Along the Road - California 14 Mojave to Inyokern

The next stop after Channel Islands National Park on our February 2015 trip to southern California was Death Valley National Park. Our route took us from Ventura through Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster before leaving the freeways of the greater Los Angeles area. Once out of the traffic and in the desert again, we saw some beautiful scenery as we traveled along CA 14, US 395 and CA 190 as we approached Death Valley.

 In Mojave

Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC) west of Mojave is the largest wind farm in the U.S.

AWEC has an installed capacity of 1,574 MW

Twelve miles north of the town of Mojave

El Paso Mountains

Barren Ridge with Sweet Ridge (6335') beyond

Black Hills

Red Cliffs Natural Preserve

California 14 bisects Red Rock Canyon State Park and is adjacent to the Red Cliffs. Twenty-four miles from Mojave, a side road to a day use parking area provides access to the cliffs and a loop trail. The initial 200 feet of the road is paved. Due to the rain the previous day and overnight, the ground was way too soft for our rental vehicle and too soft for me to hike through as well.

The Red Cliffs are over 250' high

Looking up the canyon

A side canyon across the highway

The main canyon with CA 14

These green hills to the southeast block views of the El Paso Mountains

More hills to the east

Looking back down the canyon

Thirty-two miles north of Mojave

Cloud reflection and the Scodie Mountains

A closer view of the Scodie Mountains

Ridge between Bird Spring Canyon and Horse Canyon leading up to Skinner Peak and the Pacific Crest Trail

Snow covering Black Mountain

Clouds over the Red Buttes

Joshua Trees in Indian Wells Valley

The Red Rock Canyon State Park website is http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=631.