Joshua Tree National Park

Tuesday, January 7
Joshua Tree National Park has been on our list for quite a while. We headed east down the I 10 to exit 168 then north into the Park. It is about an hour from our RV Park.

We buy an annual America The Beautiful pass each year and have found we save a ton of money. The Pass gets you and your spouse free admission to National Parks. Our last pass expired in December so it was time to get a new one, which we did ($80) at the entrance to Joshua Tree NP. We're good for another year!

Joshua Tree was proclaimed a National Park in 1936. It is just under 800,000 acres and consists of two deserts. The Eastern half is the Colorado Desert and is below 3,000 feet. It is part of the much larger Sonoran Desert that extends from Arizona down to Northwest Mexico. Creosote bushes, Ocotillo and Cholla cactus dominate this lower elevation landscape.

Heading into Joshua Tree NP.

Creosote bushes for miles.

So many jet contrails they nearly obliterated the sky.

Lots of Cholla Cactus here too.

The Western half  of Joshua Tree NP is the Mojave Desert and is above 3,000 feet. Here you find rocky outcroppings, juniper and Pinyon Pines. The star of the desert is without doubt the Joshua Tree. It isn't really a tree but rather a species of the yucca. Joshua trees can grow to 40 feet at about an inch per year. They live between 100 to 150 years but some may exceed 400 years.

At higher elevations the rock outcroppings appeared.

The parks namesake....the Joshua Tree. Solitary here, but there were forests of them further along the road.

Some of theses 'trees' were huge and symmetrical.

Others were gangly.

Lots of things to see in the rocks. We think this is a face with a hair lock falling down.

Or is this a lizard

This one was called Skull Rock. Too bad the shadows hide much of the face.

This Joshua tree trunk was laying beside the road.

You can see the fibrous material that form the trunk of the Joshua Tree.

They have had some recent storms in the Park. This tree has lost a lot of its lower limbs.

Joshua tree forest

Cap rock from on side.....

......and Cap rock from the other side.

As we got above 4,000 feet we saw snow along the road.

The view from the 5,185 foot Keys View lookout.

Mount San Jacinto across the Coachella Valley

The Salton Sea. On the horizon is Signal Mountain on the US/Mexico border 95 miles away.

Thick grove of Joshua Trees.

There are lots of trails in Joshua but we didn't walk more than one. Many of the driving roads were closed due to washouts from previous rain storms.

We did stop at the Hidden Valley Trail. You can't read the sign below so I'll fill you in. This area was a favorite haunt of cattle rustlers in the 1800's. The rocks and hidden valleys and caves made hiding from the law easier. they would hide horses, cattle and themselves in the rocky areas.

A one mile loop through the rocks.

Today this area is a favorite of rock climbers.

Still lots of snow here in the shaded areas. The trail was quite slippery in places.

There is a great hiding place behind those trees.

The trail was a bit rocky in places.

Just enough room for a horse and rider to pass through.

We finished up pretending we were outlaws hiding in the rocks from the law, and headed back down out of the Park. We exited toward the north and then took Hwy 62 through Yucca Valley, past Desert Hot Springs and joined up with I 10 just west of Palm Springs.

The community of Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley

Hwy 62 heading southwest toward the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs.

A colorful sunset to finish a fun day.

.....and that was Our View From Here!