The California Desert Four
(An Adventure Challenge)
 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rules Include

• Staying within park boundaries.*

• All travel on foot. 

• Good faith effort to abide by park rules.

 

Style Variations Include**

• Solo Supported 

• Solo Self-Supported

• Solo Unsupported

• Team Supported

• Team Unsupported

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Trip Variations Include****

• Driving Between

• Cycling Between

• Walking Between

 

Resources and Information

(Please use the FKT route pages for information on termini and further instructions for completion of each traverse.)***

The California Desert Four (Approximately 450 miles)

• CD4 FKT route page. 

Death Valley National Park (North to South - Approximately 152.9 miles)

• DV FKT route page. 

• DV Trip report for my first FAILED attempt.

• DV Trip report for my second SUCCESSFUL attempt.

• DV GPS tracks (these tracks would disqualify an FKT). 

• DV Photo gallery. 

• DV Trip video.

• Route (most likely) first done by Louis-Philippe Loncke in 2015. 

• Completed by me in 2021. 

Mojave National Preserve (West to East - Approximately 129 miles)

• MNP FKT route page.

• MNP Trip report.

• MNP GPS tracks. 

• MNP Photo gallery.

• Route first done by the Mojave natives in prehistoric times. 

• Completed by me in 2023. 

Joshua Tree National Park (West to East- Approximately 79.5 miles)

• JT FKT route page.

• JT Trip report.

• JT GPS tracks. 

• JT Photo gallery.

• JT Trip video.

• Route (most likely) first done by me in 2022. 

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (North to South - Approximately 89.7 miles)

• AB FKT route page. 

• AB Trip report.

• AB GPS tracks (these tracks would disqualify an FKT). 

• AB Trip video.

• Route (most likely) first done by me in 2024. 

 

Successful Finishers of The California Desert Four

1. Sam Kottoor (12/26/24)​​​

   1. Solo Supported - Driving Between - 1104 days, 12 hours, 5 minutes, and 30 seconds​

   2. Started 12/18/21 at 9:15:15 AM

   3. Ended 12/26/24 at 9:20:45 PM

 

Considerations

1. The direction of travel can be chosen by each adventurer. You do not necessarily have to start at the North or West of each park. Just as long you start at one terminus and end at the other terminus. 

2. In general, it is not required to go any one route (therefore, open-course), and you are encouraged to make your own, as only the start and end points matter (see point 4 below for the exception). Additionally, the four traverses can be done in any order, but each traverse should not be broken up into segments. Furthermore, any time of year is allowed. 

3. Park termini change over time. For example, the Southern Terminus of Death Valley is different from when the route was done by me in 2021. Alessandro Tassinari has completed the Death Valley route with the new Southern Terminus. Do your own research and use the current termini of each park. Share your new route with me and any other interested parties!

4. *There are two exceptions to what have been said above in terms of the routes being a terminus-to-terminus route, or that you must stay within park boundaries. 

   1. The FKT route page provided for the Mojave crossing shows a route that “begins” about 30 miles west of the Western Terminus of the park, and “ends” about 20 miles east of the Eastern Terminus of the park. Not only that, but the route does not actually go through the actual Western or Eastern Terminus of the park, but instead, it follows the Mojave Road, which might as well be a terminus-to-terminus crossing in terms of length, origination points, and sentiment, but is not a literal terminus-to-terminus crossing. However, because of the historical significance of the Mojave Road, and the idea that if someone were to do an actual terminus-to-terminus crossing of the park, they would end up using the Mojave Road for a majority of the crossing anyways, it is more sensible and respectable to simply call the Mojave Road the full-length crossing of the National Preserve. For the California Desert Four, it is not required that you do the extra 50 or so miles, but only that you cross the Preserve (though the extra 50 miles are quite lovely). Additionally, it is allowed to instead begin and end at the true Western and Eastern Termini of the Mojave National Preserve to complete The California Desert Four challenge. It is also not required that you stay on the Mojave Road for the entire duration to complete The California Desert Four, but it is required to stay on the Mojave Road/do the extra 50 miles if you are trying to submit an FKT.

