Who are the Desert Explorers?

The Desert Explorers is a four-wheel drive (4WD) group within the Mojave River Valley Museum Association. Trips, normally at least once a month, focus on sightseeing (rather than “rock crawling") and often include an optional hike to explore mines, petroglyph or pictograph sites, old emigrant trails, or other points of interest. On a trip, we camp out wherever nightfall catches us. Children (and friendly dogs with the leader’s permission) are welcome on most trips. Each trip announcement normally includes the planned itinerary, vehicle requirements, and special notices, such as skill rating, if appropriate. Very wide vehicles or those with 120-inch or longer wheelbases are not suitable for some trips. Check with the trip leader if you have questions.

To go on trips, you must be a member of the Mojave River Valley Museum (MRVM) Association. A Desert Explorer is a Museum member who participates in the trips or subscribes to the optional Desert Explorers Newsletter.

See the Desert Explorers Subscription Application Form and the Mojave River Valley Museum Association Application Form for detailed information. Print and mail the completed forms with separate checks to the addresses shown on the Application Forms.

Trips are scheduled by the trip leaders and posted in the newsletter first, and then, later, in the Calendar and Future Trips pages of this website.

Be sure to check out our past trips! We've been all over the western United States, and as far as Mongolia and Peru.

Please read our "fine print" (policies) before you join us for your first trip.

General Meetings of the Desert Explorers are held approximately bi-monthly. All current and prospective Desert Explorers are welcome to attend the General Meetings. Dates and locations are in the newsletter mailed to each subscriber’s home and in the General Meeting page of this website.