Mojave Trails National Monument


Mojave Trails National Monument is a large U.S. National Monument located in the state of California between Interstates 15 and 40. It partially surrounds the Mojave National Preserve. It was designated by President Obama on February 12, 2016 along with Castle Mountains National Monument and Sand to Snow National Monument. It is under the control of the Bureau of Land Management.

Features

Like the Mojave National Preserve, Mojave Trails National Monument contains mountain ranges, volcanic features, and sand dunes. Mojave Trails National Monument is the largest national monument in the contiguous United States and so far is almost entirely undeveloped. Four wilderness areas are within the monument: Trilobite, Clipper Mountain, Piute Mountains and Bigelow Cholla Garden.
The most visited area in Mojave Trails National Monument is Amboy Crater, a cinder cone extinct volcano, which was a popular sight for travelers in the heyday of route 66 from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Another area with developed recreation facilities is Afton Canyon, one of only two places where the 140-mile long Mojave River continuously flows above the ground. Afton Canyon has steep rock walls that earned it the nickname of “Grand Canyon of the Mojave”.
One of the most remote areas in the monument consists of the nearly pristine Cadiz Dunes, which are orange-pink and unvegetated. They formed from the sand of dry lake beds.
Cultural resources in Mojave Trails National Monument include 105 miles of historic U.S. Route 66, from Needles to Ludlow, the longest remaining undeveloped stretch of Route 66, and some of the best preserved sites from the World War II-era Desert Training Center.