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Desert Landscapes

Articles including desert landscapes

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Newberry Springs Driving Tour

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You are about to embark on a tour of a very unique community in the heart of the Mojave Desert, known as Newberry Springs. What makes this community special are the many sights and attractions found nowhere else.

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Trip Specs

Length

About 30 miles (50 km)

Attractions

  • Historic old buildings
  • Unique attractions
  • Desert landscapes
  • Sand dunes

Difficulty

  • Mostly paved roads

Elevation Gain

None

Virtual Video Tour

YouTubeNewberry

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Calico Mountains Road Trip

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The Calico Mountains near Barstow offer a treasure trove of hiking and opportunities for exploring back roads, along with unusual geologic formations and classic California mining history. Best known for the Calico Ghost Town, not many people are aware of what lies behind the famous ghost town. Several days can be spent exploring the different corners and fascinating places to see in the Calico Mountains.

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Trip Specs

Length

10 miles (16 km)

Attractions

  • Rugged colorful mountains
  • Rugged canyons
  • Historic mines
  • Desert vistas

Difficulty

  • Must have 4WD high-clearance
  • Difficult to navigate
  • Easy to get lost

Elevation Gain

1,000 feet (300 m)

Virtual Video Tour

YouTube66LudlowNeedles

The Tour

Our tour starts on the east side of Barstow, where our previous tour of Main Street through downtown Barstow, ends. If you’ve missed that, see Driving Route 66 thru Downtown Barstow. This tour ends in the remote desert outpost of Ludlow.

Along the way, this tour visits these interesting towns and sites:

  • Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow with its connection to the Tournament of Roses Parade
  • Elephant Mountain
  • Daggett
  • Cool Water Ranch & power plants
  • Barstow-Daggett Airport
  • Newberry Mountain
  • Newberry Springs
  • Pisgah Crater

This tour can be taken in either direction; from Barstow to Ludlow or Ludlow to Barstow. If you start in Ludlow, simply follow the tour itinerary in reverse.

Barstow

Begin your tour by driving to the east-end of Main Street in Barstow, where it passes underneath Interstate 40. You can also take the I-40 freeway and take exit #1. Reset your trip meter here.

There isn’t much to see along the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) stretch of Route 66 from exit #1 to the Marine Corps base. There used to be an old hotel and bar, but it was razed around 2010. If you’re not a serious or diehard Route 66 traveler, you can jump on I-40 and exit at Nebo Street (exit #5), which also bypasses the Marine Corps base.

Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow

If you took Route 66 from exit #1, you’ll pass underneath I-40 again and in a short distance be stopped by the base’s main entrance. Just before the entrance stands an old gas station and hotel that was originally a Motel 6.

The alignment of Route 66 used to go right through the middle of this military installation. Until I-40 was built, Route 66 travelers drove right through the base as if it were another town along the road. Unfortunately, after the events of September 11, 2001, for security concerns, the public can no longer drive on this portion of Route 66 through the base.

The base is used as a supply depot and maintenance facility for the Marine Corps. It was originally established in 1942 to support the Pacific theater in World War 2. During this time, unneeded material, mainly wood for crates, were thrown away but picked up by locals to build many of the old buildings along Route 66. The base itself, has since grown to support the on-going needs of the Marines.

A satellite facility of the base was built later and called the Marine Corps Logistics Base Yermo Annex. It can be seen along this tour just north of our visit through Daggett. Here is where the Marines store a lot of their rolling stock. Trains can regularly be seen delivering or picking up the rolling stock, such as tanks, assault vehicles and JLTVs (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle).

An interesting side note about this facility, it is the home of a mounted color guard. Traditionally, this elite team of equestrians lead and kick off the beginning of the Tournament of Roses Parade on Pasadena’s Colorado Blvd, which ironically is also, Route 66.

To continue the tour, jump on I-40 eastbound at exit #2, drive two miles, then exit at Nebo Street (exit #5).

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Pistachios of Newberry Springs

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Newberry Springs’ economy has been agriculturally based since the earliest years. Apricots, alfalfa, chickens, turkeys, and even catfish were all commercially grown here on a large scale. In 1979, with the fall of the Shah of Iran, the world’s supply of pistachios became a concern. The U.S. pistachio industry expanded to meet the demand for this healthy, nutritious nut. Native to Persia, now Iran, it was a logical crop to grow right here in Newberry Springs.

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The first pistachio seeds were brought to California in the 1850s. It was in the 1880s that the first pistachio nuts were imported to sell to Persian immigrants. To hide the generally poor quality of these imports, the nuts were dyed red. As the popularity of the pistachio grew, so did the interest in producing them here. It was a long process of testing varieties and methods of growing and processing. A very long process. The first commercial crop was produced in 1976. Ninety-eight percent of U.S. pistachio production is in California, primarily in Kern and Fresno Counties.

In the early 1980s, a lot of people planted pistachios here in Newberry Springs. The trees are planted as root stock. Later, male or female pistachio trees are grafted to this root stock. The male trees are strategically located in the orchard. Pollination is done by the wind, much like corn. Big Al, of Big Al’s Pistachio Farm was one of the first growers here. He performed grafting services for the growing number of producers. His processing equipment was used by many of the small growers to ready their crops for market. The first Pistachio Festival was held at his barn in 1998.

