National Park Service Park News & Guide U.S. Department of the Interior Mojave National PreserveIssue 16 / Fall 2009 cronk julia NPS/ Sand grains and snowflakes: Winter storms and freezing temperatures bring dynamic contrast to the Mojave Desert, including the Kelso Dunes (above). Welcome to Mojave! The Beanery: Back in Business! October 31, 2009, marks the 15th an- WHEN FIRST OPENED IN 1924, THE KELSO DEPOT LUNCH niversary of the California Desert Protec- room seated up to 33 customers at its U-shaped counter. It operated tion Act, the law that created Mojave 24 hours a day with waiters, waitresses, and cooks working around- National Preserve. During those 15 years, the-clock in three eight-hour shifts. Like everything else in Kelso, the National Park Service has expanded “The Beanery” (as the lunch counter was known to railroaders) saw recreational opportunities, reclaimed abandoned mine lands, and increased its greatest activity during the World War II years. scientific study of desert environments. Our most visible and, for many, most Imagine a hungry train passenger coming into The Beanery for a bite appreciated milestone was the renova- to eat back in 1944: a typical prime rib entrée including soup and tion and reopening of the Kelso Depot as salad, dessert, and beverage cost about $1.25. The homemade pies Mojave’s principal visitor center. Join us and cookies were favorite menu items among customers, including to celebrate this milestone at our anniver- railroad employees who made Kelso a frequent stop on their travels. sary event on October 31 at Kelso Depot. N Even as recently as the late 1970s and early 1980s, westbound train E bol . J crews, upon arrival at Cima (20 miles northeast of Kelso), would call Mojave’s landscape varies tremendously rt ahead to The Beanery with their lunch orders. When they reached E as you travel around the preserve, and gilb Kelso Depot, their food was waiting for them at the counter. © I encourage you to take short walks in various areas. Inside this guide, you’ll find information on how to visit the But after 61 years of serving hungry train passengers, railroad em- Kelso Dunes, Cinder Cones & Lava Beds, ployees, and town residents, Kelso Depot and The Beanery sadly and the Joshua tree woodland on Cima closed its doors at midnight, June 30, 1985. With the establishment Dome. On the east side of the park, of Mojave National Preserve in 1994, the National Park Service took campgrounds and hiking trails are avail- ownership of the property and, after extensive renovation, Kelso able for those with more time to explore. Depot reopened to the public as a visitor center in October 2005. From the start, the National Park Service sought a concessionaire to More than 1,000 miles of dirt roads await operate the lunch counter. Finding one proved more difficult than desert explorers in street-legal vehicles, anticipated, however. Years passed, while many a visitor passing providing access to old mining sites, through Kelso Depot Visitor Center recalled with relish the delicious springs, and roadside camps. Some routes homemade cookies and other treats once served. require high-clearance vehicles and/or four-wheel drive, and road conditions ction E change rapidly during rainy weather, so It wasn’t until June 2008 that a concessionaire was finally found for coll check with a ranger before heading out. The Beanery. Or, rather, they found each other. nps If you would like to learn more about A 29-year resident of Yucca Valley, Calif., Mike Williams was what to see and do, talk to the rangers at employed as a construction worker when he decided he needed Union Pacific Railroad employees enjoy hot coffee and hot gossip in the 1950s Kelso Depot Visitor Center or Hole-in-the- change in his life. Upon learning that the National Park Service was (above). Today (below), Mike Williams is pouring. Wall Information Center, visit our web- searching for a lunch counter concessionaire at Kelso Depot, Mike site, or call the headquarters information anxiously placed his bid, which was reviewed and accepted. Being shakes, fruit smoothies, and, of course, pie, brownies, scooped ice desk. Websites and phone numbers are that Kelso is a very small town these days, it didn’t take long for the cream, and cookies. And, with a characteristic grin, Mike Williams listed on page two. word to get around. After much anticipation and enthusiasm from claims that the freshly brewed cofffee is “voted best inall of Kelso.” local residents, Kelso Depot Visitor Center staff, and the many visi- tors passing through each day, “The Beanery @ Kelso” was brought The Beanery @ Kelso is open 5 days a week, Friday through Tuesday, back to life on March 20, 2009, open for business again after nearly 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, call 760-252-6165. a quarter-century. Bringing back the “good old days” has never been more fun, and Dennis Schramm Today, The Beanery looks much like it did back in the 1920s and with good food and great company, you might never want to leave. Superintendent 1930s, offering a little something for everyone. The menu includes a variety of salads and sandwiches, hot dogs, ice-cold soda pop, milk- Lisa Barefield, Park Ranger and Kelso resident 3 Mojave’s Roads 4 Kelso & Trains! 