Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
One of the strangest tales of the Mojave Desert is that of the The Mojave Phone Booth. Located deep in the Mojave National Preserve this lonely payphone, installed decades ago to serve miners at the Cinder Mine, somehow became a global phenomenon in the late 1990s when the internet discovered its number. People from around the world began calling it, traveling for miles into the desert just to pick up the ringing phone in the middle of nowhere.
But to understand why the booth was here at all, we first explore the incredible landscape around Cima Dome, home to the largest Joshua Tree forest on Earth.
From there, we travel to the historic Aiken Cinder Mine, once the largest cinder operation in the region and a major supplier of material that helped build early Las Vegas. When the mine shut down in 1990, workers left much of the equipment behind, leaving a huge abandoned industrial site in the middle of the Mojave.
Then we head to one of the most well known locations in the Mojave National Preserve, The Mojave Lava Tube.
Finally, we head to the spot where the Mojave Phone Booth once stood before it was removed in 2000.
Godfrey Daniels' book - Adventures with the Mojave Phone Booth: amazon.com/dp/1720269297
Information on the Aiken Mine from Backroadswest.com
○ Gear we use: amazon.com/shop/sidetrackadventures
►Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/SidetrackAdventures
►Please subscribe for weekly updates showcasing some of our adventures: youtube.com/channel/UCdueDRFYPVgzPAAOM_bxVWA?sub_confirmation=1
►Also please follow Sidetrack Adventures on Instagram: instagram.com/sidetrackadventures
►Music in this video is from Epidemic Sounds; use our link for a free trial: share.epidemicsound.com/v927fj
One of the strangest tales of the Mojave Desert is that of the The Mojave Phone Booth. Located deep in the Mojave National Preserve this lonely payphone, installed decades ago to serve miners at the Cinder Mine, somehow became a global phenomenon in the late 1990s when the internet discovered its number. People from around the world began calling it, traveling for miles into the desert just to pick up the ringing phone in the middle of nowhere.
But to understand why the booth was here at all, we first explore the incredible landscape around Cima Dome, home to the largest Joshua Tree forest on Earth.
From there, we travel to the historic Aiken Cinder Mine, once the largest cinder operation in the region and a major supplier of material that helped build early Las Vegas. When the mine shut down in 1990, workers left much of the equipment behind, leaving a huge abandoned industrial site in the middle of the Mojave.
Then we head to one of the most well known locations in the Mojave National Preserve, The Mojave Lava Tube.
Finally, we head to the spot where the Mojave Phone Booth once stood before it was removed in 2000.
Godfrey Daniels' book - Adventures with the Mojave Phone Booth: amazon.com/dp/1720269297
Information on the Aiken Mine from Backroadswest.com
○ Gear we use: amazon.com/shop/sidetrackadventures
►Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/SidetrackAdventures
►Please subscribe for weekly updates showcasing some of our adventures: youtube.com/channel/UCdueDRFYPVgzPAAOM_bxVWA?sub_confirmation=1
►Also please follow Sidetrack Adventures on Instagram: instagram.com/sidetrackadventures
►Music in this video is from Epidemic Sounds; use our link for a free trial: share.epidemicsound.com/v927fj
