A day trip on the Mojave trail?

E

ericantonio

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Hi gangters

Anyone know if the trail can be done as a day trip? I've seen lots of multi-day trip through there. I just wanna get out of OC for a day. Thinking of leaving in the middle of the night/late morning, be in that area by breakfast time, and taking in an easy trail.

Is it mostly 1 way? Or can I drive a few hours in, turn around, and come back same way I came in?

Looks like it can be done on 2wd mostly huh?
 
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You wouldn’t be able to do the entire thing but you could definitely do a portion of it in 1 day. There are a few paved roads that cross Mojave Rd that make good start and finish points for day trips, portioning the entire trail into 3 sections. You could easily do the western-most section as a (long) day trip from OC.
And yes, it can be done in 2 wheel drive, although I’d still suggest airing down.


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For a day trip, I would recommend Anza Borrego. That's quite the drive to Mojave for one day, unless you are leaving at 5 am.

Its not one way, and there's a lot to explore, sand dunes, lava tubes etc...

It's taking me up to 8 hours in traffic. Probably 4 hours with not traffic and no stops. Anza is 2 hours.

Hope this helps
 
DannyLlama said:
For a day trip, I would recommend Anza Borrego. That's quite the drive to Mojave for one day, unless you are leaving at 5 am.

Its not one way, and there's a lot to explore, sand dunes, lava tubes etc...

It's taking me up to 8 hours in traffic. Probably 4 hours with not traffic and no stops. Anza is 2 hours.

Hope this helps
Click to expand...

I thought about this too! I was thinking maybe I can do some of the Mojave trail, the spend a night at vegas or something.
But Anza Borrego sounds like a fantastic alternative.

I've seen some videos and I thought maybe I wouldn't be experienced enough to do the hard sections of AB. So maybe if I can do a little research and plan a day trip there to the mud caves, turn around, get some good tacos on the 78, and head back to OC.

Both sound like a plan. Oh also, yes, I don't mind leaving super early to get to Mojave!
 
ericantonio said:
I thought about this too! I was thinking maybe I can do some of the Mojave trail, the spend a night at vegas or something.
But Anza Borrego sounds like a fantastic alternative.

I've seen some videos and I thought maybe I wouldn't be experienced enough to do the hard sections of AB. So maybe if I can do a little research and plan a day trip there to the mud caves, turn around, get some good tacos on the 78, and head back to OC.

Both sound like a plan. Oh also, yes, I don't mind leaving super early to get to Mojave!
Click to expand...

There's plenty you can explore that's not hard..
  • Sand Stone Canyon
  • Wind Caves
  • Mud Caves
  • Badlands

First two are on the same route and my brother in law did them in a stock limited 4X4.

Maybe we'll set up a group run soon.
 
ericantonio said:
I thought about this too! I was thinking maybe I can do some of the Mojave trail, the spend a night at vegas or something.
But Anza Borrego sounds like a fantastic alternative.

I've seen some videos and I thought maybe I wouldn't be experienced enough to do the hard sections of AB. So maybe if I can do a little research and plan a day trip there to the mud caves, turn around, get some good tacos on the 78, and head back to OC.

Both sound like a plan. Oh also, yes, I don't mind leaving super early to get to Mojave!
Click to expand...

When are you looking to go? I really want to check out AB and I have some other friends who would probably want to join.
 
krhayes79 said:
When are you looking to go? I really want to check out AB and I have some other friends who would probably want to join.[/QUOTE [MENTION=75328]DannyLlama[/MENTION]

We should definitely setup a group run before it gets too hot out there. Lots of fun to be had in AB.
Click to expand...
 
ericantonio said:
Hi gangters

Anyone know if the trail can be done as a day trip? I've seen lots of multi-day trip through there. I just wanna get out of OC for a day. Thinking of leaving in the middle of the night/late morning, be in that area by breakfast time, and taking in an easy trail.

Is it mostly 1 way? Or can I drive a few hours in, turn around, and come back same way I came in?

Looks like it can be done on 2wd mostly huh?
Click to expand...

What I've done a couple times is just head out to Afton Canyon and play around in the canyon crisscrossing the mojave river, check out the mud caves, and the mine outside the east end of the canyon. Beautiful place, lots of fun, and a good day trip. If you want to do a one-nighter you can camp at the mine site; it's pretty cool. And it's on BLM land so you can pop off a few rounds too.
 
Is the water crossing on the west or east end?
I need to check it out some day as I live 20 miles from the east end.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
ericantonio said:
Hi gangters

Anyone know if the trail can be done as a day trip? I've seen lots of multi-day trip through there. I just wanna get out of OC for a day. Thinking of leaving in the middle of the night/late morning, be in that area by breakfast time, and taking in an easy trail.

Is it mostly 1 way? Or can I drive a few hours in, turn around, and come back same way I came in?

Looks like it can be done on 2wd mostly huh?
Click to expand...

I just did the whole road from 95 (east side) to Afton Canyon (west side). We did it at a leisurely pace and it took a day and a few hours. We started around 10am and finished up around noon the next day. Total driving time was only 6 hrs 45 minutes at an average of like 16 mph, but we stopped a fair bit for pictures and such, and camped west of Soda Lake. If you drove it with purpose and skipped Fort Paiute, you could absolutely do the whole thing in a day.

I used 4 hi like twice on some rocky stuff, and on the various longer water crossings. There is apparently a nasty rocky hill at Watson Wash but I apparently missed that by accident (the route can be hard to follow at times).

It's all 2-way so you can go out and in if you want.

I have a trip report. There's no other specific route info in it, but if you want to see conditions as of March 2021:

March 2021 Mojave Desert trip - MeefZah
 
patkelly4370 said:
Is the water crossing on the west or east end?
I need to check it out some day as I live 20 miles from the east end.

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Click to expand...

It is on the west but just know that it is not the same water crossing as it used to be. It only goes up to about the middle of the wheel. Still cool, but not difficult at all.
 
krhayes79 said:
It is on the west but just know that it is not the same water crossing as it used to be. It only goes up to about the middle of the wheel. Still cool, but not difficult at all.
Click to expand...

Ya the second water crossing under the bridge is actually deeper. Couple of decently deep holes with soft bottoms. Saw a couple trucks get stuck in there.
 
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