For a desert fan, it's hard to beat a road trip across the Mojave Desert in Southern California. It's the kind of blistering landscape that squares the shoulders and narrows the gaze. It's haunting, silent, and during summer pushes 130 degrees in the shade ... wait, there is no shade.

Mojave is "high desert" (above 2,000-foot elevation) where yucca trees and cacti thrive on sandy plains next to dried-up lake beds. Old railroad ties emerge from the desert scrub. It's where cattle rustlers, prospectors, movie moguls and adventurers came. Sixty years ago, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier here in his rocket plane "Glamorous Glennis." It's a country for bold men.

The Mojave stretches north to Death Valley, south to Joshua Tree National Park, and east into Nevada and Arizona. Route 62 between Parker, Ariz., and Palm Springs is one of the most desolate highways in California.

There are no towns or services along this 100-mile-plus stretch, but the scenery is stunning. Cool off temporarily at Joshua Tree's Visitor Center just off the highway near 29 Palms, or (highly recommended) take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway to the 10,800-foot summit of San Jacinto and feel the temperature drop by 40 degrees.

Fill up the cooler and the tank (this is not the place to argue the price of gas); turn up the music.

Leave Lake Havasu City early morning and you'll be in Palm Springs by late afternoon.

IN THE MOJAVE, IT'S ALL ABOUT CAMPING, HIKING, SIGHTSEEING AND MORE

You may not see another car, but Highway 62 functions as a kind of desert message center where travelers have spelled out names and messages with stones and bits of glass on the railroad berm next to the highway.

They also leave their shoes. The Shoe Tree, a lone tamarisk with a long history is hung with sneakers, sandals, hiking boots and other footwear hurled from the highway. But a favorite roadside attraction was at the lonely turn-off to Iron Mountain, where a sign directs you to places you've never heard of and quite possibly don't exist.

TAKE A HIKE IN JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

Hot dry days, chilly nights, tumbleweed, creosote bushes and odd-looking trees: Joshua Tree National Park was established in 1936 to preserve the unusual spiny-branched tree common to the area. Mormon travelers in the 19th century saw in the tree's upreaching branches the upraised arms of biblical Joshua. Hence the common name for these large members of the yucca family. The trees can grow to 30 feet tall and live for 1,000 years. They thrive on seemingly nothing and shelter an array of desert wildlife such as jackrabbits, desert iguanas, tarantulas, sidewinders, owls and coyotes. The park covers more than 600,000 acres; its gigantic pink and gray rock formations are a climber's paradise during spring and fall.

Within the park are historic mines, palm oases, nature hikes, biking trails as well as climbing and scrambling locations, great views across the desert, quiet campgrounds and the vast Cholla Cactus Garden. Visitors can spend an hour there or several days. There are nine campgrounds in the park, all open year round. All have tables and fire grates, and picnic sites are nearby.

Reserve a site at 800-365-2267. The Joshua Tree Visitor Center just off Highway 62 is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., www.joshua.tree.nationalpark.com.

Or stay at the 29 Palms Inn at 73950 Inn Ave., Twentynine Palms, 760-367-3505, from $85 per night, www.29palmsinn.com.

RIDE TO THE SKY AT SAN JACINTO (ELEV. 10,804 FEET)

Step off the tram near the summit of Mount San Jacinto into an unexpected wilderness of craggy peaks, lodgepole pine forests, and miles of hiking trails through wildflower meadows. Two trams, each holding 80 passengers, vault 6,000 feet from the desert floor near Palm Springs to the 8,000-foot observation level in about 15 minutes. The view from the Mountain Station observation decks is panoramic, with mountains and desert stretching in all directions. On a clear day, it's possible to see 80 miles across to the Salton Sea. A Nordic skiing center at the summit will rent equipment in the winter for cross country skiing. Trams leave every 30 minutes. At the summit are a restaurant, cafe and bar and a gift shop. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (last ride down is 10:30 p.m.), $22, adults, $14.95, ages 3 to 5; www.pstramway.com.

Lodging in Palm Springs: Spend a night at the Rat Pack-era Desert Hills Resort Hotel, from $99; www.deserthillspalmsprings.com.

FEEL THE WHOOSH AT A WIND FARM

The Mojave Desert landscape is dramatic, but this massive wind farm on the San Gorgonio Mountain Pass in the San Bernardino Mountains near Palm Springs is the ultimate "power trip." The San Jacinto Mountains create a natural wind tunnel through the pass and the wind farm provides enough electricity to power Palm Springs and most of Coachella Valley.

More than 4,000 turbines, some 150 feet high, spin their blades with a rotor sweep half the length of a football field.

Because the winds blow west to east in the mornings and east to west in the afternoons, half the turbines face east and half face west for efficient use. Impressive to drive by, you can also take a tour of the site with PS Windmill Tours offered Wednesdays through Saturdays (no tours July and August), in electric cars (powered by the wind, of course) where you can learn that optimum wind to turn the blades is about 14 mph, and turbine mechanics are called windsmiths among other things. The tour is a short course in ecology and environmentally friendly power. 19125 N. Indian Ave., N. Palm Springs, 760-320-1365 www.caladventures.com/windfarmtours.htm. $25.

INDIAN SPRINGS

About five miles south of Palm Springs is Indian Canyons, owned by the Agua Caliente band of the Cahuilla Indians and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The centerpiece is Palm Canyon, a 15-mile long gorge with more palm trees in one place than anywhere else in the world — more than 3,000 in all.

The canyon includes several easy to moderate hiking trails, plus a Trading Post that sells Indian art, artifacts, jewelry and pottery.

Nearby Andreas Canyon is a green paradise that includes 150 different plant species, mostly fan palms, with an easy half-mile trail. Murray Canyon features a longer and more strenuous trail that ends at a waterfall called Seven Sisters.

To reach the canyons, head south from Palm Springs on Palm Canyon Drive to West Ramon Road and follow the signs. www.indian-canyons.com.