precipitation varies from near Baker, to almost in the mountains. At least 25% of precipitation comes from summer thunderstorms. Snow is often found in the mountains during the winter. The preserve currently faces challenges based on its lack of funding, as of 2018 the preserve had a

deferred maintenance Deferred maintenance is the practice of postponing maintenance activities such as repairs on both real property (i.e. infrastructure) and personal property (i.e. machinery) in order to save costs, meet budget funding levels, or realign available bud ...

of $118,036,341. This lack of funding has primarily lead to infrastructure disrepair which, in combination with the reckless driving prevalent among visitors, has caused a significant threat to the endangered Desert Tortoise population within the preserve. In addition to the tortoise's threatened population, the Prairie Falcon and the Bighorn Sheep are both at a risk within the preserve. A common solution provided to help save this population is to install wildlife crossings over the main roads within the preserve, though this is currently not possible with the funding provided.

Mojave Wilderness

The

California Desert Protection Act of 1994 The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 is a federal law () sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, passed by the United States Congress on October 8, 1994, and signed into effect by President Bill Clinton on October 31 of the same year, that ...

(CDPA) designated a wilderness area within Mojave National Preserve of approximately . The National Park Service manages the wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act, the CDPA, and other laws that protect cultural and historic sites in the wilderness.

Administrative history

Upon the preserve's establishment, Mary Martin was designated as its superintendent, she served from 1994 to 2005, when she was moved to the Lassen Volcanic National Park. Dennish Schramm then served from 2005 to 2010. Stephanie Dubois served from 2010 to 2014. Todd Suess served from 2014 to 2020, though he continues to work for the National Park Service as the Chief of Biological Resources. The current superintendent is Mike Gauthier who has served since 2020.

Features

* Beale Mountains *

Cima, California Cima (Spanish for "Summit") is a small unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, in the United States. It lies in a mountain pass on the divide between the Ivanpah Valley and the Mojave River basin, at ...

Cima Dome & Volcanic Field National Natural Landmark Cima volcanic field is a volcanic field in San Bernardino County, California, close to the border with Nevada. The volcanic field covers a surface area of within the Mojave National Preserve west of the Cima Dome and consists of about 40 volcan ...

* Clark Mountain *

Devils Playground The Devils Playground is a large sandy region in the Mojave Desert in the state of California in the United States. Dunes and salt flats stretch for approximately in a generally northwest-southeasterly direction in the Mojave National Preserve. T ...

* Granite Mountains * Ivanpah, California *

Ivanpah Mountains The Ivanpah Mountains are located in the southeastern Mojave Desert of California in the United States. The range lies to the south and east of the Mescal Range and Clark Mountain Range. Paute Valley lies between the Ivanpahs and the Mescal Range ...

* Kelso, California *

Kelso Depot The Kelso Depot, Restaurant and Employees Hotel or Kelso Depot, now also the Mojave National Preserve Visitors Center, is located in the Mojave Desert within the National Park Service Mojave National Preserve, on Kelso Cima Road at the junction of ...

* Kelso Dunes * Kelso Mountains *

Kelso Wash Kelso Wash is an ephemeral stream in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that drains into Soda Lake . The town of Kelso lies southeast of the wash . Kelso Wash lies within the Mojave National Preserve. It originates at Cima, betwe ...

Lanfair Valley Lanfair Valley is located in the Mojave Desert in southeastern California near the Nevada state line. It is bounded on the north by the New York Mountains and Castle Mountains, on the east by the Piute Range, and on the south by the Woods Mountai ...

Mid Hills The Mid Hills are a low mountain range in the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California. The Mid Hills are located entirely within Mojave National Preserve. They are northeast of Kelso and the park's visitor center, and southeast ...

Mojave phone booth ''Mojave Phone Booth'' is an independently produced 2006 film directed by John Putch. The film is based on a Mojave phone booth, real phone booth in the Mojave Desert that once accepted incoming calls, but has since been removed. The film is compos ...

New York Mountains The New York Mountains are a small mountain range found in northeastern San Bernardino County in California, USA. The range's northeastern area lies in southeastern Nevada. The range lies just south of the small community of Ivanpah, and north ...

Old Dad Mountain Old Dad Mountain is a summit, southwest of the Cinder Cone Lava Beds, west of the Kelso Mountains, north of Jackass Canyon, northeast of the Devils Playground and east of Soda Lake, in San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ...

* Providence, California * Providence Mountains *

Vanderbilt, California Vanderbilt was a short-lived gold mining town located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It existed between 1893 and 1895. At its peak it may have had a population of about 400 people. Location Vanderbilt was located at 35° 19' ...

Vontrigger Hills The Vontrigger Hills are a low mountain range in the eastern Mojave Desert, in eastern San Bernardino County, California. Vontrigger Hills are located in the southeastern Mojave National Preserve, approximately north of the small settlement of G ...

Climate

The following climate data is for a higher elevation area in the preserve. See also Climate of the Mojave Desert.

References

External links

*
Photo tour of Mojave National Preserve
- ''from USGS''
Mojave National Preserve Conservancy

Mojave Desert Land Trust
{{authority control Mojave Desert National Preserves of the United States Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Protected areas of San Bernardino County, California Protected areas established in 1994 National Park Service areas in California Geography of San Bernardino County, California Nature reserves in California 1994 establishments in California