San Bernardino County

Desert Christ Park ❤️🏠📸⭐

This was an amazing park in an amazing location. It’s in Yucca Valley, up in the hills, so you can get a little view of the town, but it also has a lot of Joshua trees dotting the landscape. Desert Chris Park has many statues of Jesus and his followers. I have never seen a park quite like this except in Asia. Asia has many parks with statues of Buddha and Gods, some extremely large. I found the location beautiful and interesting. 

World's Largest Thermometer 📸🚗

Baker has an entrance to Mojave National Preserve, and this is one way we entered the park. We also entered further north by taking the Joshua Tree Highway. I don’t know what goes down in Baker, but it was appealing to me. Not only does it have the world's largest thermometer, but it also has a bunch of ruins, like hotels and buildings with tons of graffiti. I like that stuff, so I really liked Baker. It also has a Greek restaurant. We didn’t eat there, but it seemed Baker was one big advertisement for this place. Greek food in the middle of the desert? Not a bad idea.

Zzyzx Rd. ❤️🏠📸🚗⭐

This road leads into Mojave National Preserve. I don’t think you can reach any place on this road via other routes in Mojave.The only way to see this part of the desert is through Zzyzx Rd. Aside from the name reminding me of Gary Gygax, the godfather of Dungeons and Dragons, it's got a unique name so worth checking out. I’m glad we did. In a few minutes the road will take you parallel along a dry lakebed. You will hear the sounds of frogs which adds some flavor to this place. The road had puddles, and I was scared to continue to drive through them after what happened in Slab City, but when I saw another car go through, I realized I’d be able to do it.

The road continues to a parking lot. The whole drive is around 10 minutes. It will lead you to a small lake loop with amazing palm tree reflections. It’s also the site of a desert studies center which is off limits to civilians. It's pretty obvious. To the right are buildings, don’t go there. To the left is the lake loop trail. It's super short, but quite beautiful. Amazing reflections here!

Curtis Howard Springer established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa in 1944. It’s a pretty bizarre and interesting story. If you have time, look it up.

Joshua Tree Highway ❤️🏠📸🚗⭐

The name says it all. I took this highway to see tons of Joshua trees. The best part is I caught the sunset. Cima Road was supposed to be better, but the road was closed. I don’t think you will feel bad going here, it does the job, but it is at the very north end of the preserve, right by Nevada.

Primm, Nevada

I went to Primm because it was the closest town to the Joshua Tree highway. You can find Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park, but I went there many moons ago. You can also find quite a bit of Joshua trees in Yucca Valley. I wanted to go somewhere new. Mojave National Preserve has more Joshua Trees than the national park itself. You can find Joshua trees on Cima Road in Mojave, but it was closed, so the only other place was the Joshua Tree Highway, which just happened to be close to Primm, Nevada. So we stayed here and Vegas is only a 45 minute drive away, so if you’re fiending for some all you can eat fake sushi, we went to ChinaTown and ate out there.

Primm was an interesting place. It looks like a town with a lot of potential. Big hotels, casinos, roller coasters. From the outside looking in, it looked like a super dope spot, but when we got there it seemed like Primm was on its last leg. Maybe one time it was a thriving awesome place, but now just a shadow of its former self. Just felt dead and lonely. I was only here for an evening, so I could be totally wrong, but that's how it felt.

Mojave National Preserve 📸🚗⭐

This preserve is amazing! I have not been to every park in California, but this park has multiple entrances and it's free to enter. It has extremely diverse settings, which was one of the main reasons I wanted to come here. Every location is vastly different, which is very attractive to me. The other reason is, it's not very crowded, which is really important to me. 

However, this preserve is different in that  most parks when you enter you pay a fee and there's a ranger you can talk to. When I drove through Joshua Tree HWY,  there wasn’t a visitor’s center or anyone to talk to. When I drove on Kelbaker Road, via Baker, I didn’t see a visitors center until I got to Kelso, which was at least an hour away. Then I didn’t see another visitors center, until I got to Hole in the Wall trail, and that was like 2 hours from Kelso. With so many entrances, it’s conceivable that you won’t find a visitors center for a couple hours, depending on where you enter.

I bring all this up, because I don’t think Mojave National preserve is for rookies. I prepped for this place and nothing prepared me for the real thing. Bring food, lots of water, blankets, spare tire, anything, just in case something happens. It's not a crowded place, and if you get stuck, it might be a while. 

