Mojave National Preserve / Kelso Dunes
Barstow, CA to Mojave National Preserve | Hiking & Camping in Mojave National Preserve | Hiking the Kelso Sand Dunes | December 2025
On the day after Christmas, we left our camping spot and returned to Barstow to run a couple errands to prepare for another week off the grid. After almost 4 weeks in California, we knew our time here was wrapping up, and soon enough we’d have to start considering our eventual return to the Midwest. However, we had one silly little goal, and that was to see if we could stay in California until January 1. If we could find ways to delay leaving for one more week, then we’d be able to count California as a state visited for 2026.
Luckily, finding reasons to stay wasn’t too hard for us. I was hoping for a week of very little driving, just to enjoy our last week in the desert before we needed to pick up the pace again, and eventually dive into Curtis’ spring assignments. Curtis wanted to climb a few more mountains before it was time to return to mountain-less land. And so we set our sights on Mojave National Preserve — a place where we could camp for free in quiet, dispersed areas, where there were several peaks that Curtis could bag, and we would be immersed in desert landscape.
We had visited once before, almost exactly a year prior. For last year’s visit, it was merely a stopping point when we were traveling towards Death Valley, a pleasant spot for Charlotte and I to sit in the sunshine while Curtis hiked a different peak. Last time, we drove the entirety of Lanfair Road from the Southern end near I-40 up to I-15, the entire drive painstakingly slow on washboard gravel. While the drive had been painful, it meant the only traffic we saw were some trucks and off road vehicles.
This year, our focus was on Kelbaker Road, the Westernmost road through the park. This road was paved, though a little worn with potholes, and was much busier. The traffic would be pretty constant throughout the days and go into the night, which would perplex us, and left us to believe that besides this road having several attractions to draw people in, it must also serve as a cutoff for going between the interstates? Besides the traffic, this road had exactly what we were hoping for during our last week in California.
As soon as we settled in to our spot on our first day, Curtis pointed towards a peak to the South and said he’d be hiking that one today. We had lunch, then I sent him off with water and snacks and proceeded to do exactly what I wanted: to enjoy the sun and warmth of the desert in and near my home. Curtis will write a separate post detailing the peaks he hiked here!
Our next day here was much colder and windy, which ended up keeping us inside for most of the day. When sunset was approaching, we braved the cold for a walk following a sandy road and then a worn trail back to some boulders. The next day was slightly warmer, so we decided to venture out from our camp site and visit the Kelso Sand Dunes. After driving the paved road a ways North, we turned onto the gravel road heading several miles back to the base of the dunes. The road was rough both from washboard and washes where flooding had reclaimed some of the road, but we made it back to the trailhead, then prepared for our walk.
The trail from the parking area to the highest point of the dunes is 3 miles round trip. It was much warmer today than it had been the day before, though that could have just been the sand trapping the heat and distributing it among the hikers that trudged their way through. At first the trail was flat, but soon enough we were panting as we slowly climbed up a steep slope to the peak of the dunes. Walking up the last stretch of trail, the path of footprints followed the edge of the dune with a steep drop off on the other side. I would have referred to it as sketchy and precarious under different terrain, but because it was sand it didn’t feel dangerous, like if I slipped I would just go rolling down into a giant sandbox and rather than being hurt, I’d only be inconvenienced by having to climb back up to the top.
We made it to the summit, and took some time to enjoy the views and the quiet all by ourselves, as we could see many other parties now making their way up. We were soon joined by other hikers, and struck up a conversation with some. Curtis said this is something that he doesn’t experience on most of his peak bagging excursions since he rarely comes across people hiking to the same destination as him.
As soon as another large group made it to the top and the path down was clear, we began our descent, half stepping and half gliding effortlessly down the dune. The area had grown much busier since we arrived, so after having a quick lunch in the van, we departed from the trailhead. At first we considered looking for a new campsite at the end of this road, but when we drove through we decided we didn’t like the vibe so we returned to another dispersed site near where we were before, closer to the pavement.
The next day was dedicated to letting Curtis hike the highest peak in the area, a feat which took him most of the day. I had a semi-productive, semi-relaxing day in the van, being more than happy to not have to hike 14 miles on not a real trail. When he returned, we drove back to our dispersed site. This hike had sufficiently worn him out, so we stayed put the next day, just going for a walk on another dirt road from our campsite and enjoying one last full day in the preserve.
