Mojave Road, East

Total Miles
28.9

Technical Rating

Moderate

Best Time

Fall, Winter, Spring

Trail Type

Full-Width Road

Accessible By

Trail Overview

This portion of the trip starts east of the California/Nevada state line. At first, it's not well marked and takes some patience to stay on the trail. You'll take a fun side trip to historic Fort Piute once you reach the boundary to the Mojave National Preserve. At this point, only street-legal vehicles are allowed to proceed. Dispersed camping is allowed along route unless posted otherwise. Pack out everything.

Photos of Mojave Road, East

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Difficulty

Moderate: Most of this route is easy, but several spots are steep, rocky and rutted. OK for aggressive stock 4x4 SUVs. Soft sand and muddy at times. Don't go alone. Carry plenty of water and gas. Flash floods possible. Route-finding is challenging. Follow cairns, which are always on the right. Free GPS waypoints can be downloaded from our website at www.funtreks.com.

History

Like many roads in the West, this route started as an Indian foot path and later became an important wagon road servicing mining operations and travelers heading west. The route's many natural springs provided life-sustaining water. In 1981, volunteers formed an organization called 'Friends of the Mojave Road.' They reopened the road for recreational and historic purposes, and are today committed to its preservation.

Technical Rating

Status Reports

ONX Please update section is not open. (On the trail Nov 23, 2024) The trail looks recently repaired. It looks like it washed out due to the heavy rains. Need a high clearance or 4x4 to get up the mountain section that was repaired. Once you get passed this section the trail is pretty easy with a lot of heavy washboard roads.

The section of trail marked closed near Fort Piute is repaired and open.

Most of the trail is one lane, dirt, below the level of the vegetation. Passing is very difficult. Most is hard packed dirt, with sections of sand and washboard. 4 high for most of the trail. I averaged 10 mph. Visibility for miles. Highly recommend taking some time at Fort Piute - note the perfect corners of the fort, the Aspen trees that are not local, but probably brought from St. George, Utah or further. Think about how that outpost affected the natives of the area. At the coral are large timbers, all of which had to be transported from a great distance.

The first part of the trail is relatively smooth with few small obstacles and plenty of good scenery. The segment to fort pointe is rocky though easily passable. The pass going through the piute range is deeply rutted. High clearance necessary.

Access Description

This trail starts in a dry wash on the west side of Needles Highway, exactly 1 3/4 mile north of the Nevada state line. We found only tiny BLM posts marking the spot. These could easily be washed away. The easiest way to find this point is to follow signs to the Avi Casino located between Bullhead City, AZ, and Needles, CA. Head west from the casino to connect with Needles Highway (see map). Or head north on River Road from I-40.

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