Camping in Joshua Tree National Park
/Yup, we know. No blogs in ages. Out of touch on Facebook. What’s our world coming to? Blame it on laziness, lethargy or just not feeling the inspiration, but with summer fast approaching, we’re getting ready to rock’n’roll again. We’ve got travel plans and we’ll be sharing them with you. In the meantime, we haven’t been exactly idle.
We've passed through Joshua Tree National Park in the past, but never had the opportunity to camp there or really explore. The park entrance in Twentynine Palms, California is less than 200 miles away so a couple weekends ago, we decided to give it a try.
First of all, Twentynine Palms... what's that all about and why is it located next to Fortynine Palms? Besides being one of the entry points to Joshua Tree National Park, it is the home of the US Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, the world's largest Marine Corps training base.... but that's not how it got its name. According to Wiki, 'Twentynine Palms was named for the palm trees found there in 1852 by Col. Henry Washington while surveying the San Bernadino base line. A post office was established in 1927.' Twentynine Palms is also a 2003 drama/horror film set in Twentynine Palms. I think we missed that one. For more info about Twentynine Palms, its history and 29 reasons to visit, just click here. We came, however, expressly for the national park, so we didn't explore the town much.
And Fortynine Palms? Well, I guess there were 49 palms when this oasis stop was named? The 49 Palms Oasis Trail offers a three-mile round-trip hike to a fan palm oasis. The palms, it is surmised, were probably planted by miners in the heyday of the mining boom here. We didn't manage to do this hike, although we wish we had. Next time maybe. We did, however, do a bit of very enjoyable exploring elsewhere in this 792,510 acre park, barely touching the surface of all there is to see and do.
We arrived on a Thursday so we could snag a campsite for the weekend. Most campsites within the park required reservations in advance, a practice we tend to avoid. Both Belle and White Tank campgrounds, however, offer first come-first serve sites. To our disappointment, all sites were taken when we arrived in mid-afternoon. We were advised by a ranger that the sites fill up quickly and are usually gone by 0830-0900 each morning.
We camped out in an inexpensive hotel room for the night in Twentynine Palms instead and headed back into the park by 0745 the next morning. The campground signs all showed 'full', but we gave it a try anyway. As luck would have it, as we entered White Tank Campground, one camper was packing up to leave as we passed by and we wasted no time in planting our flag (or camp chairs) to reserve the spot. Entry to the park, by the way, is $30/vehicle... free for USNP passholders like us. Our campsite was $7.50/night... 50% off the full price rate and considerably cheaper than our previous night's hotel room, but then the hotel did offer flush toilets, showers and a king-size bed. Still... it wasn't outdoors under the stars.
We set up camp in the White Tank campground nestled among gigantic, eons-old boulders and unusual granite rock formations. Our surroundings were almost surreal. Take a look at that cobalt-blue sky!
The Arch Rock Trail loop began in our campground and we chose to do it first out of sheer proximity... and laziness. It's a short 1.5 mile lollipop loop trail over sandy/rocky terrain. We ended up walking this trail several times just to take a walk first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It's an easy walk with minimal elevation gain across mesquite and cactus dotted desert then up into the 150 million year old rock formations where the arch is located.
The Arch
A rugged, rocky landscape
Curious roadrunners, local lizards and cheeky ground squirrels visited our campsite on a regular basis, looking for scraps and just checking out the clientele. Bees were also frequent visitors, mostly for water. Any drops on the tablecloth or on the ground were quickly covered and coveted by bees in search of moisture in this water-starved place. Several drowned, unfortunately, in dish water we were saving to douse our campfire. The park service warns visitors to turn off their A/C several minutes before arriving and parking anywhere to avoid bees swarming on the A/C evaporation droplets.
We hiked in early morning and explored more of the park via A/C car as the day warmed up. We stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden in hopes of seeing a forest of cactus blooms, but the continued lack of rainfall deprived us of a great desert flower display. A few cholla were beginning to bloom, but in general we worked mostly at avoiding cactus spines as we walked.
It’s easy to let our imagination run wild in this park, trying to determine appropriate names for the rock formations that abound. There are faces, praying women, animal shapes and great monsters. Some are more obvious than others… like Skull Rock above.
Joshua trees, the eponymous name of the park, aren't particularly majestic or handsome trees. These unwieldy, 'wild-armed' plants with branches sprouting in every direction are actually a species of yucca growing up to 40' tall. Handsome or not, seeing a forest of them is still a fascinating sight. Legend has it that 'The name Joshua tree was given by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer.'
Joshua Tree forest covering the desert floor and the hills beyond
Our last day we hiked the Contact Mine Trail. It wasn’t all that exciting, but it was a nice, well-marked walk and just being out and about under a blue, blue sky with good company at your side is pleasure enough some time. Signs pointed the way for hikers since the path was not all that clear. We never did find the Contact Mine, but no matter, we enjoyed the morning walk.
The Contact Mine Trail was hot and dusty along the desert floor. It was well-marked, but we never did find the Contact Mine.
Two days are just not enough to explore a national park, but Joshua Tree is close enough for a return trip perhaps sometime in cooler weather. In the meantime, we’re planning a road trip. Yup… we leave this coming week, in fact. Interested in joining us? Check in later in the week for some details… we’ll be riding the Cowboy Trail!