Mojave National Preserve…what a breathtaking place to visit, and camp! My boyfriend Cam and I chose to stay at Hole-in-the-Wall Campground for a few days of hiking, climbing, and exploring (as well as the awesome camp-side stuff: campfires, s’mores, watching the stars while drinking a beer…).
With the sun blasting in our eyes at 7AM, our adventures started early each day…but what better way to start than an absolutely stunning view of the desert mountains surrounding us?!
First thing in the morning, we took the Hole-in-the-Wall Nature Trail to the climbing rocks that the campground is named after…in the pic below, you’ll see a “hole in the wall.”
This rock starts out the Rings Loop Trail, a 1.5 mile trip that includes metal climbing rings to help you get up the rocks…we climbed them so many times, our hands started blistering!
But, who cares about blisters when you get to see this gorgeous view from the top!
Cam and I spent the entire day exploring and climbing these rocks…so much fun! We wandered back to camp, and planned our adventure for the next day.
The longest hike from our campground is a 16 mile round trip from Hole-in-the-Wall to the 2nd campground in the preserve, Mid Hills. We considered it…but realized we weren’t leaving early enough in the day to finish it before dark, so we chose the 6 mile Barber Peak Loop Trail. Couldn’t have made a better choice! We practically had the trail to ourselves…so quiet, perfectly clear and sunny day, and pure gorgeousness all around us. Below are a few pictures from the hike:
To wrap up our trip, we visited the Rangers Station, and happened to arrive just in time for a Ranger guided tour of the ancient Petroglyph! We’d walked right by these rocks several times while exploring, and hadn’t even noticed the drawings until the Ranger pointed them out! The pic on the left shows a big horn sheep, and on the right various squiggles and shapes.
I highly recommend a visit to the Mojave National Preserve, and if you plan to stay overnight, camp at Hole-in-the-Wall! Cam and I are definitely planning to return soon! ~Kat (pics by Kat)
SueBee and Kat 
Really looks like a fantastic place. And the pictures are gorgeous. I might have to consider Hole-in-the-Wall next time I plan to go hiking in the area.
It’s such a beautiful place! And Hole-in-the-Wall is such a fun place to explore! You’ll love the trails around there! ~Kat
Only had a rest stop in Mojave Dessert on our way to Las Vegas. Maybe next time, I head that way that I actually explore the area. I’m a big fan of awesome looking rock formations so I think it will not disappoint.
I bet you’d really like it – rock formations are great! –Kat
looks so beautiful, unfortunately my idea of camping is Marriot.
Lol
I have tried camping both times when I was young(er). The first was in girl scouts, we had 2 person tents and the girl that was with me had now idea how to put up a tent, I did because I went to my brothers boy scout meetings, more fun, no sewing involved. Tent pitched settled for the night and I felt something crawl over my, turn on flash light and it was a giant spider (Fla. grows them big) and spiders are the one thing I’m terrified of, I woke everyone up with my screaming. Next adventure in camping was in Key Largo, other family and mine went for the weekend and set up camp on the beach(this was before they made it a tourist attraction) giant tent, middle of the night storm came up and the middle tent pole fell on my head.That ended my camping.
Oh wow! I can see nightmares from both those experiences… No wonder your campsite is Marriott! ~Kat
Cool circles gallery!
Thank you! I really appreciate your comment! And thanks for visiting! ~Kat