Kelso Depot Visitor Center, Kelso, California, United States of America

The Kelso Depot Visitor Center, found in Kelso, California, was initially built to cater to railroad employees and a water stop for steam locomotives. The depot is in the Mojave Desert within the National Park Service, Mojave National Preserve. It is nearest to McCarran International Airport as the point of accessibility to neighboring cities. The depot was unused for a while being almost demolished by the Union Pacific in 1985. It has served as the main visitor center of the Mojave National Preserve since 2005.

The depot is close to cities in Nevada and California for a little over 100 miles like Paradise, Nevada, and San Bernardino, and Los Angeles in California. The National Preserve includes different recreation areas like the Providence Mountains and the Kelso Depot Visitor Center. The depot is close to outdoor leisurely activities like camping grounds, picnic areas, and trail heads. It has exhibits portraying life in the depot then. The exhibit showcases the baggage room, the ticket office, and two dormitory rooms. The depot also has an art gallery of the cultural history of the preserve. It also has a bookstore and fully equipped restrooms for travelers and tourists. The recommended high-end hotels include Primm Valley Resort & Casino and Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino, both located one hour away from the depot in Jean, Nevada. Affordable inns are also available in El Rancho Dolores Motel at Joshua Tree National Park and Twentynine Palms, a little over an hour away, from the depot. The entrance fee to the depot is free.