Joshua Tree National Park

Traveling with us? Good! Grab your camera, binoculars, water bottles and a sandwich. We are going on another adventure. Let's head for Joshua Tree National Park.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Located across two deserts, with unusual trees, campsites among boulders, colorful mountain vistas, rock climbing, ruins of old gold mines, picnicing, hiking and bicycling across the desert. Where do you find all this in one place? Joshua Tree is one of our less well known national parks,

This park is straddled across the Colorado and Mojave Deserts and is roughly bounded on the south near Highway 10, west and north by Historic Route 62, and on the east by 177. the north entrance is near the town of 29 palms in Southern California and a south entrance near Hwy 10.

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This beautiful park is named for the unusual tree called a Joshua Tree that grows mostly in the Mojave Desert between 2,000 and 6,000 feet in elevation. The tree trunk is made up of fibers more like the palm tree than say an oak. It does not have rings. After the first year or two when they grow rapidly, they only grow about a 1/2 inch a year, depending on approximately 4 inches of rain a year.

The tree was named by early Mormon settlers who evidently noted certain parallels between this tree and the prophet Joshua of Biblical fame. Both were living and thriving in desert environments and lived to great age, and the arms of the Joshua tree are also lifted up as though in prayer.

There are many giant boulders in this park that are popular with rock climbing clubs. Can you see the climbers at the top? I see three of them.

Another popular spot is by this cap rock boulder with its rather precariously balanced cap.

Then there is this curiously shaped boulder called the skull rock.

Besides the Joshua Tree, some of the more interesting plants in the park are the Cholla or "teddy bear" Cactus. It is also known as a jumping cactus.

It doesn't jump but with its soft looking silvery bristles, each of which is tipped with a tiny barb, this "teddy bear" is definitely not one you want to hug, it breaks easily at the joints when the barbs catch on unsuspecting passersby and is carried to other areas where it finally falls and puts down roots. In spite of its prickly character this cactus is home to such diverse creatures as the cactus wren and the wood rat.

In Mid-march 2006 a sudden snow storm dusts the nearby mountains with white. The Keys View point in the park was closed because of snow. From the Keys View point you can see the Coachella valley and tall mountains in the background with Palm Springs in the foothills. Look down into the valley and see the infamous San Andreas fault.

The park encompasses the Pinto Valley, named for its many colors like a pinto horse.
It is also home to the endangered Desert Tortoise. They should be coming out of hibernation in about mid to late March and travelers will need to be wary of running over them or disturbing them as they emerge from their burrows and begin to search for food and mates.

The raven and redtail hawk can be seen soaring over the boulders or sitting on one of the taller plants but many other inhabitants of this desert are mostly nocturnal and are rarely seen by park visitors.

In the lower elevations the Ocotillo cactus thrive. These had just begun to send out their scarlet red flowers. Like many desert plants they drop their leaves when the weather is hot or there isn't sufficient moisture to avoid losing more moisture from their surfaces.

This is a great park to spend a few hours in or even a few days in late fall and in spring. In winter temperatures can drop quickly to freezing so you should be prepared if you plan to visit then. In summer, temperatures soar to over a hundred degrees and it doesn't cool off much until early morning.

There were several campgrounds that could accommodate tents and smaller trailers and motorhomes but you should check first if you plan to come into the park with any of the larger motorhomes or 5th wheels.

There are several historic towns located along the highways outside the park each having a distinct character. Hotels and motels and other travelers accommodations are located in these towns if you don't want to camp out.

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