Land of Liberty Explorers

Overview

Joshua Tree National Park is located about 150 miles east of Los Angeles in the California desert. It became a national monument in 1936 and a national park in 2004. It is slightly larger than the State of Rhode Island. Joshua Tree preserves sections of the Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert. The Mojave is higher and cooler than the Colorado. It is the primary habitat for the Joshua Tree – the large yucca tree, for which the park it named. The Colorado desert is lower and warmer and features plants like the cholla cactus, ocotillo, and creosote bush.

Getting to the Park

We drove to Joshua Tree from Orange County. It took about 2 hours to get to the Joshua Tree Visitors Center located at 6554 Park Boulevard, Joshua Tree, CA 92252. Rangers there helped us map out our day. They recommended a trip up to Keys View, a stop at Skull Rock, and visiting the Cholla Garden.

Keys View

Keys View is a spectacular viewpoint at the top of the Little San Bernardino Mountains. The road to the top is windy and takes a while to get there, but it was worth it. From Keys View, park visitors can see the Coachella Valley, the Salton Sea, Mt. San Jacinto, Mt. San Gorgonio, and the San Andreas Fault.

Skull Rock

Skull Rock is a large granite boulder that has eroded to look like a skull. We enjoyed climbing over the nearby boulders in the area and checking out the interesting plants that grow in the Mojave Desert at this stop.

Cholla Garden

While we loved seeing the impressive Joshua Trees, the Cholla Garden was our favorite spot in the park! The Cholla Garden is located in the Colorado Desert section of the park. To get there, visitors descend through Wilson Canyon. Getting there shows visitors the size of the park. We arrived as the sun was beginning to set. The low angle of the sun illuminated the cholla cacti! It was a beautiful sight!

Arch Rock

We had a little daylight left, so we decided to hike the 1.4 mile roundtrip trail to Arch Rock. The Arch Rock trailhead is located at the Twin Tanks Campground. The trail is mostly flat with some boulders to climb over near Arch Rock. It was a fun way to end our visit to Joshua Tree!

Oasis of Mara

Our last stop was the Oasis of Mara. It is located right behind the Oasis Visitors Center in Twentyninepalms. This visitors center has a very nice cactus garden.