March 2018

We finally got a calm day in the Palm Springs area to visit Joshua Tree National Park (winds have been gusting at 30 – 50 mph the last few days!). As we approached the park, about 30 miles from where we were staying in Desert Hot Springs, we spotted an unfamiliar site…crowds. Turns out it was Spring break for lots of the local schools kids and the park was jammed. We have gotten spoiled by having the parks mostly to ourselves over the past couple of months. That was definitely not the case here!

We stopped at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center near the West Entrance Station. We got a map of the park and they suggested that we proceed to the Oasis Visitor Center, and enter through the North Station to avoid potential long waits at the gate. That didn’t sound good at all.

We entered at the North gate with no delay and proceeded down Park Boulevard. This section of the park, considered the West side, has LOTS of Joshua trees and rugged rock formations. We stopped for a picnic and were lucky to get a parking spot at Hidden Valley. After we ate lunch and explored the area (along with 50,000 kids climbing over every rock surface) we drove the short distance to Parker Dam, intending to take the one-mile loop hiking trail to the Dam. Unfortunately there were no parking spaces available so we proceeded on.

As you can see the Joshua trees are beautiful and so different than the saguaro and organ pipe cactus that we found in the other parts of the desert. The name Joshua tree was given by a group of Mormon settlers crossing the Mojave Desert. The tree’s unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reached up his hands to the sky in prayer.

   

Eventually we left the West side of the park and headed to the East side, towards Cottonwood Spring. Here the scenery was much different, drier and the Joshua trees were gone, replaced by chola cactus and other scrub brush. We were on the lookout for Big Horn Sheep that were supposed to live in this area of the park. We didn’t see any sheep but were fortunate to get a picture of a coyote that ran across the road.

 

It would have been more fun without the crowds but it was still a beautiful and unique park that you should visit if you are ever in the Palm Springs area.