Mojave National Preserve
The Mojave National Preserve has a lot to offer including historical railroad systems, lots of vegetation (sage, junipers and Joshua trees), and volcanic rock formations. It spans 1.6 million acres making it the third largest unit of the National Park System. That means that it is impossible to experience all it has to offer in one single visit. If you are interested in wildflower viewing you would be best advised to check the chart on line to help plan your trip because of quite dramatic variations in temperature due to increasing altitude. There are various hiking routes but for serious hikers the best advice is to go on the abandoned dirt roads and ridge lines and see where they take you. The developed trails include: Teutonia Peak Trail; Mid-Hills to Hole in the Wall Trail; Lake Tuendae Nature Trail; Rings Loop Trail. For those who don’t want to use their legs, horses, llamas and mules are welcome on all trails too.