Gold Butte National Monument

Outside Mesquite Nevada 

I was on a roll with the bumpy dirt roads. After a detour to Glitter Mountain, we headed into the Mojave Desert to Gold Butte National Monument, where would give our first night of boondocking a try. There was a spot called Little Finland I wanted to check out, but the more I read about it, the more I realized we were in for some potentially exciting off-road driving. Even the unmaintained, yet paved part of the road was a bit of a feat to take the trailer down, so we picked out a spot to camp at the first flat and open spot we found, grabbed a snack, and got going in the truck.  

Our day of offroad exploring brought us up close and personal with the desert. Gold Butte preserves nearly 300,000 miles of the Mojave, filled with sage, cactus, and fascinating geology. While we only drove 20 or so miles, it took hours and we barely saw another car.

Out with the desert plants and not much else.

It felt like I had paid for an offroad sightseeing tour from the comfort of our truck. Ben drove like a pro, and despite a few doubts that we would ever make it, and the few signs that always told us we had farther to go than we thought, we got to Little Finland right at golden hour. The red rock landscape showed off a wild variety of otherworldly wind-carved shapes. And out of nowhere, water. Not much, but enough of a steady trickle to grow a handful of big, vibrant palm trees. We walked up the canyon on red dirt, frosted white with mineral deposits, and climbed up rocks to take in the solitude and miles of views.  

Little Finland provided sights that made the challenging drive well worth it

We drove back to camp into a gorgeous, technicolor sunset that only intensified and shifted colors until the moment the stars came out. Ben made a fire, poured us some whiskey and we celebrated a memorable and adventurous off-grid day.

Campfire at sunset