Joshua Tree National Park - part two
Apr. 14th, 2026 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Back on the main park road after Keys View, I looked at the overflowing car park at Skull Rock with cars parked along the roadside for a considerable way and decided to pass. I didn't feel that looking at a rock shaped like a skull with that many other people would be edifying, and the trail there around a few more rocks is very short. So I went on to the Hall of Horrors.
The Hall of Horrors trail passes around and between two large groups of rocks which you can also scramble around in if you feel so inclined.
Rocks seen from the parking area.
Walking around rocks and Joshua trees.
Some of the desert wildflowers.
There are always more rocks and trees!
Different views as you do some clambering around.
Back in the car, since I'd been stuck with a pick-up rental, I did part of the Geology Tour road which is all dirt. I didn't do the whole thing, with one eye on the clock and knowing that the second part gets really quite rough, and with no cell service and nobody else out there. Given the number of people in the park, you only had to set one wheel onto the dirt to find yourself entirely alone. The section I drove all looked like this, it didn't seem to offer much variety.
Backtracking to the main road, my next stop was the Arch Rock trail. As I moved further east, the Joshua trees were getting noticeably more scarce. They went from being everywhere to being scattered lonely examples within a 15 minute drive.
Arch rock itself. With a random person on the right for scale.
Rock formations beyond the arch. Also with a couple of people for scale if you look closely.
Wildflowers near the Arch Rock trail.
After that, I was driving south on the long downhill road, leaving the Mojave desert fully behind and entering the Colorado desert. The plant species changed noticeably along the way.
It also got noticeably hotter as not only was it getting later in the afternoon, I was losing the elevation and heading back into the Coachella Valley furnace.
The Cholla Cactus garden trail, considered one of the park highlights, was closed for repairs, but you could still get amazing looks at the cacti from the roadside.
Sadly, roadside views weren't enough for some people, who went wandering off trampling all over the desert between the cacti. Totally unnecessary, but some people don't care about that.
Ocotillo tree in flower.
Smoke trees.
My last stop in the park was cottonwood spring oasis, where there's a patch of water. However big you think those trees are, you're underestimating. Check out the bench in the foreground down at the bottom there.
Cactus in flower near cottonwood spring. That flower was four or five inches across.
More things flowering. Everything's flowering in March.
Yuccas that aren't Joshua trees.
Rocks and sky patterns.
I stopped at the visitor centre on the way out of the park to pay my visitor's fee, because there hadn't been anyone there to take my money at 6am, and if ever America's national parks need money, it's now...
The Hall of Horrors trail passes around and between two large groups of rocks which you can also scramble around in if you feel so inclined.
Rocks seen from the parking area.
Walking around rocks and Joshua trees.
Some of the desert wildflowers.
There are always more rocks and trees!
Different views as you do some clambering around.
Back in the car, since I'd been stuck with a pick-up rental, I did part of the Geology Tour road which is all dirt. I didn't do the whole thing, with one eye on the clock and knowing that the second part gets really quite rough, and with no cell service and nobody else out there. Given the number of people in the park, you only had to set one wheel onto the dirt to find yourself entirely alone. The section I drove all looked like this, it didn't seem to offer much variety.
Backtracking to the main road, my next stop was the Arch Rock trail. As I moved further east, the Joshua trees were getting noticeably more scarce. They went from being everywhere to being scattered lonely examples within a 15 minute drive.
Arch rock itself. With a random person on the right for scale.
Rock formations beyond the arch. Also with a couple of people for scale if you look closely.
Wildflowers near the Arch Rock trail.
After that, I was driving south on the long downhill road, leaving the Mojave desert fully behind and entering the Colorado desert. The plant species changed noticeably along the way.
It also got noticeably hotter as not only was it getting later in the afternoon, I was losing the elevation and heading back into the Coachella Valley furnace.
The Cholla Cactus garden trail, considered one of the park highlights, was closed for repairs, but you could still get amazing looks at the cacti from the roadside.
Sadly, roadside views weren't enough for some people, who went wandering off trampling all over the desert between the cacti. Totally unnecessary, but some people don't care about that.
Ocotillo tree in flower.
Smoke trees.
My last stop in the park was cottonwood spring oasis, where there's a patch of water. However big you think those trees are, you're underestimating. Check out the bench in the foreground down at the bottom there.
Cactus in flower near cottonwood spring. That flower was four or five inches across.
More things flowering. Everything's flowering in March.
Yuccas that aren't Joshua trees.
Rocks and sky patterns.
I stopped at the visitor centre on the way out of the park to pay my visitor's fee, because there hadn't been anyone there to take my money at 6am, and if ever America's national parks need money, it's now...
no subject
Date: 2026-04-15 02:25 am (UTC)Over here, car hire companies lose their minds if you take one of their vehicles on a dirt surface (even if it's a 4wd, I think, not sure), which, considering the state of Australian roads outside the cities, is just ridiculous. We managed to get a rock through a windscreen on our Perth trip - but that was on a major highway. All the dirt roads we went on (shhh, don't tell them) did nothing to the car, and we just cleaned it before we handed it back :)