Leaving Baker on Kelbaker Road and crossing the Interstate 15 freeway to enter Mojave National Preserve

Mojave National Preserve isn't as dramatic, well-known, nor popular, as Death Valley National Park 75 miles north of here. I suspect that most motorists buzzing past on the freeway don't know, nor care, that they're passing one of the country's largest parks.

Even the sign at the big thermometer states that Baker is the gateway to Death Valley, without mentioning Mojave National Preserve just on the other side of the freeway.