Overview

This route runs across open desert and sand for about 1.5 miles to the top of the Kelso Dunes, which stand some 470 feet above the trailhead. After the first few minutes, the trail disappears into the sand, but the summit is always in view and there is little chance of getting lost. Running down the steep south face of the tallest dune makes for a fun route back to the trailhead.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a safe hike. Guard your eyes and camera equipment if the wind and sand are blowing.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this is a short hike, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

This hike is located Mojave National Preserve, about 2 hours south of Las Vegas.

From town, drive out to Cima (Table 1, Site 831) in the Mojave National Preserve. From Cima, drive southwest on Kelso-Cima Road for 18.8 miles to Kelso (Site 837). As you approach Kelso, you can see the sand dune in the distance; the road passes to the left of the dunes and comes back in from the south. In Kelso, turn left (south), cross the railroad tracks, and continue south for 7.8 miles (towards Interstate-40) to Kelso Dunes Road (Site 838), which is just before some tin buildings that can be seen from a long ways off. Turn right onto Kelso Dunes Road and drive west for 2.9 miles to a pullout with restrooms (Site 839), which is just south of the highest dunes. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 1), walk north towards the highest sand dunes. There is no particular route, just wander out into the sand following the footprints, but avoiding walking on the vegetation (it is hard enough to live out here without getting trampled). Heading for, and then ascending, the east ridge makes for a reasonable route to the summit.

Out in the dunes, watch for footprints from the animals that live out there. The burrows around the bushes are mostly dug by kangaroo rats. These cute little rodents hop on their hind legs like kangaroos. They have long tails with a tuft of fur on the end that they use for balance. Watch for their tracks. When they are hopping along slowly, you will see side-by-side footprints with a mark where their tail drags in the sand. If hopping fast, they hold their tail in the air for balance, so there is no drag mark, and the paired footprints can be several feet apart. Lizards also make tail-drag marks, but their footprints are alternating rather than paired. Watch for "sand swimmer" (Mojave fringe-toed lizard) tracks: lizard tracks that seem to disappear into the sand. Bird prints tend to alternate, never have a drag mark, and have three toes pointed forward and one toe pointed backwards. Snake tracks are seldom seen, but watch for lines of smoothed out sand with no footprints. If you are really lucky, you might find the disconnected, S-shaped tracks of a Sidewinder (a type of rattlesnake). If you follow the tracks and find the snake, don't try to pick it up. Most people who are bitten by rattlesnakes get that way because they tried to catch the snake, and the poor little frightened thing just tried to defend itself from the monster.

The route into the dunes starts out heading slightly downhill following the slope of the land. Through this area, the vegetation is typical of lower-elevation Mojave Desert: vast flats of Creosote Bush and White Bursage on coarse, sandy soils. There are many kangaroo rat burrows through here too. After about 0.25 miles, the route gets into the dunes, and the vegetation switches to species that can survive on the shifting sands: here bunchgrasses (probably Big Galleta Grass) and a straw-colored shrub. After another 0.4 miles, the dunes start to get steep. On the steep dunes, it is another 0.6 miles to the crest. Climbing to the crest of the dunes in the soft sand is hard enough, but the really hard part is hiking along the crest to the summit (Wpt. 2).

The views from the summit are worth every effort. Off to the east are the steep and craggy Providence Mountains. To the south are the imposing Granite Mountains. To the west is the Devil's Playground where sand fields seem to go on forever.

Return to the trailhead by running and rolling down the steep south face of the tallest dune, then wander back among the dunes to the trailhead, which is always visible from high points in the dunefield.