Why Joshua Tree?

Funny things that my sister, cousin, nor I actually knew where the park got it’s name from, but we wanted to go. The name Joshua Tree comes from a group of Mormon settlers that were traveling across the Mojave Desert. They named the tree Joshua because it reminded them of the Biblical story in which Joshua reached his hands to the sky in prayer.

Camping

This trip to Joshua Tree was a short one (2 nights/ 3 days) of camping. It was definitely fun though! We rented a camp spot from Hipcamp which is similar to Airbnb or VRBO, but for camping. You can see a picture of our campsite below. We stayed in the Yucca Valley North West from Joshua Tree. Our site was about 15 miles from the West Entrance.

Although we stayed at an offsite location, Joshua Tree has 7 locations inside that you can use. There is a camping option for everyone including those that are small, large, basic accommodations for tent camping, some have grills, others have scenic views. There are a few that you can find right outside of the park also, most of which are non reservable and are on a first come first serve basis.

West Entrance

Driving through this area you will see expansive plains of Joshua Tree’s and mounds of rock formations when you get inside of the park (pictured below).

Inside the park (West)

The first exhibit that you’ll approach is the Maze Loop Trail. The Maze Loop is a loop trail that is just under 5 miles and has a mix of bouldering and sand that you’ll have to cross through. After the Maze Loop you’ll see a huge rock formation called Quail Springs. There are a few picnic tables to sit and take a break and if you’re lucky you might even be able to catch a glimpse of the quails perched on top of some of the rock formations. Right after passing the quail trail you’ll find the Boy Scout trail, which is pretty long. It’s a point to point trail that’s almost 8 miles.

This next rock formation is one you can see from the side of the road and you definitely cannot miss and its called Jumbo Rocks. Jumbo rocks is just that, Jumbo Rocks.

North Entrance (29 Palms)

We entered on the North Entrance because we heard that the stargazing from the middle of the park is unmatched. We headed inside the park around 1am in search of Skull Rock, Arch Rock, and Twin tanks. Heading to Skull Rock make sure you keep heading south to stay on Park Rd. Again, couldn’t get any good pictures of it because of the time of day, but it looks amazing. Even the least imaginative person has the ability to see skull rock. Normally these rock formations make you have to squint, close your eyes and turn upside down in order to see what it’s supposed to look like. Skull rocks actually looks like a skull like its been hand placed on top of a pile of rocks.

If you head back up Park Road and start down Pinto Basin Road you will find yourself at Arch Rock. There is a a small parking lot that gives you access to the trailhead. Once we saw skull rock and made it to the trailhead we wanted to see what Arch Rock was all about. We started the hike around 1:30am. We made it to the rock formation around 2:00am. We got to climb inside and all around the arch and take in the night sky full of constellations. There are a few trail markers laid out on the way to and from the arch that include rock piles or posts with small arrows. When it was time to head out I wish it was much easier for us to find the trail markers. It was around 3:30am when the moon began to set behind a mountain in the distance. I think this is the point where we all got a little scared because it became completely pitch black and we could only see as far as our flashlight would allow. At the same time I was thinking “what is the worst that could happen?” I mean, the worst thing that would happen Is that we would have to wait around for two hours until the sunrises and we can finally see the road or trail markers. Luckily my sister said that she looked at her compass before we left and said the car was parked at 39 degrees North East. She ends up checking the compass again to see if we can get back to the car and yeah you guessed it, no luck. Along the way with us looking up at the constellations and no longer having the moon for light we began to slowly drift off of our original course. We finally see there was a car that was driving down the road so we were able to head toward the road and we walked along the road until we saw the trailhead sign.

Lost Horse Loop

Our last day we decided to do a day hike since the night hike didn’t go in our favor. The next stop down the road was the Lost Horse Mine Trail. This trail is pretty tough considering we were hiking in temperatures of 90˚ degrees or more. Make sure you bring plenty of snacks and water along the way. You have two options for the trail. You can head up to the mine that is mostly uphill then back down totalling 4 miles round trip. You also have the option to head to the loop trail which will take around and back down to the parking lot totally 6 miles round trip. I would say you’re better off just heading to the mine then back down XD but suit yourself. You can see photos of the mine below.

It is currently out of operation, but it was used from 1894 to 1931 to produce gold and silver. During its time of operation it was able to produce 10,000 ounces or 625 pounds of gold and 16,000 ounces or 1000 pounds of silver.

Keys View

After that hike we were kind of beat, so we decided we weren’t ready to leave but we wanted to still take in some views from the comfort of the car. We started to head down the road and you can take in probably the best view of the entire park. It’s called Keys View with an elevation of 5185ft you can see Mt. San Jacinto, Salton Sea (also the home to Salvation Mountain), Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, and Indio all from one point. See the shot from the peak below.

The Cholla

If you head out to Joshua Tree or any other desert area make sure you keep an eye out for the Cholla Cactus, also called the “Jumping Cactus.” We found out they were called Jumping Cactus shortly after getting home. These cacti have little fishhook shaped spines and are typically attracted to fabric, but that doesn’t mean they will not still latch on to the skin. I’ve watched a couple videos about them, and you definitely do not want to try to remove any part of the cactus with your hands! Take a look below to see how close my sister got to the jumping cactus.

There’s actually an entire garden inside of Joshua Tree that is dedicated to these guys. Just be careful when you’re walking through.

Late Night Views

But probably the most amazing thing about the trip was the nighttime sky. The sky in the desert is nothing like the sky you will see here in Los Angeles or any other major city. The night we went stargazing I was totally in awe. We could see the Milky Way Galaxy and all its glory, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus all at one time. There were so many other clusters of stars and constellations visible as well, but I wasn’t able to get a photo due to camera quality. This is the best thing I could get using the lowlight camera.

One other thing that might come in handy when stargazing is a constellation app that outlines the constellations and gives you an idea of what you’re looking at. The one I used is called Star Walk 2. It includes real time information about planets that you can see in the sky based on your location. You can get notifications about when constellations will be visible and the rise and culmination of planets in the sky.

You can’t really tell what anything is, but you get the idea. I think one of those is actually Jupiter too!

Joshua Tree

Fossil Creek

Zion