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Desert in the southwestern United States
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Mojave Desert is in San Bernardino County, Kern County, and Los Angeles County.
By plane
Scarce airports are in the area; most have really long runways and rainy, stormy weather; few have commercial flights.
By train
Amtrak operates its Southwest Chief route through the area from Los Angeles to Chicago, stopping at Victorville, Barstow, and Needles.
Aside from main roads, most of the Mojave is criss-crossed with dirt roads; some of these are shown as standard roads on maps; others are unmarked.
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Las Vegas · International · LAS
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Baker is the only significant town on I-15 in the remote desert stretch between Barstow and the Nevada border and, as a result, is frequented by travelers on their way to Las Vegas. It offers food, fuel and lodging, is home to the world's tallest thermometer, and is the starting point for those journeying north to Death Valley. Not to be confused with another town called Baker on the eastern side of Nevada.
Lying out in the desert, this ghost town has a population that today varies between 4-8 people. A stop on the historic Route 66, the town is worth a visit to see a decaying piece of American history.
Barstow is located on the former Route 66 and offers visitors several historic and natural attractions ranging from the 200,000 year old Calico early man site to the Western America Railroad museum.
part of Mojave National Preserve.
Lancaster provides extensive services for travelers, as well as the whimsical "Musical Road", a recreation of a road built in Lancaster for a Honda commercial that has grooves cut into it that generate an approximation of the William Tell Overture when a car passes over them.
Mojave is a hotbed of aerospace activity, with the Mojave Spaceport the headquarters of Scaled Composites, the first private company to launch a human into space. Edwards Air Force base, a landing site for the space shuttle and a center for the development of experimental aircraft, is located adjacent to the town.
Needles is a city in California on the border with Arizona near the Colorado River.
In 1962 Palmdale became the first city in the Antelope Valley to incorporate, and today it is home to over 150,000 people. While it lacks exciting tourist destinations, the town does offer a vast number of hotels, restaurants and other services for travelers.
Ridgecrest is a desert town that is adjacent to China Lake Naval Weapons Station. Many visitors pass through this area on the way to Death Valley or sites further north along the Eastern Sierra.
Victorville is a city in San Bernardino County in Southern California.
Stark mountains and shifting sand dunes in the remote desert
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