2015 Map of Soda Lake South

About this map

Mojave National Preserve encompasses most of this arid landscape, where the shifting sands of the Devils Playground meet the southern reaches of Soda Lake. The map illustrates a dramatic topographic shift from the flat, dry lakebed and alluvial fans to the high ridges of the Bristol Mountains in the southeast. In this corner of the Mojave Desert, the small settlement of Balch sits along a transport corridor south of the sands, providing a rare point of human habitation in a region defined by hydrological drainage toward the ephemeral Kelso Wash. The survey detail captures the complex interplay between the vast sand dunes and the rocky mountain spurs that hem in the ancient lake basin.