   2. The Anza-Borrego traverse also has some exceptions. At one point during the traverse, you have to cross over Highway 8. However, there is no way to legally cross over Highway 8 while also staying within the boundaries of the park. So, as described on the FKT page, it is allowed to leave park boundaries only in order to legally cross Interstate 8. The suggested route is detouring to Carrizo Gorge Road. You must immediately re-enter park boundaries after crossing the interstate. Specifically, if you are traversing south to north, first you must reach the Interstate 8 boundary, then go to the underpass at Carrizo Gorge Road, cross under the interstate, and then go directly north of where you were before, but directly on the other side of the interstate, before continuing the traverse, or vice versa if north to south. In order to submit an FKT, you must cross Highway 8 legally. However, to simply complete The California Desert Four, you may cross Highway 8 however you deem fit, but be warned that walking directly on an interstate is illegal and I do not encourage nor endorse you to do so. Additionally, because of a lot of ambiguity and discrepancies between multiple trusted sources and maps, as I describe in my trip report, the boundaries of Anza-Borrego, and of Borrego Springs, are a little convoluted. Because of this, even though Borrego Springs is not technically part of the park, you are allowed to travel through this town. Additionally, you are allowed to travel through critical inholdings. My trip report shares a great deal more on this topic, as well as this map analysis I created.

5. **Please see FKT’s website for a description of each style variation. Follow FKT’s guidelines if looking to submit to FKT. The only difference between the style variations of The California Desert Four and the styles variations descriptions shown on FKT is that for The California Desert Four, the unsupported variations do NOT allow using public water taps along the trail. Additionally, having friends or family drive you from the end of one traverse to the beginning of another traverse will not be considered supported, but can still be considered self-supported. To maintain a self-powered attempt for The California Desert Four, you must walk or cycle between each traverse. If you cycle, it will be considered a multi-sport attempt. Furthermore, if you have company for a supported trip, you must be out front at all times and must do all the route finding, in accordance with a term Cave Dog uses, “no guiding”. Any sort of driving between termini would be considered supported for FKT, but for The California Desert Four, it will be deemed an unsupported attempt if each traverse individually was done unsupported, regardless of what happened in between the end of one traverse and the start of another.

6. ***The trip reports, photo galleries and GPS tracks provided in the Resources and Information section above are the ones of my trips, not the trips of others. There are others who also have valuable information on these crossings. 

7. See the Desert Recreational Areas of California section below to see why these four parks, and only these four parks were chosen for this challenge. Not only are they the largest four desert recreational areas in California, but I would also argue that they are the most visited/popular/significant/classic desert recreational areas in California. The only other areas that could be considered larger are Inyo National Forest, at 2,974 square miles, but I would not consider Inyo National Forest a desert recreational area per se, it simply has the high desert biome within it, as well as mountain and forest biomes. The main desert areas that Inyo National Forest houses are basically the White Mountains Wilderness, and this wilderness itself is about 357 square miles, not larger than any of the four chosen parks, and the Inyo Mountains Wilderness, which is 309.9 square miles, also not larger than any of the four chosen parks. Even combining these two wilderness areas would total about 667 square miles, still not larger than any of the chosen four. Another notable mention is Modoc National Forest, with 500 square miles, however again, this is not larger than any of the chosen four, and I would not say that Modoc National Forest is a desert recreational area, it simply has the high desert biome within it, along with forest. Linked here is a map that shows 48 recreational areas that were ruled out for this challenge, as well as the 4 recreational areas that were “ruled in”, a total of 52 considered recreational areas.

8. ****You do not need to attempt all four routes in one trip, the challenge can be spread over as long a time as needed. If it is not done all in one trip, this would most likely be classified as a “Driving Between” attempt. However, this challenge can be attempted all in one trip. You can either walk from the end of one traverse to the beginning of the other, cycle from the end of one traverse to the beginning of the other, or drive from the end of one traverse to the beginning of the other. You simply must do the actual traversing of each route on foot. 