Finally, to see a lot of the amazing places you need 4WHD, and not all 4 wheel drive cars are made equal. I did not know this. Make sure you know a bit about your vehicle before going. I give lots of tips in my Most Epic Southern Cali Trip, so make sure to check it out. You also get some amazing visuals.

Lava Tube 📸🚗⭐

There are a lot of washboard roads in Mojave. I was driving 5 to 10 miles per hour EVEN with 4WHD. It was about 6 km and took me 40 minutes to get there. Once we got to the parking lot, it was empty. It's a short hike to the tube. When you go down the stairs to the left is the entrance though it looks like there is an entrance to the right. 

To fully enjoy the lava tube you need some high powered lights. I had a light and cell phones. Wasn’t good enough, but apparently there is a hike within the lava tubes. If you’re scared of tight spaces, I would not do the trail, but going into the main chambers is real dope! Watch out for snakes!

Kelso 🚗

This is a ghost town now with a visitor’s center. I just stopped here to take a dump.

Kelso Dunes 📸🚗⭐

These dunes are amazing! It’s actually not that difficult of a hike. The hard part is the very end when you have to hike up the tallest dune. That is tiring, but I think any person of average or better health could do it, just might take a while. The view at the top is amazing! 360 view of the Mojave desert. You can't really beat that. I did not know we had dunes in California, not like this. California is so diverse and amazing!

Boulder’s View Point Area 📸🚗⭐

This is off the highway. Drive and park and be amazed. I caught the sunset here and it was the best sunset of the trip. I kinda wished I stayed on top of the Kelso dunes for the sunset, but I didn’t want to get to a hotel super late, so we stopped here for the sunset which probably wasn’t as good as Kelso dunes, but still pretty damn amazing!

Hole In the Wall 📸🚗⭐

This was an amazing hike. When you get here you will know why its called Hole in the Wall. Driving from Kelso to here was torture. The roads were horrible for most of the drive and it took a long time to get here, but when we did, my anger kinda vanished, I was so amazed by this location.

O.K, so this trail is a loop but it’s a bit confusing. When you park, you will be near the visitor center. If you continue past the visitor center you will reach the trail, but what you should do is when you park walk away from the visitor center, along the rocks back the way you came and you will see the other entrance to the trail. I did not do this, but I recommend that you take this trail because when you finish you will go up rather than down. 

The way I went I had to scramble down rocks. They also have rings and chains to hold onto. I just think going up these is better than going down, at least for me. The upside of going down the way I did is the cliffs and rocks block the view, but when that view opens up…..WOOOOW!

Route 66 ❤️🏠📸🚗⭐

Most people have heard of Route 66. I didn’t even know it was over here. I had to explore. Its desolate with lots of ruins, but there are also signs of life. It’s a fun drive!

Amboy Crater 🏠📸🚗⭐

Want to knock off hiking a volcano off your bucket list? Amboy Crater is the spot to do it. It looks daunting, but as you get closer it just looks like a hill. It's a pretty easy hike. I bumped into the 60+ crowd before I began my ascent, they confirmed it was a piece of cake, and it was. There are some parts that might look scary, but it’s not bad. The view is amazing. It’s a volcano! What's not to like? 

Amboy 📸🚗

I think Amboy is a museum now. I stopped here to take a dump yet again. It’s got a gas station, hotel, and school. I was stocked o n gas, but the hotel was locked and the decor looked out of the 70’s. It was dope. The school was closed, obviously. Middle of nowhere. Fun times!

Lion of Amboy 📸🚗

Want to see the closest thing to a Wind Lion God of Kinmen in California, see the Lion of Amboy, in the deserts of Route 66. This is the protector of the area and guards the land. Curious about Wind Lion Gods, check out my Taiwan videos.

East Lion 📸🚗

This lion is not far from the Lion of Amboy and I believe has the same function.

Secret Desert Art Installation 🚗

When I was heading to Anza Borrego State Park from Amboy Crater, I wanted to fly my drone so I found a place to stop and it had this small little art installation. I don’t know anything about it. It wasn’t on google maps (until I pinned it) and I couldn’t find anything on it. It’s not a place I would go out of the way for, but nothing wrong with checking it out, if you manage to pass by.