Travel Issue

Wonderous park provides escape

By John Caldwell
Daily Forty-Niner

A mountainous region of the Mojave Desert known as Joshua Tree National Park, offers the weekend traveler a world of wonder.

Located 140 miles east of Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs, the park is a diverse collection of desert motifs and strikingly beautiful landscapes. The plant and animal life within the park is so numerous and varied, that one can hardly believe it exists in a small patch of desert. The park has some interesting geologic features and is dotted with fan palm oases that indicate areas where water flows in an otherwise dry and forbidding climate.

Upon entering the town of Yucca Valley on State Highway 62 along the park's northern boundary, vast forests of Joshua Trees appear. The tall desert icons with their twisted branches are a kind of Yucca that only grows in that part of the country.

A small road leads out of town to the entrance of the park where a $10 entrance fee gets visitors in for one week. Of the nine campgrounds, three charge $10 per night and two of those take reservations. The remaining campsites within the park are first-come, first-served and most charge no fee to camp.  Only 162 campsites have running water, and the rest have toilets that are nothing more than fancy outhouses.

Camping conditions are rugged with few amenities and a limited number of campsites, but it is unbelievably quiet and is not usually crowded. Seclusion and pristine beauty make it an ideal setting for the avid camper.

The park is open year round, and it is recommended that reservations be made several months in advance. Those who wish to camp in the free campsites should arrive early in the day.

Hiking in the park includes moderate to strenuous adventures to mountaintops with spectacular views and walks to abandoned mines where one portion of California's gold rush has been preserved. Five separate oases take hikers into another world where cool springs flow in the shade of palm trees.

Biking on some of the many trails within the park's central valley is another popular activity. Rock climbing is also an option at Joshua Tree. More than 4,500 established climbing routes offer a wide range of difficulty.

For the spontaneous traveler in search of an escape from the city, Joshua Tree has a lot to offer. One can head out of Los Angeles on a Friday afternoon and find a secluded campsite nestled among huge rocks, looking out over a landscape that feels and looks like it could be the surface of the moon.

John Caldwell/ Daily Forty-Niner

A Joshua Tree grows in the central valley of the park.