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Desert Recreational Areas of California

(See linked map.)

1. Death Valley National Park 

   • 5270 sq mi

   • Largest national park in the 48 contiguous states.

   • Part of the Mojave Desert.

2. Mojave National Preserve

   • 2410.4 sq mi

   • Largest national preserve in the 48 contiguous states.

   • Part of the Mojave Desert.

3. Joshua Tree National Park

   • 1242.4 sq mi

   • 8th Largest national park in the 48 contiguous states. 

   • Part of the Mojave Desert.

4. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park 

   • 935 sq mi

   • Largest state park in California. 

   • Third largest state park in America (out of 6792). 

   • Part of the Sonoran Desert.

5. Modoc National Forest

   • 500 sq mi

6. Palen/McCoy Wilderness

   • 404.7 sq mi

7. Kingston Range Wilderness

   • 393.98 sq mi

8. Salton Sea State Recreation Area

   • 360 sq mi

9. White Mountains Wilderness

   • 356.96 sq mi

10. Inyo Mountains Wilderness

    • 309.9 sq mi

11. Sheephole Valley Wilderness

    • 304.5 sq mi

12. Turtle Mountains Wilderness

    • 277.0 sq mi

13. Old Woman Mountains Wilderness

    • 258.1 sq mi

14. Orocopia Mountains Wilderness

    • 206 sq mi

15. Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area 

    • 200 sq mi

    • Mainly for Off-Roading.

16. Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness

    • 175.5 sq mi

17. Nopah Range Wilderness

    • 166.6 sq mi

18. Avawatz Mountains Wilderness

    • 139.8 sq mi

19. Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area

    • 130 sq mi

    • Mainly for Off-Roading.

20. Stepladder Mountains Wilderness

    • 130 sq mi

21. Whipple Mountains Wilderness

    • 118.9 sq mi

22. Argus Range Wilderness

    • 117 sq mi

23. Pahrump Valley Wilderness

    • 115.2 sq mi

24. Sacatar Trail Wilderness

    • 81.09 sq mi

25. Coso Range Wilderness

    • 77.0 sq mi

26. Dead Mountains Wilderness

    • 73.7 sq mi

27. Big Maria Mountains Wilderness Area

    • 70.9 sq mi

28. Rice Valley Wilderness

    • 65.2 sq mi

29. Cleghorn Lakes Wilderness Area

    • 61.2 sq mi

30. Rodman Mountains Wilderness Area

    • 53.5 sq mi

31. Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness

    • 52.5 sq mi

32. Palo Verde Mountains Wilderness

    • 47.7 sq mi

33. Grass Valley Wilderness

    • 47.2 sq mi

34. Kelso Dunes Wilderness

    • 45 sq mi

35. Red Rock Canyon State Park

    • 42.2 sq mi

    • Part of the Mojave Desert.

36. Newberry Mountains Wilderness

    • 40.9 sq mi

37. Hollow Hills Wilderness

    • 34.9 sq mi

38. Fish Creek Mountains Wilderness

    • 33.6 sq mi

39. Coachella Valley Preserve

    • 31.25 sq mi

40. Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area

    • 29.7 sq mi

    • Maybe part of the Mojave Desert.

41. North Mesquite Mountains Wilderness

    • 28.9 sq mi

42. South Nopah Range Wilderness Area

    • 26.7 sq mi

43. Buzzards Peak Wilderness

    • 18.5 sq mi

44. Bright Star Wilderness 

    • 12.8 sq mi

45. Dumont Dunes

    • 11.9 sq mi

46. Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge

    • 5.795 sq mi

47. Saddleback Butte State Park

    • 4.6 sq mi

    • Part of the Mojave Desert.

48. Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve

    • 2.8 sq mi

    • Part of the Mojave Desert.

49. River Spring Lakes Ecological Reserve

    • 0.997 sq mi

50. Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park

    • 0.9 sq mi

    • Part of the Mojave Desert.

51. Tomo-Kahni State Historic Park

    • 0.9 sq mi

52. Surprise Valley Wildlife Area

    • 0.7 sq mi