What's a Joshua Tree?

About an hour north or east of Palm Springs, California, lies an entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, a large desert area filled with interesting foliage and rock formations.  This park covers nearly 800 acres and is well known for its abundance of the Joshua tree, or Yucca brevifolia, a tree-like plant native to this area of the Mojave Desert.

I had seen signs for Joshua Tree National Park probably a dozen times off of Interstate 10 - and while we were in nearby Palm Springs for a few days, it was the perfect opportunity to give this place a look see.  Taking local route 62 north off of I-10, we traveled through desert views and the small towns of Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley until we found the park's Joshua Tree Visitor Center, located in the village of Joshua Tree.  We were able to watch a short film on the park and get a map and information on some of the best places to see in the park on a brief few hour visit.  

After paying a small entrance fee for our car, we headed into the park where view upon view of Joshua trees and rock formations were found everywhere.  It was difficult to determine the best places to stop because many scenes were just as interesting as the next.  We finally pulled over on a side shoulder and got an up close look at the trees that were just littered across the land as far as we could see.

These trees had unique shapes with branches protruding in different directions into the sky.  The "leaves" were spiky, and they somewhat resembled a cactus in my view.  I certainly didn't test touching one to find out if they were really cactus-like.  Apparently, the Joshua tree name was claimed to be given by Mormon settlers who thought the trees reminded them of the Biblical story of Joshua praying with his hands raised to the sky.  While that's widely considered the origin of the name, one can potentially debate the accuracy of such as tale.

Being a desert, I expected the heat on this early September day to beat down on us like we had experienced in the Palm Springs area; however, it was surprisingly cooler in the park.  The sun was out, and it was certainly warm but far from unbearable with a slight breeze that made it actually quite comfortable.

One of the suggestions of a park ranger at the Visitor Center was to check out Keys View, an area of high elevation that gave us views of the surrounding valleys, San Jacinto Mountains and even Palm Springs.  Keys View was located at the end of one of the roads, where there were several parking spots and a short pathway walk up to the top of a hill which provided the optimal viewing platform.  With the wind blowing and even a few sprinkles from a slight sun shower, we breathed in the cool desert air and took in the majestic views to the south of the park.

After doubling back and taking an alternate road, we passed more rock formations both big and small.  Some were boulders strung together that we could easily climb while others were gigantic rock mountains that would definitely require climbing and hiking gear to maneuver.  One of the popular areas was called Jumbo Rocks, which was unfortunately closed that day.  We drove by this area and could see the formations from the road, but we were not able to step onto the lands.  However, a little further down the road was a particularly famous rock formation known as "Skull Rock."  From the picture, I'm sure you can guess why it was given this name.  We pulled over here and were able to walk up and climb on this rock, viewing it from all angles.  Located just a few steps off the road, this rock was easily accessible and gave us a chance to explore the trails and many other rock formations that surrounded this unique natural sculpture.

"Skull Rock"

In all, we spent roughly 4 hours in this park - most of it close to the main road.  There were plenty of hiking trails and special sites off the road, but we just didn't have enough time nor the proper equipment to explore the park further (perhaps another time).  If you have just a few hours to spend here, the areas we visited would give you a good flavor of what Joshua Tree National Park has to offer.

Pin Stops Rankings: 3 Pins

A worthwhile visit to a national park in the Mojave Desert, this place did not disappoint.  We enjoyed seeing the Joshua trees up close and personal while seeing the views and rock formations were also quite nice.  If you enjoy scenic and natural desert views, you can't go wrong with Joshua Tree National Park.