Kelso Dunes

Posted on | January 6, 2010 | 11 Comments

Kelso Dunes Trail, Mojave National Preserve, California

Rising more than 600 feet from the desert floor and covering about 45 square miles, the Kelso Dunes are quite an amazing sight. From the parking lot, the dunes appear to be easily accessible. However, it is a bit deceiving since the dunes are so large that it looks like a much shorter hike than in reality. The trail from the parking lot to the dunes is about 1-1.5 miles which wouldn’t be that much under normal trail conditions but this trail consists of fine sand which makes your feet sink in with each step. There is also a slight incline which in combination with the fine sand made it an exhausting hike. In a few spots that required walking up a small dune, I almost collapsed face-first into the sand because I was so out of breath. I suppose if I didn’t have a tripod and camera equipment it might have been a little easier but judging from the condition of other people on the trail I don’t think that going camera-less would have helped that much. It took me about an hour and a half to reach the dunes with a few short photo breaks along the way.

The whole way there, I was wondering to myself how difficult it would be to explore the dunes if the trail getting there was already that tiring. I was relieved to discover that the dunes are actually easier than the trail itself because the sand is packed in solid in most spots which made it easier to keep my footing. I didn’t have enough daylight left to go all the way up the spine of the largest dune so I went back down the easy way by sliding down the face of the dune (the right cliff of the upper left part of this photo). One of the reasons I chose to go down this way was because I had read that the Kelso Dunes are one of only several dunes in the world that make a rumbling sound when large amounts of sand get displaced. It wasn’t happening naturally from where I was so I wanted to hear it even if that meant I had to cause it myself.

Anyway, I would recommend giving yourself 4-5 hours if you want to have time to explore the dunes. I arrived at the trailhead at 1:30 p.m. which didn’t leave me enough time to explore much during the short winter days. Kelso is pretty far from L.A. so it is probably best to camp overnight somewhere in the Mojave National Preserve or see if you could find a room in Baker which is located about 25 miles north via Kelbaker Road off I-15.

See more of my Mojave Desert photos.

Comments

11 Responses to “Kelso Dunes”

Michael Gordon
January 6th, 2010 @ 11:51 am

The Kelso Dunes are awesome, Richard.

If one drives BEYOND the parking area for the dunes, they’ll find a small grove of Tamarisk trees under which to camp. There’s nothing like camping right at the foot of the dunes.

Try being on the sand with your camera when the wind is blowing 40+ mph! I’ve had my bag and view camera filled with sand!
Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images
January 6th, 2010 @ 12:23 pm

Nice image, Richard. I can understand the pain of hiking in sand. My first assignment for Sunset Mag. was shooting in sand dunes less than 3 month after ripping my knee out of it’s socket. (ugh!)
Richard Wong
January 6th, 2010 @ 2:52 pm

Thanks for the tip Michael. I wouldn’t want to be out there in those sort of windy conditions though! I have sand inside all the cracks of my 5D right now and in my bag as is.

Dunes didn’t sound like good therapy for your recovery efforts Gary. Funny I was thinking as I was on the trail, “Man. Photography is a young man’s sport. Glad I am still young enough because this is barely cutting it!”
Steve Sieren
January 6th, 2010 @ 4:06 pm

You got some good clouds that day. The freeway of footprints from the parking lot doesn’t make it any easier to get up there. Once you make it up to the top and look west then you get even more exhausted just looking at it. I’ve only done the dunes at sunrise.

Micheal, I’ll have check out those tamarisk trees.

SS
Richard
January 6th, 2010 @ 6:03 pm

Thanks Steve. Yeah I did follow the trail of footsteps for the most part though I think there might have been some off-trail areas that were probably easier terrain to walk across. The view from the top is pretty amazing. The parking lot looks much further away once you are on the dunes.
Ron Niebrugge
January 7th, 2010 @ 1:16 pm

I have driven by these dunes numerous times, but never had a chance to stop and spend the night. Need to add it to the list, looks like a great place. Hiking in the soft sand is really tough – were you able to out hike the tracks?

Ron
Richard
January 7th, 2010 @ 4:00 pm

Hey Ron. The best way would probably to walk around the hilly parts and perhaps try it barefooted though I didn’t do that.
Mark
January 9th, 2010 @ 12:06 pm

Great image Richard.

Your story reminds me of a large dunes we have on the western Michigan shoreline. There is a large “dune climb” there where you start at the top, and can hike down to Lake Michigan. It looks very deceiving on the difficulty.

One time I was there and saw that someone wrote in the sand on the beach below in big letters “DONT DO IT.”
Richard Wong
January 9th, 2010 @ 12:30 pm

Thanks Mark. When I lived out that way, I also wanted to go check out the Indiana Dunes which is on the opposite shore of what you describe. I wonder if they are comparable in size.
Leann Greene
January 10th, 2010 @ 7:54 pm

It seems like a much better memento from the day then having sand in your gear.
Very cool sky and contrast with the shadows in the tracks. I really like this very much.
Richard Wong
January 11th, 2010 @ 12:28 am

Thanks Leann. Regarding the sky, the sunset turned into one of the best I had seen this year.