Mojave

Mojave is a city of 4,200 people (2010) in Kern County in the Desert region of California. Mojave has a rich aerospace history because of nearby Edwards Air Force Base, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and Palmdale Regional Airport.

By car
California State Route 14 passes on the west side of Mojave, providing access to Mojave from the Antelope Valley to the south and US Highway 395 to the north. California State Route 58 loops around Mojave to the east and north, providing access from Bakersfield to the west and Barstow to the east. More distant cities include Los Angeles (95 miles south on SR-14), Las Vegas (225 miles east on SR-58), San Francisco (345 miles west on SR-58), and Reno (375 miles north on SR-14).

By taxi
Mojave has no local taxicab service, however of you are willing to pay a $25-50 minimum fare, you can call for taxicab service from:

California City Yellow Cab (California City), +1 760-338-3494.

Get around
The town center section of Mojave is relatively small, and easily navigable by bicycle or foot. Automobile traffic is the most common, as sidewalks and bike lanes are not as common as in the average town. Also, several people use golf carts, 4-wheelers, and off-road motorbikes, as the nearby desert is an off-road motor sports haven.

Edwards Air Force Base


Edwards AFB is a massive testing and training ground for the Air Force and NASA southeast of Mojave. There is a museum on the base and tours are available. See the website for details. Note that this is an active military base so ID will be required and visitors may be required to submit to a search.

Edwards AFB is best known for being similar to Area 51, but test and experimental aircraft will come out of the hangar to experiment. From 1876 there was an unsettled water stop at this point, for the Southern Pacific Railroad. The air base was built in 1933 and opened for use in 1948, for the military and NACA; and in 1958, NACA became NASA. Ever since, Edwards is a NASA base as well. The Space Shuttles that didn't land on the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida did it on Edwards AFB's dry lakebed runways.

That is the only civilian gateway to enter Edwards. So, if you are driving from Rosamond, or driving on the Antelope Valley Freeway from Los Angeles, Mojave, or Palmdale, you shall take exit 55, and if from Palmdale, take a right, and if from Mojave, take a left. And leave Rosamond, and never take any turn and enter the base by a gate, and continue to enter the base. This is called the West Gate, If you are on Route 58, take Exit 186, then get on the road, and you will enter via the North Gate. South Gate is Lancaster but it is closed.

Go next

 * Tehachapi - Located to the west on Highway 58, Tehachapi is home to a massive wind farm.
 * Ridgecrest - 60 miles north of Mojave via Highway 14, 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.
 * Barstow - 70 miles east of Mojave on Highway 58, 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.
 * Rosamond - Located south of Mojave on Highway 14, Rosamond is primarily a bedroom community in the desert of the Antelope Valley, although it does have food and lodging options for tourists, and is home to a non-profit center dedicated to feline protection where visitors can see cats ranging in size from the tiny fishing cat up to the Siberian tiger.