Mojave Road

Sp00ner

Sp00ner

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Anyone have experience on this route?

Looking at making a trip early next year. The water crossing at the end terrifies me a bit... The rest of it looks super awesome.
 
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I did it in May and it was a great time.

Traveled Eastward (from Barstow), starting with the water crossing. Wasn't bad at all, however, then there wasn't much rain in the area for a few months. Water levels change frequently, so just be aware of the weather during your trip and a few weeks before.

I was the first of my group to pass through I stayed towards the right side as it's known to be a bit shallower compared to the middle. So in your direction of travel, stay to your left.

If you decide not to pass through, you are able to backtrack towards the way you came and take an alternate road that leads to the 15.
 
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Get Dennis Casebier's Mojave Road Guide. It's excellent for history and directions.

Mojave Road Guide - An Adventure Through Time (Mojave Road Guide): Dennis Casebier: 9780914224372: Amazon.com: Books

51hxXl1BQQL._SY286_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 
Mojave Road is an awesome trail. I highly recommend it. The book mentioned above is great, I bought it but never used it while on the trail. I used my gps and had all the sites we wanted to see in the gps. There is a ton of really cool stuff to see.

You can do the trail in one or two days if you want to just blast thru it without stopping. We did a lot of extra site seeing so we spent 3 days on it.

From Socal we drove to the east end of of the trail and headed west so as to not have as long of drive home when done. The water crossing was a bit too deep for our comfort so we opted to turn around and backtrack a bit.

Bring extra gas if you plan on exploring.
 
Eacook1 said:
Mojave Road is an awesome trail. I highly recommend it. The book mentioned above is great, I bought it but never used it while on the trail. I used my gps and had all the sites we wanted to see in the gps. There is a ton of really cool stuff to see.

You can do the trail in one or two days if you want to just blast thru it without stopping. We did a lot of extra site seeing so we spent 3 days on it.

From Socal we drove to the east end of of the trail and headed west so as to not have as long of drive home when done. The water crossing was a bit too deep for our comfort so we opted to turn around and backtrack a bit.

Bring extra gas if you plan on exploring.
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Starting to make plans for next year already, though likely in mid July, and that seems to be the wrong time of year for that route, but we'll see how the plans shape up.

I've got that book in my cart on Amazon waiting to confirm and ship.
 
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It’s a fun trip. Done it maybe 10 times now? The water crossing is variable. Went through there two weeks ago and even though there was zero water anywhere else in Afton Canyon and the other water crossing, it was pretty deep in the one at the end. As deep as I’ve ever seen it anyway and got some water seepage into the truck past the door seals. The water itself was half way up the doors so not that surprising.

The trip is best if you take a few days and enjoy the historical sites both on and off the route. Lots of stuff to see out there for sure.
 
Just seeing the number of vehicles go through and the water levels make me want to do it just because of the idea of crossing the Mojave River.

My question is even after watching people go through it in videos; Some people get water on the floor pushing past the seals and others don't. Is the little amount of water that makes it through an issue?
 
_Moose said:
Just seeing the number of vehicles go through and the water levels make me want to do it just because of the idea of crossing the Mojave River.

My question is even after watching people go through it in videos; Some people get water on the floor pushing past the seals and others don't. Is the little amount of water that makes it through an issue?
Click to expand...

Your mileage may vary but in this instance it wasn’t enough to concern me. The carpet got a little wet and I’m sure the channels on the sides of the body where the electrical runs got some water into them. I live in Las Vegas where the humidity is single digits all the time so it just dries out. No concern about anything. In the past, on other vehicles, when I’ve opened those spots up to add cabling and there was dirt in there transported by water but whatever.

The water levels vary but you’re not going to sink the truck and abandon it there.
 
I went with cousins almost a year ago. Drove to Laughlin, stayed the night, and then started the trail the next day. Very cool, will do again some day.

Water crossing was probably the biggest challenge. As far as we could tell, it hadn't rained all summer, but the water was still maybe 36" deep. Lots of water in cars, had to rebuild my starter a couple months later because of flooding. Maybe try duct taping door seams?
 
Gps

Eacook1 said:
Mojave Road is an awesome trail. I highly recommend it. The book mentioned above is great, I bought it but never used it while on the trail. I used my gps and had all the sites we wanted to see in the gps. There is a ton of really cool stuff to see.

You can do the trail in one or two days if you want to just blast thru it without stopping. We did a lot of extra site seeing so we spent 3 days on it.

From Socal we drove to the east end of of the trail and headed west so as to not have as long of drive home when done. The water crossing was a bit too deep for our comfort so we opted to turn around and backtrack a bit.

Bring extra gas if you plan on exploring.
Click to expand...

Which GPS shows all that or did you download a file to load into yours?
 
If one end is in Laughlin then it's in my yard.
Now I have to look for it.
I live in Golden Valley, AZ

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
pixjohn said:
Has anyone been through the water crossing in the past couple of days? Thinking of starting the Mojave road at the water crossing end first and then going to Death Valley.
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The river crossing has been filled in by the railroad. They have promised to remove the rocks when they are done with their nearby construction, but for now, it is no more. See this Youtube.com link:

THE END of Mojave Road River Crossing? (Afton Canyon) - Filled with rocks - Adventure Vlog #1 - YouTube
 
We crossed in late October. Rocks were rough, but doable even with 4runner stock suspension and tires - no issues at all. Depth was maybe 18 inches at the deepest point. But keep in mind, water levels can change quickly in the desert.

The trail overall is beautiful. The Overland Journal GPS tracks are a great place to start your route planning. Overland Routes | The Mojave Road - Expedition Portal

Recommend you do the Mojave Road over 3 days to have time to explore side trails and hikes. Keep an eye on elevation - overnight temperatures get quite low at the higher campsites.

On the last trip, we noticed some increase in trash at campsites - please remember trash bags and pack out what you bring and maybe a little bit of what you find if you have the space.
 
I just did 4 days on the Mojave road over Thanksgiving. What a great trip, I highly recommended it. We took our time and spent 4 days just getting lost and a few side trips. I had to use 5 of my extra 8 gallons, but we drove out to the sand dunes, and a few other amazing trails. We had a few very windy nights but just kept everything tied down on the tent.
 
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