United States District Court Orders OHV Route Closures in the West Mojave Desert
A federal judge has handed down a decision that will reshape how we use some of the Mojave’s most familiar dirt.
A January 2026 ruling against the Bureau of Land Management requires the closure of up to 2,200 miles of off-highway vehicle routes inside designated Desert Tortoise Critical Habitat unless and until the BLM completes a new route designation plan. The closures could begin as soon as March 2026. There are many hard conversations ahead.
The areas people care about: in the greater Jawbone area, the orders touch the Rand Mountains, Red Mountain, Cuddeback Lake, and the Kramer Hills. Around Barstow, routes north of Harper Valley and Hinkley, north of I-15 up to the Cronese Lakes, and sections in the Ord, Newberry, and Rodman Mountains are on the list. For hundreds of users — rockhounds, chukar hunters, birders, painters, campers, residents, and OHV riders alike — those tracks are how they reach a destination; they’re not “just lines on a map” that environmentalists who never visit the area would have us believe they are. They connect towns, support businesses, and stitch together recreation economies from Ridgecrest to Randsburg and beyond.
Cal4Wheel, Friends of Jawbone, and a broad coalition of OHV and access organizations are already mobilizing a strategic response. The coalition’s job is twofold: push for a technically sound route-designation process that both protects listed species and preserves reasonable public access, and press local and regional officials to mitigate the economic harm that an abrupt loss of access will cause. If you care about Randsburg — and you should, because OHV tourism supports its cafes, campgrounds, and stores — now is the time to visit and show the town some real support. Rural economies feel closures directly; elected officials at the county, state, and federal levels should be hearing from constituents who depend on access for work and tourism.
Practical notes for people recreating in the Mojave:
- respect court orders and any temporary closures once they’re posted. Ignoring closures creates additional legal and safety exposure and undermines the case for sensible, negotiated solutions.
- Watch for announcements about public meetings (organizers say meeting information will be released soon), show up informed, and consider supporting reputable advocacy groups engaged in the legal and administrative work.
- Contact your county supervisors and congressional staffers and ask them to engage with the BLM on a route-designation process that is science-based and practical – not based on some latte-swilling environmentalist’s idiotic one-fisted fever dream about how the wild works.
This won’t be resolved overnight. The court has drawn a hard line; now it’s in the BLM’s hands to chart the administrative path forward, and in ours to make sure that path recognizes both conservation obligations and the everyday uses that sustain small desert towns and the people who love these landscapes.
Stay tuned for meeting dates, maps of the affected routes, and ways to get involved.
You can view the court order HERE.
You can review a map of the affected area HERE.
You should join Cal4Wheel. Go HERE and do so.
You should support Friends of Jawbone. Go HERE and do so.