Mojave River

The Mojave Road keeps things interesting the whole way: dry desert one minute, water and mud the next. Phillip Usrey took it on with his Tacoma TRD Off-Road and OP4, from the preserve at the start of the road all the way to Afton Canyon.

"We stopped at a number of sites along the way. Our first night was just inside the preserve at the beginning of Mojave Rd. The next day was a slow one with an easy drive. We stopped along the road to check out some petroglyphs and took a detour to Fort Piute. We overnighted at the Piute Corral. The next day was a ton of driving with a few stops along the way. We checked out an old mine site called Death Valley Mine and camped out at the nearby corral named Thomas Place."

"The next day we stopped and signed our name at the Mojave Mailbox. We then took another detour up to the lava tubes and went inside and got some amazing photos. The next morning we crossed the salt flats and added our rock to Travelers Monument then took a spin through the sand dunes. After that we dropped into Afton Canyon which is amazing! The walls are layered like a rainbow and beautiful. We followed the Mojave River dipping in and out of it a few times and crossing under the train trestle. After that we did the big river crossing which you see below and finished out our run at Afton Campground where we aired up and hit the i15. We said our goodbyes to our friends then headed to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park and a quick visit with my daughter. All in all, had a great time!"