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Mojave National Preserve

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The Mojave National Preserve is one of the newest units of the National Park Service and within its boundaries represents much of the fine qualities of the Mojave Desert. This article, along with our Virtual Tour below, will give you a brief overview of some of the sites to see in the Preserve and where they can be found.

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The Mojave National Preserve (MNP) was formed in 1994 by what is known as the Desert Protection Act. At approximately 1.6 million acres, it is currently the third largest unit of the National Park Service within the contiguous United States (right behind Death Valley and Yellowstone). It is roughly located between the I-15 and I-40 with the western edges starting roughly near Baker (north) and Ludlow (south) and extending to the Nevada/Arizona border.

There is a lot to explore in this large area and we hope that this article will spark your interest to learn more about it and take a trip (or several trips) out there to experience it for yourself. In addition to the vast amount of open, unspoiled desert landscapes, the Preserve has many unique things to see. It is a very special place.

Our accompanying YouTube virtual video tour gives you a glimpse of what those things look like and where they are located. Even better is our compressive Virtual Tour Guide that gives you plenty of details on all the places you’ll want to visit. Once you see all that the Preserve has to offer, you’ll want to go back again and again.

Virtual Video Tour

YouTubeMNP
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Mojave Trails National Monument

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Designated in 2016, Mojave Trails National Monument is located inside the vast Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California. Mojave Trails is a fairly new national monument, which was created along with two other nearby national monuments, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains. It’s eastern boundary is just east of Newberry Springs.

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Coverage

The monument covers a large swath of Mojave Desert, 1.6 million acres to be exact, just south of the existing Mojave National Preserve, and north of Joshua Tree National Park. It also incorporates several existing wilderness areas.

Unlike other national monuments, the area here is almost totally undeveloped, which was one of the reasons for creating it. With the talk of largescale solar power plants and windfarms, desert activists and preservationists wanted to take action before this swath of land was used for something that would alter the scenery in this area forever.

This is a map created by the BLM:

Virtual Video Tour

YouTubeMojaveTrails
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Route 66 Ludlow to Needles

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This stretch of Route 66 is part of the once-dreaded Barstow to Needles portion of the road that was so intimidating to those traveling back in the 20s and 30s. Most people had never seen a desert before and the lack of civilization out here was a genuine worry. Similar to the segment covered in the Barstow and Ludlow segment, this segment is even more remote and is also twice as long!

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Trip Specs

Length

103 miles (164 km) one-way (Ludlow to Barstow)

Attractions

  • Classic Americana
  • Historic old buildings
  • Route 66 attractions
  • Amboy Crater
  • Large desert vistas

Difficulty

  • Roads are all paved
  • Rough pavement on eastern half

Elevation Gain

None

Virtual Video Tour

YouTube66LudlowNeedles

The Tour

Our tour starts on the east side of Barstow, where our previous tour of Main Street through downtown Barstow, ends. If you’ve missed that, see Driving Route 66 thru Downtown Barstow. This tour ends in the remote desert outpost of Ludlow.

Along the way, this tour visits these interesting towns and sites:

  • Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow with its connection to the Tournament of Roses Parade
  • Elephant Mountain
  • Daggett
  • Cool Water Ranch & power plants
  • Barstow-Daggett Airport
  • Newberry Mountain
  • Newberry Springs
  • Pisgah Crater

This tour can be taken in either direction; from Barstow to Ludlow or Ludlow to Barstow. If you start in Ludlow, simply follow the tour itinerary in reverse.

Barstow

Begin your tour by driving to the east-end of Main Street in Barstow, where it passes underneath Interstate 40. You can also take the I-40 freeway and take exit #1. Reset your trip meter here.

There isn’t much to see along the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) stretch of Route 66 from exit #1 to the Marine Corps base. There used to be an old hotel and bar, but it was razed around 2010. If you’re not a serious or diehard Route 66 traveler, you can jump on I-40 and exit at Nebo Street (exit #5), which also bypasses the Marine Corps base.

Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow

If you took Route 66 from exit #1, you’ll pass underneath I-40 again and in a short distance be stopped by the base’s main entrance. Just before the entrance stands an old gas station and hotel that was originally a Motel 6.

The alignment of Route 66 used to go right through the middle of this military installation. Until I-40 was built, Route 66 travelers drove right through the base as if it were another town along the road. Unfortunately, after the events of September 11, 2001, for security concerns, the public can no longer drive on this portion of Route 66 through the base.

The base is used as a supply depot and maintenance facility for the Marine Corps. It was originally established in 1942 to support the Pacific theater in World War 2. During this time, unneeded material, mainly wood for crates, were thrown away but picked up by locals to build many of the old buildings along Route 66. The base itself, has since grown to support the on-going needs of the Marines.

A satellite facility of the base was built later and called the Marine Corps Logistics Base Yermo Annex. It can be seen along this tour just north of our visit through Daggett. Here is where the Marines store a lot of their rolling stock. Trains can regularly be seen delivering or picking up the rolling stock, such as tanks, assault vehicles and JLTVs (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle).

An interesting side note about this facility, it is the home of a mounted color guard. Traditionally, this elite team of equestrians lead and kick off the beginning of the Tournament of Roses Parade on Pasadena’s Colorado Blvd, which ironically is also, Route 66.

To continue the tour, jump on I-40 eastbound at exit #2, drive two miles, then exit at Nebo Street (exit #5).