6 Campgrounds Essential Information…2 Just getting around Mojave National Preserve, Got trains on your brain? You’re not alone. Mojave National Preserve is a camper’s para- Faces & Places…4 the third-largest unit of the National Park Kelso residents and park rangers Ruby Newton dise. Developed campgrounds, roadside camp- System in the contiguous United States, can and Tim Duncan describe their love for loco- ing, and backcountry camping offer oppor- Nature & Science…5 be a trial for some. But it need not be. Plan motives and the rich railroading history of the tunities for individuals and groups of diverse ahead and prioritize; familiarize yourself with town they call home. ages, interests, and skills. Careful planning and Camping…6 Mojave’s paved and dirt roads and the major knowledge of camping rules and regulations sites to see along the way. And remember— will help ensure an enjoyable and safe experi- Hiking…7 you won’t see it all in one day (but you can ence for you, future visitors, and the fragile always come back)... desert environment... Mojave National Preserve Map…8 ©KEN carr/VEgasrails.com Printed on 40% post-consumer recycled paper with soy-based inks National Park Service Hunting in the National Park System? U.S. Department of the Interior “HUNTING IN MOJAVE NATIONAL protection within national parks appeared Preserve? Isn’t hunting prohibited in nation- “Hunting is authorized to be successful: wildlife that seemed in al parklands?” Preserve staff often hear such in 69 units of the danger of extinction 50 years before were no questions, especially during the fall when longer in peril. Some wildlife populations, in Mojave National Preserve National Park System, hunters are afield pursuing quail, mule deer, fact, were increasing so much in local areas Established in 1994, Mojave National Pre- bighorn sheep, and other wildlife. In general, including Mojave...” that their growth needed to be controlled. serve encompasses 1.6 million acres ranging National Park Service (NPS) regulations do In addition, NPS sites were becoming more in elevation from 800’ near Baker to 7,929’ prohibit hunting in national parklands. As of numerous and diverse. Instead of just parks at Clark Mountain. Although most of the today, however, hunting is authorized in 69 and monuments, Congress began to estab- park lies in the Mojave Desert, the south- units of the National Park System, including lish recreation areas, preserves, battlefields, east section grades into the Sonoran Desert, Mojave National Preserve. While this prob- historic sites, and wild and scenic riverways, and elements of the Great Basin Desert are ably seems confusing, some brief history can among others. Lawmakers recognized that found at higher elevations east of the Gran- put the situation in better perspective. many of these areas had management direc- ite, Providence, and New York mountains. tions and concerns that differed from more ction The first national park, Yellowstone (Idaho, E traditional parks and monuments. Hunting coll Superintendent was allowed at some specific sites as a legiti- Montana, and Wyoming), was created in nps Dennis Schramm 1872. Hunting was restricted but not techni- mate, or even essential, activity. Deputy Superintendent cally prohibited until 1894 with the passage Larry Whalon of the Yellowstone Game Protection Act. Today, hunting is still prohibited in national At the time, some wildlife, particularly large parklands unless Congress specifically states Chief Ranger mammals, were nearly brought to extinc- otherwise in the unit’s founding or enabling David Ashe tion. Populations of buffalo, pronghorn legislation. Where hunting is allowed, how- antelope, and elk, which just decades earlier ever, like in Mojave National Preserve, the Chief, Resource Interpretation numbered in the millions, had been severely NPS continues to provide a unique experi- Linda Slater ction dimished. It had become apparent that in E ence and support for an important Ameri- coll order to save our nation’s wildlife, we would can heritage and cultural value. Newspaper Editor nps have to protect it. Concerned citizens—pri- Michael Glore Top to Bottom: Popular game species at Mojave Neal Darby, Wildlife Biologist marily hunters, most notably Theodore National Preserve include mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and doves (Zenaida sp.). Mailing Address Roosevelt, Joseph Grinnell, and members of 2701 Barstow Road the conservationist organization the Boone Barstow, CA 92311 and Crockett Club—spearheaded this drive to prohibit the killing of wildlife and protect them from the seemingly relentless onslaught of Web and E-mail commercial poachers, in particular.