Rasor Off-Highway Vehicle Area

Overview

Rasor Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area is an exciting and more remote area for the off-highway vehicle user. The area has rolling hills, open valleys, and sand dunes that invite the rider willing to travel to this area. Elevations range from about 2,427 feet elevation down to about 1,275 feet elevation at the Mojave River. Besides the remote nature of the area, another attraction is the historic Mojave Road which runs through the riding area into the Mojave National Preserve (street-legal vehicles only in the Preserve).
Vegetation consists of creosote scrub, some annual grasses and wild flowers.

Download a brochure and map for the Rasor Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area.

 

Off-Highway Vehicle Use

Visitors to Rasor enjoy excellent recreation opportunities including open desert riding on All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), motorcycles, dune buggies, Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs), and camping.

In addition to the riding and camping activities, this area provides access and support facilities for staging OHV and 4X4 vehicle touring into the adjacent area of the Mojave Trails National Monument (MTNM). This and other surrounding limited use areas require vehicles to travel on designated routes. There is also street legal vehicle access into the Mojave National Preserve along the Mojave Road. Access roads to Rasor are Basin and Rasor Roads via Interstate 15, 12 miles southwest of Baker, CA.

The following partial list of regulations and tips should help OHV users and other recreationists appreciate and enjoy the use of these public lands. Please visit the State of California OHV page for more information about California’s regulations and requirements.

 

• OHVs owned by California residents must be registered with the California DMV and must display a valid “Green Sticker” or “Red Sticker”.
• If you are NOT a resident of California and your OHV is not registered in your home state, you are required to have a NON-RESIDENT Green Sticker OHV permit.
• On the ground, motorized vehicles should yield to non-motorized craft and aircraft.
• OHVs must be equipped with an approved muffler, brakes, and spark arrester.
• It is illegal for anyone who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs to operate an OHV.
• It is illegal to bring, dispose of, or possess any glass container, empty or not, within the open area.
• It is illegal to bring, dispose of, or possess any firewood containing nails, screws or other metal hardware within the open area.
• NO PALLETS!
• It is illegal to possess and/or discharge fireworks.
• Persons on an ATV under 14 years of age must be supervised by a parent or guardian.
• All persons, regardless of age, who operate an ATV on Public Lands must wear an approved safety helmet; Carrying passengers is prohibited on ATVs; Remember—Safety First, Every Ride, Every Time!

 

Hunting & Shooting

The Rasor OHV Recreation Area, as well as surrounding Limited Use Areas, are open to recreational shooting with the exception of the Afton Canyon Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). The Afton Canyon ACEC is closed to recreational shooting except legal shotgun hunting outside a ½-mile perimeter of the campground and middle of railroad trestle.

 

• Seasons and bag limits vary so be sure to check with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for complete and current hunting regulations.
• Fire and county ordinance restrictions may apply as well. In the immediate vicinity of wildlife guzzlers, hunting is limited to 30 minutes.
• It is illegal to shoot within 150 yards of any campsite or to shoot at trees, signs, glass bottles, domestic livestock, outbuildings, or other objects on federal land.
• On private land, visitors must obtain permission from the landowner to discharge fire arms.

 

Camping

Camping is permitted anywhere within the open area of Rasor, but is limited to a maximum of 14 consecutive days.

There is less primitive camping available at the Afton Canyon campground, situated at the west end of the canyon. This newly renovated campground provides several sites, available on a first-come basis for a fee of $6 per night. There is also a 14-day stay limit.

Each site is equipped with a shade structure, parking area, table, fire pit, and grill. Vault toilets are centrally located. Campfire permits are required and may be restricted in fire season (typically May-October). Fire danger is extreme during most of the year. Campfire permits can be obtained online at www.preventwildfireca.org.