Another Visit to Joshua National Park

After we visited Carlsbad Caverns we were counting how many national parks we’ve visited. We realized I’ve been to 30 and The Husband only 29 because I visited Joshua Tree National Park on a solo trip for my 40th birthday. We clearly had to remedy the situation so I planned a trip!

Being that it was January in a desert park, it’s prime season and last minute campsites are hard to come by. All the reservable sites in the center of the park were booked but I found a few open sites at the Cottonwood Campground, which is an hour away from the main section of the park. One hour is better than not going so we booked the site and started planning.

When I visited previously I was by myself and stuck to the short hikes and more touristy things. Going back with The Husband meant we could explore more and we basically did all the things. 3 night camping, 2.5 days exploring, 5 hikes for a total of 13.5 miles, 1 ranger led tour, 2 quick stops, 1 western town, 2 grocery stores, 1 souvenir store, 2 visitor centers, 2 saloons, and drove through all 3 entry points. And that, my friends, is how I like to vacation. 🙂

We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and got set up at camp. We still had some daylight to burn so we hit the road. Our first stop was the Cottonwood Spring. Next stop was the visitor center. Lastly, we headed to the Arch Rock trailhead. My goal was to find heart rock and we did!

I was super excited for our Friday plans! I read about an unmarked hike to Samuelson Rocks and that was first on our list for the day. It’s not an official trail and on the internet you can find the GPS coordinates. I wasn’t totally keen on the idea of just walking through the desert towards some GPS coordinates and was trying to decide if we should really be going off trail. As I was studying park maps, like more detailed ones, I found actual trails to get to Samuelson Rocks. I’m not giving details, if you want to do this hike, you can figure out how to get there. There is no cell service in Joshua Tree and the trail is totally exposed, so be sure you have a GPS device, water, and snacks. As we turned onto one of the trails there was a sign that read you are entering backcountry – be prepared to self rescue.

When I mentioned this hike to a ranger at the visitor center he rolled his eyes and said there are no trails to it. If they didn’t want people finding the area, I assume it wouldn’t be on maps. My only advise, if you’re going to do this hike, is to look at the maps and figure out how to get there safely. The area can be very disorienting so make sure you have a GPS device and know how to navigate. And please leave the rocks as you find them.

Before the park was a park, miners and ranchers came to the area to mine for gold and build homesteads. John Samuelson was one of those guys and the legend has it that Samuelson was a radical thinker but no one really seems to know much else about him. He carved his thoughts into eight boulders all strewn around a rocky hill in the area where he used to live. You can find remnants of his homestead as well. A car, fence, and bed frame are in the area. What I loved most about this adventure is it was part hike part scavenger hunt. We spent probably a good hour at the site looking for the different rocks. Some are harder to find that others. We had the place to ourselves mostly, with the exception of two guys who happened to be hiking by and asked what we were doing. This hike was definitely a highlight of our trip. We hardly saw a soul and got to see something really special.

After we finished our hike, we headed into the town of Joshua Tree to check out a few places we read about on the internet. The first was Pioneertown. It’s an old western town that was used for movies. We live in Arizona and have several of these, so Pioneertown wasn’t that exciting. There’s a restaurant/bar and some souvenir stores. It’s a little ways out of town so I wouldn’t suggest going unless you really love that kind of thing. We made a few stops in the town of Joshua Tree, the national park visitor center, Joshua Tree Coffee, a souvenir store, and the Joshua Tree Saloon. The saloon was crazy busy. We could barely get a seat. We drove through the 29 Palms Entrance on our way back to Cottonwood Springs. It was a long day of driving and exploring but we got to see a lot.

Saturday we had 9am reservations for the Keys Ranch Tour so we hit the road early and made our way across the park. We arrived at the meet up location a little early and quickly took a short hike to see the pink house. Overtime people have carved their names into the property which is really disappointing.

We snapped a few pictures and headed to the meet up spot for the Keys Ranch Tour. The tour is in a locked area of Joshua Tree so if you miss the meet up time, you miss the tour. The tour is only offered certain times of the year and does sell out, so if you want to go get your tickets early. I love ranger talks and learning about the history of an area.

After the tour we did a few hikes in the area. First was Barker Dam.

Next was Hidden Valley.

We drove up to the Keys View to look at the Coachella Valley. This was a quick stop and we weren’t ready to call it a day yet, so we decided to hike the Lost Horse Mine trail on our way back down the hill. Normally I wouldn’t tack a harder trail to the end of a day but sometimes spontaneous plans are the best.

The trail felt like a mirage towards the end. My watch mileage was telling me we should almost be there but my eyes felt different looking at how far we still had to go. The mileage was correct, thank goodness. Being that it was the end of the day, there was hardly anyone out hiking so we had to mine to ourselves mostly the entire time we were there. We had a drink and a snack, enjoyed the views, and headed back to the car. We were beat by the time we got back to the truck and this was the perfect end to our trip.

I’m pretty sure I was in bed as soon as we ate dinner. The next morning we packed up and headed home. We had an absolutely fabulous time in Joshua Tree and packed so much into our time. My favorite vacations are where you are so tired by the end of the day you practically fall asleep in your dinner. I love Joshua Tree and if you ever need someone to go with, please call me. 🙂