Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park, California

4/6/2022

When my parents moved out to California, I couldn’t wait to start marking off the National Parks. The one closest to them is Joshua Tree National Park, so on the second trip out to see them, I took my mom and sister out to the desert with me for a jam-packed two days.

Read about our entire vacation to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park in my “48-Hours in Palm Springs” article here!

Joshua Tree National Park is roughly two hours from Los Angeles depending on where in the city you are and which entrance of the park you choose. It’s also only about an hour from downtown Palm Springs making it the perfect one or two-day vacation spot from either one!

We stayed at The Saguaro Hotel in Palm Springs before visiting the park. Check out my, “Where to Stay in Palm Springs,” post to learn more!

The Saguaro Hotel in Palm Springs.

The Art Deco feels at The Saguaro Hotel are unreal.

The Saguaro has the best pool in Palm Springs!

We woke up before the crack of dawn to drive out and get to the desert before sunrise. It should go without saying, but the desert gets especially hot in the summer, and that’s when we visited.

Here are a few tips before visiting the desert:

Bring lots of water
- Bring lots and lots of it. Just keep it in your car if you will be exploring nearby, and be sure to keep it out of the sun. You won’t want hot water in the heat of the day!
Go early
- Sunrise is not only beautiful, but it's a nice, cool time to visit the park and many people don’t get up that early, so it’s very rarely crowded. Plus, the earlier in the day you start, the more you can pack in or the earlier you can leave before the midday sun beats down.
Have a plan
- Know where you are going and have a map downloaded or in hand. There is very little cell phone service out there, so don't be reliant on your phone too much.

We only spent one day in Joshua Tree National Park, so this is by no means a complete list of things to do, but we saw some amazing highlights during our drive through the park, and here is a list of where we went:

Selfie at the entrance sign at the south entrance.

Sunrise in The Cholla Cactus Garden

We started at the south end of the park and worked our way north. As I mentioned above, we started early to beat the heat of the midday sun in the desert. The first place we stopped, aside from the welcome sign, was the Cholla Cactus Gardens.

Cholla Cacti.

We watched the sun peek out from behind The Little San Bernardino Mountains and shine through the clouds down onto the vast prickly forest of cacti in front of us. It was a spectacular sight to witness.

We walked the path and wooden planks through the chest-high succulents back to the parking lot and continued further into the park.

My sister walking through the Cholla Cactus Garden.

The sun coming over the mountains in the background.

Arch Rock

We continued up the road and pulled over at any viewpoint and parking lot that looked cool. Arch Rock was really amazing, because the rocks were right up close to the parking lot, and we were the only people there.

Somewhere not far from the parking area for Arch Rock.

The perfect place for a picnic.

Crazy clouds!

Skull Rock.

Skull Rock

Unlike the solitude at the spot before, Skull Rock is one of the more popular formations inside Joshua Tree National Park. We had to stand in a short line to have the rock to ourselves for a selfie with no one else in it.

Fortunately, it was a very quick walk from the car, and the area around it was spectacular, so we didn’t feel like we wasted any time waiting around. We did, however, hop in the car as soon as we got our pictures and continued onward.

I waited a while for this silly picture.

Finding Joshua Trees

The ecology of this National Park is absolutely fascinating. It’s the convergence of The Colorado and The Mojave Desert surrounded by The Little San Bernardino Mountains.

The Cholla Cacti are in the Colorado Desert, and the Joshua Trees are in the Mojave Desert. When you cross from one to the other you can really tell; the landscapes look completely different, and the Joshua Trees are very different from the cacti.

Sadly, we didn’t make it to the “Oasis” side of the park on this trip. It was closed due to an animal migration. *Note: always check The National Park website before arriving to check for closures and up-to-date notices*

We stopped along the road less frequently in The Mojave Desert simply because there weren't as many pull-offs leading to The Western Entrance Station, but we did stop whenever we could.

Visit The Visitor Centers

I always recommend visiting Ranger Stations or Visitor Centers in National Parks. We stopped into The Western Entrance Station of Joshua Tree National Park and learned all about the different deserts and landscapes, the wildlife living in the harsh ecosystem, and finally figured out the names of the plants we had been seeing all morning.

Information from inside the Visitors Center.

Information about the rocks!

Ending at the visitor center made me want to explore the park more with my newly learned information. Instead, I will just have to keep it in mind until my next trip back.

See you next time Joshua Trees!

After our day in the national park we stopped at The Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Museum of Assemblage Sculpture and then Pioneertown. Read both of my guides below to check out these cool roadside stops!