Dove Springs OHV Area

Dove Springs Off-Highway Vehicle Open Area is a 3,959-acre BLM-managed OHV open riding area northeast of Mojave in Kern County, California: a free, open-access alternative to the fee-based California State SVRAs, drawing riders from the Antelope Valley, Bakersfield, and the wider southern California inland market who want desert OHV riding without a day-use fee or entrance station. The Mojave Desert terrain at Dove Springs is high desert Mojave at its most classic: Joshua tree woodland across the upper slopes, creosote and black bush scrub in the valley bottoms, and the rocky desert wash system that drains the surrounding hills into the dry lake bed geography of the Mojave basin. The open area designation means riders are not restricted to designated trails: the entire 3,959-acre parcel is open to cross-country travel, giving ATVs, dirt bikes, UTVs, and 4x4 trucks the kind of unrestricted desert riding that marked the pre-NEPA Mojave experience before most BLM land was placed under travel management restrictions. Hills and steep washes provide the technical terrain challenge on what is otherwise flat-to-rolling desert; the rocky volcanic outcroppings in the central area are a focal point for technical riders. A California OHV green sticker or street registration is required; the BLM does not charge a day-use fee at Dove Springs. Primitive camping is available under BLM dispersed rules. The BLM Ridgecrest Field Office (760-384-5400) handles current closure and condition information.