Joshua Tree National Park

by | Nov 14, 2018 | Adventures, Joshua Tree

Phenomenal California Desert Day Trip

This past October, we literally stumbled upon Joshua Tree National Park.

Full disclosure!! I had no idea what Joshua Tree National Park was about (aside from the popular album, U2’s Joshua Tree, and a T-shirt my husband bought from Lucky Jeans with a Joshua Tree on it, he really likes his t-shirt collection).

 

Now, I feel…(well…frankly, embarrassed to be naïve), but also feel like I owe Joshua Tree National Park an apology for disregarding this paranormal beauty that must be seen. (Fret not, the tree in the above picture was actually leaning over this way!!)

What to expect?

  • In a nutshell, expect to feel like you are on a different planet for a few hours (to me it felt like what Mars would be).
  • If you start at the West entrance as we did, expect to be in absolute awe for the first hour with a magical forest of foreign funny looking trees, then to slowly feel like it is totally normal to have epic trees everywhere and immensely wind rock formations.
  • Expect to take A LOT of pictures, a lot of pictures of rocks because somehow you know that it will be hard to capture the beauty.
  • But most of all, expect to never forget Joshua Tree. Mother nature served up a doozy on this one!

Our Experience

On a recent last-minute trip to visit my friends and family in my hometown, Vancouver, BC, we stopped en-route in Los Angeles and visited my mother for 2 days who was on vacation in Indio (which is just outside of Palm Springs, and NOT just outside of Los Angeles as we soon realized it is a 3+ hour drive in traffic).  Regardless, we took this as an opportunity to take 2 days out of our quick trip to soak in the heat, relax and spend some quality time with my Mom.

Immediately, we were surprised by how much the Palm Springs area has to offer, with little expectations.  The downtown core of Palm Springs has great bars and restaurants and shops (even a Tommy Bahama bar!). We even loved the resort, WorldMark Indio we stayed at with my mother.

We would certainly go back and spend a few more days (we would,  however, likely stay in Palm Springs next time) and would definitely spend an extra day to visit and hike at Mt San Jacinto and catch a game of golf on one of the many spectacular courses in the desert.

We enjoyed the ~ 50-minute drive up to Joshua Tree National Park from Indio, stopped at the visitor centre and had an informative conversation with the passionate staff. They directed us to a few key spots. If we had more time, we certainly would have gone for a longer hike and explored the park from top to bottom.

However, with only about 2 and a half hours spent in the park, we were able to absorb some of mother nature’s most beautiful artwork, well worth $30:  We…

  • Loved the drive through the Joshua Tree Forest
  • Enjoyed the short but spectacular 1-mile hike at Hidden Valley.
  • Thoroughly enjoyed the breathtaking Key’s View lookout.    

As per normal, I kept myself fit during those quick two days some beautiful desert runs, and a Beach Body on Demand workout.

10 Tips For Your Trip To Joshua Tree National Park

  1. I have read that if you want to do the entire park, Start from the South Entrance so you see the most amazing aspects at the end, if not it can be a bit anti-climatical near the end.
  2. Fill up your car with people. It is $30 per carload not per person.
  3. Stop at the visitor center, the staff is passionate and helpful, will give you an informative map to keep you on track.
  4. Don’t depend on your phone, there is no cell phone service out there. And do charge your phone before, you will take more photos and videos than you thought.
  5. If you are allergic to bee’s be sure to bring your EpiPen. Though we only saw a few at Key’s View.
  6. Food and Drink: Bring more water than you think! The air in the desert is super dry, we were fully parched after a short 1-mile walk.  There is no food in the park if you plan to spend the day bring food!  Even better, stop at Joshua Tree Saloon for a pint and some food before or after.
  7. Don’t hesitate to take as many pictures as possible, I think they all turned out epic If possible take pictures with the sun at your back, don’t point your camera into the sun (I am an amateur photographer with just an iphone8 this I discovered by default)
  8. If you like camping, put Joshua Tree National Park on your bucket list. I can only imagine how phenomenal the stars, sunsets, and sunrises could be.
  9. Look on the website before you go or call ahead. This could save you valuable time.  When we went they had a storm a few days before we were there and the South Entrance was closed along with quite a few of the trails.
  10. If the option to fly into Palm Springs vs. drive from Los Angeles, definitely fly or at the very least plan your travels to avoid Los Angeles anytime rush hour, it is not fun.