Mojave National Preserve closes South Kelbaker Road, Kelso Dunes camping and Granite Pass camping on November 16

If you planned to camp at Kelso Dunes or Granite Pass this winter, you have until Monday, November 16. That day the Park Service closes South Kelbaker Road between Kelso and the southern edge of Mojave National Preserve, and both primitive camping areas close with it. The park hasn’t said when they reopen. We read the preserve’s pages on November 10, 2026.

What closes

The preserve’s alerts and conditions page says it in one line: “Kelso Dunes, Kelso Dunes primitive camping area, and Granite Pass / Kelbaker Boulders primitive camping area will be closed until the South Kelbaker phase of the road project is completed.”

That phase is the first of a rebuild of about 42 miles of Kelso-Cima Road and South Kelbaker Road. The November 4 release says construction “will occur in phases and require road closures throughout the project” and should finish in 2029. Neither page gives an end date for the South Kelbaker phase. Don’t plan a dunes trip this winter on the hope that it reopens.

The practical effect: you can’t drive Kelbaker Road from I-40 north to Kelso. Kelso itself is still reachable from Baker and I-15, since the closure runs south of it.

Three sites the alert doesn’t name

The preserve’s camping page lists roadside sites on Kelbaker Road by their distance from I-40. Hidden Hills, Van Winkle Mountain and Dharma Tower sit about 4 to 7 miles north of the interstate, between Kelbaker Boulders and Kelso, on the stretch that’s closing. The alert doesn’t name them, so we can’t tell you whether they’re closed. If one of them is your plan, call the preserve at 760-252-6100 before you drive out.

What stays open

The conditions page lists Kelso-Cima, Cima, Morning Star Mine, Ivanpah and Lanfair roads as open, along with Hole-in-the-Wall and Mid Hills campgrounds. The camping page still lists free roadside sites off roads this phase doesn’t touch: Sunrise Rocks on Cima Road, two sites on Black Canyon Road, and Soda Dry Lake View and Black Tank Wash on Kelbaker north of Kelso, reached from I-15.

The camping rules haven’t changed:

• No fee at undeveloped sites. Hole-in-the-Wall and Mid Hills are reservation only.
• Previously used sites only. Don’t make a new one, and don’t drive off established roads.
• No camping within ¼ mile of a paved road unless the area is designated for it, and none within 200 yards of a water source.
• 14 days. The camping page gives a 14-day limit. The regulations page puts it as 14 consecutive days per stay and 30 days a year. Plan on both.

Most roadside sites need high clearance, and many need four-wheel drive. The park says “Wilderness dirt roads were not designed to support RVs.” Its undeveloped campsites page calls the Billy Boy Mine area on Morning Star Mine Road “a good choice for RVs,” and the developed campgrounds take most RVs and trailers.

Before you go

Fill up first. The preserve sells no fuel and no food. Drinking water is at Hole-in-the-Wall and the Kelso Depot restroom building. The dump station is at Hole-in-the-Wall Campground.

Check the conditions page the morning you leave, because the closure is phased and the open-road list will change. The barricade and the ranger on site beat this page. The park says rangers are patrolling closed roads and writing citations.

For more winter desert options, see our California free camping page and our piece on Death Valley’s winter camping season.