The desert is magical. The sky is bigger and bluer and more desolate. The landscape mirrors it in browns and greys, rocks and roots and ragged edges punctuating the flatness. It rolls and shimmers, tricks your eyes and alters distances. This place attracts all kinds of washed out hippies and hikers, LA bombshells taking selfies on long stretches of asphalt and weathered old men aching to warm up their joints. It’s amazing and terrifying all at once.
On our drive down to Joshua Tree, a monumental storm soaked California, making for dramatic horizons over Tehachapi Pass and through Lancaster. My nerves grew the further south we drove (I did not prepare for a rainy camping trip). The wind whipped our tent across the sand and the squirrels ate all of our Doritos, but we stayed dry, per the desert’s promises. Maybe my point here is be prepared for anything when camping in California in March – you never know what nature will throw your way.
We stayed in Jumbo Rocks Campground, which is basically a huge playground for adults. Take note – I only booked the site a month and a half in advance, which is quite late by California National Park standards. Still, there were lines of people every morning at the front of the campground, waiting to see if a campsite would open up. All you need to do is plan maybe a month out, and you too could have a place to sleep in Joshua Tree! Alas, those SoCal folks can’t plan, and still feel entitled to a campsite. Other notes – no water anywhere in the park and no flush toilets at the campground. Bring a couple 5 gallon jugs, wet wipes, etc etc.
Two of my camp-mates were avid rock climbers, and we spent much of our time wandering around big boulders and pretending we could climb (it’s much harder to boulder outside than in a rock gym). I attempted a grand total of 3 routes, and mostly admired the trees and landscape and wandered around with a goofy grin on my face. The desert does that to people. Some easy good rock climbing spots we found:
The hikes were alright – I think everyone goes to Joshua Tree just to take photos and/or rock climb. That said, when we got our asses out of bed early enough, the desert was beautiful in the early morning light (or late afternoon). Especially after a rainstorm, with big bulbous clouds skittering across the sky. A few fun hikes we did, when we weren’t hopping around the rocks with beer:
- Skull Rock Nature Trail (1.8 miles) – I know nature trails get a bad name because they are ‘easy’, but this was right outside of our campsite and was a beautiful introduction to the topography of the park.
- Hidden Valley Nature Trail (1 mile) – see comments above, except in Hidden Valley you get to ogle rock climbers doing insane shit.
- Ryan Mountain (3 miles) – a short but intense hike to the summit of the mountain, with incredible 360 degree views of the park, San Gregorio and San Jacinto.
Also worth noting are some of the weird ass businesses in the town of Joshua Tree, on the north end of the park. There is a WALMART (!!) (yeah yeah I know, evil megacorp) in JT, which is perfect for firewood and anything you forgot at home (coffee filters and beer, in our case). Other spots we found:
- Nomad Ventures – outdoor store right next to the Visitor’s Center with sweet hats, watercolor cards, and climbing books.
- Crossroads Cafe – free coffee refills and killer breakfast burritos. Enough said.
- Joshua Tree Coffee Roasting – great light roast coffee, but lots of LA attitude. Go sit on the patio and people watch for hours – there are so many amazing desert grandmas that go here.
- Stater Bros – grocery store with lots of ice and a great beer selection.
We stayed for four nights, which was the perfect amount of time to explore and see what we wanted to see. It’s a long ass drive from Sacramento, but I’m glad we finally saw it. A ‘welcome home’ present to myself after the miles and miles of green on the East Coast. Cheers, friends.
holly and pine 