Kelso Dunes Wilderness

The Kelso Dunes Wilderness covers 144,915 acres within the sprawling desert landscape of the Mojave National Preserve. Much of the area is wind-molded sand, but there are also other natural formations here. Among them are the rounded granite peaks of the Bristol Mountains in the north and the flat, dry lake bed known as Broadwell in the west, along with several flat-top volcanic mountains and a network of desert washes.

The main attraction, however, are the ever shifting sands of the most extensive field of sand dunes in California. Kelso Dunes Wilderness is also one of America's tallest dunes systems, with some of the biggest reaching a height of over 700 feet. To become so tall, these dunes have been stacked by nature upon older dunes over the course of some 25,000 years.

There are no trails through Kelso Dunes Wilderness, but climbing to the top of a tall sand dune is almost always rewarded with a panoramic view of the surrounding desert and the Providence Mountains. Listen, too, for sliding sand, which has been likened to a distant drum roll. Look, also, for traces of desert-dwelling wildlife, from antelope ground squirrels and packrats to coyote, kit fox, and the occasional sidewinder. Kelso Dunes Wilderness is located 4.6 miles north of the Kelbaker Road Exit on Interstate 40, about 95 miles west of Barstow.