Joshua Tree National Park: A Short But Satisfying Visit

Desolate.  Dry. Dangerous. That was my first impression of Joshua Tree National Park, when I visited a few days ago.
 
Brown.  Beautiful.  Busy.  That was my second impression, formed after driving through the park from south to north.
 
I was on my way to Los Angeles and since the highway went right past the southern entrance, I decided to stop since I’d never been to Joshua Tree National Park before.  But first I stayed overnight in Blythe, California, to break up the journey; the next day it took about 1 ¼ hours to get to the turn off for the park.  On the way, at the exit for Chiriaco Summit, there was a sign for General George S. Patton Memorial Museum, which looked intriguing but would have to wait for some other time.
 
A couple miles off the highway was the welcome sign for Joshua Tree National Park.  The landscape was flat with low-lying bare hills in the distance and scrub brush with some cacti and bushes on both sides of the asphalt road.  It was like that as far as the eye could see.

Sign at the southern entrance to the park

But there were cars on the road and the parking lot at Cottonwood Visitor Center was almost full.  Inside the small building, it was packed with people.  A park ranger at a table near the entrance gave out maps and answered questions.  There were plenty of souvenirs: books, clothing, hats, toys for kids, magnets, postcards, patches, etc. and the line at the cash register didn’t let up while I was there.
 
Because I only had a few hours to spend in the park, I decided to just drive along Pinto Basin Road at the western edge of the park, from south to north, ending up at the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center near Twentynine Palms.  Part of Park Boulevard was closed but on a future visit, I’d like to see that northwestern section because that’s where you can see lots of Joshua trees.
 
From one entrance to the other was about 40 miles.  The park ranger said it’d take about an hour but I planned to stop along the way and knew it would take me longer than that.  Exiting out of the visitor center, I followed all the other cars deeper into the park.  Even on a weekday, it was busy -- although the sere landscape looked empty, the road most definitely was not.

The route I drove; map is from the National Park Service

Located where the Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert meet, the area now known as Joshua Tree National Park has been inhabited for millenia.  A placard at a turn-out explained that archaeologists Elizabeth and William Campbell excavated the area in the 1930s.  They found artifacts created by the Pinto People which turned out to be more than 9,000 years old.  More recently, Indigenous Serrano, Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, and Mohave people lived in this region and their descendants are recognized by the National Park Service as the traditional stewards of the land.
 
Designated Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936, it acquired the Oasis of Mara region in 1950; however, the overall area of the national monument was reduced in size.  In 1994, it became a national park and its size was enlarged, regaining almost the same amount of land lost in 1950 but in a different area.  Joshua Tree National Park consists of 792,623 acres today.
 
As I continued my drive, I next stopped at Turkey Flats, where a placard explained how the desolate-looking landscape formed: A mix of rock, gravel, and sand washed down from Pinto Mountain in the background.  It was very dry and barren.  I was glad I had plenty of water with me.

View of Turkey Flats, with Pinto Mountain in the background

Another placard described some of the animals that live in the park.  Besides the sidewinder rattlesnake, 25 other snake species inhabit the park.  Fortunately, I didn’t encounter any snakes, dangerous or otherwise.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see a desert tortoise or any bighorn sheep, either.
 
I briefly stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden, roughly halfway from the I-10 entrance.  But since I can see jumping cholla just beyond my backyard at home, I didn’t spend much time there.  Besides, I still hadn’t seen any Joshua trees and that was, after all, the point of my visit.
 
So I drove on until I reached an outcrop of boulders that looked interesting.  After finding a space in the small, almost-full, parking lot, I learned from the well-worn placard that the boulders had formed when magma-created monzogranite found its way through cracks in the 1.7 billion-year-old Pinto gneiss.

If you use your imagination, this outcrop almost looks like a desert tortoise

I climbed to the top of one boulder and saw a landscape speckled with odd-shaped rocks.  This was a crowded spot and it was difficult to find views without other people in them.  I spent about 20 minutes exploring this section of the park.

View from the top of a boulder

Then I realized I wasn’t at the location of Arch Rock – it was actually further along Pinto Basin Road.  Luckily, I quickly found a parking spot but when I realized reaching Arch Rock required a mile-long walk each way, I decided to skip it because I was running out of time.
 
Driving on, I passed the road going to Skull Rock and the Discovery Trail, where the park ranger had said there were lots of Joshua trees.  But they will have to wait until I can come back another time.  Finally, after about  2 ½  hours, I started to see small stands of Joshua trees (scientific name: Yucca brevifolia) along the side of the road.
 
About 10 minutes after leaving the boulder area, I parked on the side of the road where I saw a grove of Joshua trees.  I saw one Joshua tree in front of a hill and knew it’d make a beautiful picture.  I spent about 15 minutes there, photographing that tree and the surrounding area.

A beautiful Joshua tree

The Cahuilla people called the Joshua tree humwichawa and hunuvat chiy’a and the Serrano people also called it hunuvat chiy’a.  One theory says the trees got their English name from 19th century Mormons traveling west through the area because they thought the trees’ branches resembled outstretched arms, like Joshua in the Bible, but there isn’t any real evidence to support that.

Closeup of the Joshua tree

Joshua trees are native to the Mojave Desert, grow to about 40 feet in height, and typically live to around 150 years but can live as long as 300 years.  Indigenous people used edible parts of the trees as food sources; made baskets, footwear, and tools from the fibers of leaves; and used some parts for medicinal purposes.

A different view of the Joshua tree

Finally, it was time to leave.  Although I had already shown my park pass at the Cottonwood Visitor Center, all cars had to stop at the North Entrance Station to either confirm they’d already paid the entrance fee or pay it if they hadn’t.  Holding up my pass, I didn’t have to wait in line and instead was waved through.
 
I reached Los Angeles a few hours later but am looking forward to a return visit so I can explore more of Joshua Tree National Park.  There is still plenty to see and do!