Qualla: Mojave Trails National Monument

Mojave Trails National Monument: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Joshua Tree National Park, Public domain. When President Obama designated Mojave Trails National Monument on February 12, 2016, he created the largest national monument in the contiguous United States — a designation that covered territory so vast and so undeveloped that the main challenge wasn't what to protect but how to describe it. The monument has no single focal point, no iconic landmark that concentrates visitor attention. It is, instead, a landscape: 105 miles of historic Route 66, six wilderness areas, volcanic features, desert playas, mountain ranges, and the remnants of a World War II military training operation so large it covered more ground than some states.

Image: Joshua Tree National Park | Public domain

Mojave Trails National Monument: The Last Long Stretch of Route 66

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0. The monument contains the longest undeveloped segment of historic Route 66 in the country — running from Needles to Ludlow, the road passes through the monument's territory with few interruptions. Along this stretch, the highway retains the character it had before Interstate 40 b...

Image: Stan Shebs | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mojave Trails National Monument: What the Desert Training Left Behind

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit EgorovaSvetlana, CC BY-SA 4.0. During World War II, General George Patton established the Desert Training Center in the Mojave to prepare American troops for the North Africa campaign. The training area covered roughly 18,000 square miles — larger than the state of Connecticut — and involved hundreds of thousa...

Image: EgorovaSvetlana | CC BY-SA 4.0

Mojave Trails National Monument: Six Wilderness Areas

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Inklein, CC BY-SA 4.0. The monument encompasses six designated wilderness areas, including the Trilobite Wilderness in the Marble Mountains, where Cambrian-era trilobite fossils are so abundant that virtually every piece of rock contains evidence of life from 500 million years ago. Other wilderness are...

Image: Inklein | CC BY-SA 4.0

Mojave Trails National Monument: Almost Entirely Undeveloped

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wilson44691: Photograph taken by Mark A. Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster). [1], Public domain. What makes Mojave Trails unusual among national monuments is the degree to which it has been left alone. There is no visitor center — or rather, the visitor center at Kelso Depot in the adjacent Mojave National Preserve serves nearby areas. There are no paved roads within the mon...

Image: Wilson44691: Photograph taken by Mark A. Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster). [1] | Public domain