UTV Destinations: Jawbone Off-Highway Vehicle Open Area

UTV Destinations: Jawbone Off-Highway Vehicle Open Area

Jawbone Canyon is a geographic feature in the Mojave Desert and a Bureau of Land Management area located in Kern County, California. Located 20 miles north of Mojave on CA 14, the area is a popular destination for UTV enthusiasts. From cross-country play to advanced technical routes, the Jawbone Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area offers over 7,000 acres of open-use public land where you can ride anywhere your skill and machine will take you. Jawbone is also a great starting point to begin to explore the hundreds of miles of trail riding opportunities available in this region and outside of the OHV Open Area.

GETTING THERE: Jawbone Open Area is located off State Highway 14, approximately 20 miles north of the intersection of State Highway 14 and 58 in the town of Mojave. A left turn from State Highway 14 onto Jawbone Canyon Rd., when traveling from the south. Traveling from the north, it is a right turn onto Jawbone Canyon Rd.

SERVICES: The Jawbone Off-Highway Vehicle Station is located on State Highway 14 at Jawbone Canyon Road in Cantil, California, approximately 20 miles north of Mojave, lat 35.301517° lon -118.0016°. Office Hours: 9am to 5pm, Monday thru Sunday, Office Phone Number: (760) 373-1146. There are 3 vault toilets located in the open area. Food and fuel are available in the town of Mojave, approximately 30 miles to the south. The nearest medical facilities are located in the city of Ridgecrest at the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital at 760-446-3551, and the Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster at 661-949-5000. BLM Rangers also frequently patrol the OHV area to offer assistance and information.

Jawbone Canyon Store is a popular meeting place, lunch stop, or just a fun place to share riding stories and hang out, the store also acts as a supply base for food, drinks, ice, gas, propane, firewood, and emergency motorcycle parts. Cheyenne's Deli serves breakfast burrito's or egg, ham and cheese croissants for breakfast, fresh deli sandwiches, ¼ pound all beef hot dogs, awesome chili, and world famous tri-tip for lunch. From the store location, you can easily create off road day trips to Randsburg (a living ghost town) , California City ( a bustling small town with restaurants, hardware store, motorcycle accessory shop, etc.) beautiful Red Rock State Park, and many other unusual points of interest.

STAGING AND CAMPING AREAS: The entire OHV area and surrounding public lands are open to primitive camping. Within Jawbone Canyon itself, there are a number of excellent primitive camping sites and OHV staging/off-loading areas. Most of the sites within the OHV area are accessible by 2-wheel drive vehicles with trailers. Please help BLM preserve California's fragile deserts by parking your vehicles or setting up camp in previously disturbed sites.

TRAIL RIDING OUTSIDE THE OHV AREA: Outside of the OHV area and within the Jawbone-Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), motorized vehicle use is restricted to a specific designated road and trail network. All cross-country travel is prohibited in these areas, and the designated routes are marked with brown trail markers. You may only use the designated route network -- all other trails are closed -- even if you do not see a red closed sign. If you plan on riding in these areas, obtain a travel map from the Ridgecrest Field Office, the Jawbone OHV Station, or the California BLM web site bookstore. The maps are Isabella Lake, Tehachapi, Ridgecrest and Cuddeback Lake.

SOME REGULATION INFORMATION: "Green Sticker" OHV registration is mandatory for ALL vehicles which are not "street legal". Visitors from outside the state of California must have a valid permit/registration from an off-highway vehicle program in your home state. If you do not have a valid permit/registration from your home state, you will have to purchase a "Non-Resident OHV Permit" for California. This sticker can be purchased at the Jawbone OHV Station.