Mohave road 2022

https://www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/mojave-road.htm

Seeing if anyone is interested in going as a group . The road is Approximately 150 miles long.
The tentative plan is to move at a leisurely pace and see as many offshoots as possible. I'd also be Interested in possibly linking this trip into other camping if possible. Depending on were we start and end. Los Vegas,lake Havasu are close. Joshua tree and the beaches are a 3 hour drive.
Should be able to make the trip in a stock 4wd that in good working condition.
I'd like to keep it open to any 4wd with at least 30" tires.
If the group gets bigger than 7 vehicles and 25 people we need special permits.

I'm thinking March around the 17th. We can have our own st.patties day parade though the desert
Open to any suggestions on time dates and routes.

Current list of attendees.
Dates are 3/16 -3/20.
1. Chrslefty confirmed
2. Tailhook confirmed
3. Sixthelement confirmed/ride along
4.MR E30 swim wear
5.mike92y confirmed
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

 

Bring it Chris!

 

Oh yes!

 

What is the planned route to get there?
Where would the meetup start point be located?
What is the return trip look like?

 

The GPX that I have has the ingress in Mojave Valley just south of Bullhead City, and egress near Manix at I-15. Think Manix Wash is still filled in with rock?

Meetup in Needles makes the most sense, IMO. From the Valley, I'd likely go I-10 and then take 95 north in Blythe. I-40 is probably the best route for the Northerners. I'll probably hit up Joshua Tree on the way back...or Death Valley for the scenic route.

 

I am in! It would sure be nice to run with A/C

I have ran it twice,
once in '09 in a 89 Ford Ranger 4x4 with a leveling kit and 30s
again in '10 in a 93 Jeep XJ 4x4 on 33s

in our group we had a stock 1st gen 2wd taco and a stock early 90s suburban.
The only time they had trouble was when they slowed / stopped in the sand.
There are side trips that are more difficult but the trail itself is moderate difficulty at worse

Biggest issue for the mojave trail is reliability and clearance for the water crossing at the end,
Although a bypass has been identified


For a meetup point I suggest the Avi Casino, dirt cheap rooms, next to gas, and close to the trailhead.

The trail is about 150 miles and 3 days is the fastest it can be run comfortably

If someone doesnt have it already I will buy the trail guide. My buddy had it last time and it had lots of info and side trips.

Here is me stalling out in the crossing when I was 19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JrIymX_3jM&t=2s

 

Thank you for the information.

 

This is a must have for the trip. If we wind up putting a group together and noone has it I'll buy it

$45 Mojave Road Guide - An Adventure Through Time and Map

https://www.amazon.com/Mojave-Road-...1&keywords=mojave+trail&qid=1633282088&sr=8-2

 

No problem. Let me know if you have questions.

This thread has current status of the water crossing.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mojave-road-water-crossing.709180/page-2#post-25221979

In the past it has been several feet deep, and at time prohibitive for stock vehicles.
Currently it has been filled in and is only a few inches deep.

 

7 hours is pretty comfortable for me just running through with only a couple side trips, but ive done it many times,,,, i would absolutely spend time doing it.

rocks were still in the west crossing a few months back last time i ran it,,, the east crossing was untouched

i have the trail guides, i can loan them to @Sixthelement .

 

Awesome!! Thanks for the info and updates!

 

Someone mentioned "moderate difficulty"...

<laughs in Lockhart Basin>

 

i guess it’s changed a lot in ten plus years

 

You can do it without 4wd right?

 

yeah. Just keep up your speed in the sand and you’ll be fine

 

I'm just saying that compared to some of the stuff I've run (and others in this thread) recently, the Mojave Road is a lazy country drive

 

Get the differential breather mod done before the water crossing!

 

Oh yeah I agree. You could run it in pretty much any truck or suv

 

I ran the full length of Mojave road this past March and had never done it before. In general, it is a VERY easy trail. There are some sections with small undulations that require you go quite slow otherwise the frequency amplifies and it's a rough ride. So slow going there which is a bit boring.

There is one section where you drop into Watson wash and that was the most technical and difficult. Luckily there were some more experienced jeepers that we ran into here and they helped spot me on the way down - my wife was NOT confident, nor experienced enough to do this so I was glad to have the help. Going down picking the right line was important and in general just go VERY slow. It's steep and basically slippery decomposed granite type terrain. I still scraped a little coming down (2" lift + 31.5" tires).

As others mentioned, the big water crossing is now mere inches deep and should be zero concern. The other water crossing was probably 1.5" deep. Easily passable.

It was very windy when we went. So much so that sleeping was difficult due to the noise. Didn't sleep at all the first night. Second night we took an offshoot up into the hills to try and find some protection from the wind - which was helpful.