Overview

Aiken Mine Road is an old mining and ranching road that runs across desert flats and skirts the edge of lava flows, providing access to the Lava Tube Trail and wild places beyond. Most of the road is wide and relatively well-graded (mostly two lanes wide), but it is sandy in places, rough in a few spots with some rocks, and it can be washboarded.

Out to the Lava Tube Trail, the 4.8-mile dirt road traverses sandy flats in the Mojave Desert Scrub habitat that can be full of spring wildflowers. The hills are cinder cones and lava flows, providing interesting terrain and broad views.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... the road is fast and easy in a 2WD-HC vehicle, but it should be passable in a carefully driven sedan. Drive slowly and carefully, and watch for on-coming traffic on blind turns. If driving a sedan, inquire locally about current conditions and use your own good judgment about the road conditions, as the road is subject to washouts.

While out in the desert, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though the road is short, the area is remote, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Road

This road is located in Mojave National Preserve, about 2 hours south of Las Vegas. From town, drive out to the Mojave National Preserve Visitor Center at Kelso.

From the Visitor Center, drive west on Kelso-Cima Road a few yards to Kelbaker Road (Table 1, Site 0837). Turn right (towards Interstate-15) and drive north and west for 14.9 miles to Aiken Mine Road (Site 0841), on the right.

Alternatively, from Las Vegas, drive south on Interstate-15 for about 85 miles to the town of Baker (Site 0840). Exit the Interstate at Highway 127 in Baker and turn south (left) on Kelbaker Road towards Kelso. From the center of the interstate, drive 19.7 miles to Aiken Mine Road (Site 0841), on the left.

The Road

At the Aiken Mine Road turnoff (Site 0841), there is a large (about 50 yards long), dirt parking area on the northeast side of the road. This is the only large pullout in the area and makes a good landmark.

From Kelbaker Road, Aiken Mine Road runs northeast. At about 1.5 miles from the pavement, the road passes a side road to the right, and shortly thereafter, passes an old corral with a water tank and an old truck body on the left (north) side of the road.

Continuing northeast, the road winds about but generally trends northeast skirting the edge of the lava flows.

At about 4.5 miles out, the road forks (Site 0844). Here, the Aiken Mine Road bends to the right, and staying left, drivers actually go straight onto the one-lane Lava Tube Access Road. Watch for a small sign at the fork.

On Lava Tube Access Road, the road passes another historic corral on the left (north) side of the road (0.2 miles from the fork). After another 0.1 miles (0.3 miles from Aiken Mine Road and 4.8 miles from the pavement) the 2WD road ends at a turn-about and parking area (Site 0842). Sedans must stop here, but with a 4WD vehicle, drivers can continue up the road.