Joshua Tree National Park

Y’all this place has been on my bucket list for several reasons, it’s a unique place where two desert ecosystems are found in one park, as well as its vast, desolate, Martian landscape. I really only had a half a day to see the park, so I planned on all the major highlights of the park you can see without doing any hiking.  

I entered the park from the South, and traveled up towards the town of Joshua Tree. I was most interested in the Park highlights, and felt like if I had time I could do some exploring in the town afterwards. A few notes: there is no water in the park, pack water accordingly even if you are only driving through for a day. Closed toed shoes, this is a desert things here stick and bite. Lastly if you are planning to hike or camp be real with yourself about your off trail navigation skill set and please let someone know your plans—people go missing here all the time. Lastly cell service is extremely limited and spotty in the park.  

The southern part of the park is made up of the Colorado Desert— lower, hotter, and more diverse plant life than the Mojave Desert in the North. A notable difference is the Colorado Desert lacks the giant cacti that the Mojave Desert boasts.

Ocotillo patch was the first thing I wanted to see after stopping at the visitor center. They sprout green leaves after a rain that drop off a few weeks later, and it had rained 2 weeks before I visited! This shrub can grow up to 20 feet tall and live 60-100 years. 

Cholla Cactus Garden is absolutely stunning! It’s like nothing I have ever seen. The cactus remind me of thorny bumblebees— cute but dangerous. There is a parking lot here and a paved path. If you’re more adventurous you can cross the road where there is no path just watch where you walk! You can easily be poked or step on one.  

Jumbo Rocks is really amazing to see, they are literally massive boulders that look as if they have just been dropped into the vast nothingness. At the visitor center they had a section about the different geological activity in the park. The rocks that make up Jumbo Rocks are igneous rocks (White Tank Monzogranite) that formed 15-20 miles below the surface between 145 - 66 million years ago, and at present day are surface level. 

These rocks look smooth like sandstone from far away but are actually quiet rough due the the large crystals formed from slow cooling.  

Skull rock is the most notable spot in the Jumbo Rocks area of the park, it really does look just like a skull. I did not bother with a picture of it as it was crawling with people, and with limited time I did not want to wait for a break in people for a stellar photo. 

Keys View was next up, it’s a turn off of the road that cuts through the park, but it’s not super out of the way to drive to. This is where there was the highest concentration of Joshua Trees as well, and they were all right off the road on the way to Keys View. Definitely stop for some great photos!

Keys View is on top of the Little San Bernardino Mountain Range, and looks down into Coachella Valley with the San Andreas fault line running between the two. Poor air quality makes it very hazy most days, on a perfect day you can see all the way to Mexico! 

The Joshua Trees are really amazing and make for great photos! They seems to all grow perfectly spaced out and come in a huge range of sizes.

I took all of these on the way back to the main road from Keys View. 

These are all the big spots I recommend to stop at if you have a half or full day to spend in the park. I did not have time to stop at all the cute shops in Joshua Tree but I do recommend it if you have the time!

I would love to go back and be able to do a day hike or even camp! If you have been to Joshua Tree what was your favorite part? Also if you were able to hike or camp I’d love to know about it!