Where Two Deserts Meet – Joshua Tree

Originally, Joshua Tree National Park made it to our wish list because we want to visit every national park and the trees just looked cool. What we found on our visit was so much more than we ever could have imagined.

We had only one day in the area as we were passing through, so planned for it to just be a driving tour day. We downloaded our Shaka Guide app tour, packed a picnic and loaded up the family, including the pup. We planned for only a couple of hours since we weren’t going to do any hikes. We ended up spending most of the day there, though! Between the botany, geology and history, it was hard not to!

We entered the park from the south entrance where there is not a single Joshua Tree to be found! After a quick stop at the open visitors center for some postcards and a fun t-shirt, and to show our pass, we ventured on, guided by our audio tour.

We learned that Joshua Tree National Park is actually where two deserts meet–the Colorado Desert and the Mohave Desert–and the two have very different vegetation. When this area formed 9,000 years ago, there were trees and water here–it slowly eroded away, exposing the granite rock formations that are now above ground we see today.

It’s a national park because of a woman named Minerva Hoyt that was so determined to preserve it when she moved out here, she would haul train cars of plants to botany shows to places like New York City to teach people, and even wrote books to present to Congress to make it a national park. The stories about the homesteaders, settlers and miners that lived on the land before it were protected were also fascinating to hear, and see evidence of!

The plants growing in the park were unique and beautiful! We learned about the Ocatillo plant and its unique shape and short-lived leaves, the cholla and its adorable teddy bear cactus appearance, and the Joshua Tree which is actually a type of yucca plant. There were so many more, but those caught our attention as the landscape changed and we saw them in large numbers as we passed through.

This location is also where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates meet, creating the San Andreas fault line. Driving up to higher elevations at Keys View, you can climb the overlook and see them very distinctly–just hold on to your hat since it was super windy, and chilly in this part of the park!

We drove through washes, arroyos and mountains, stopped to wander and admire cactus gardens, trees and various rock formations (skull rock and split rock are close to the parking), and the boys hiked the short trail out to arch rock while Luna and I read a book (okay, I read and she napped).

We ended our journey on the north west side at the town of Joshua Tree and circled back to our camp–only about 5 or 6 hours later! We didn’t get the work or school stuff done we had planned to do, but there will be time for that–just understand that is why the blogs are a bit behind on timeline!

If we ever get back this way with more time to spend, we will make time for many of the hikes and hopefully be able to snag a camping spot in one of their many campgrounds throughout the park.

I can’t say enough how much we love having our Shaka Guide app tours for these kind of outings! Being able to have music, history and navigation while going at our own pace makes for a relaxing and enjoyable excursion, and snagging the national parks bundle means we’ve got lots to choose from for a great deal. You can find out more in other blogs or on our savings page, or grab yours with our referral link https://www.shakaguide.com/?via=BarnesOnMove or use code BarnesOnMove15 to save on a tour if you already have an account!

A few tips to know before you go.
There are no gas stations or restaurants in the park, so fill your tank and bring food/snacks. Be prepared to pack out what you pack in! You’ll also want to bring lots of water since it gets hot and is very dry. There are picnic tables and pit toilets at several stops.
Wear proper clothing and bring layers. It was hot in the lower elevations but cold at the higher elevations, even midday, and the temps drop fast at night!
It is pet friendly only on the paved areas like parking lots, but not on trails. The scent of domestic animals can scare away the native animals and this is there home.
Pay attention driving–many of those rocks may be tortoises and several had been killed the year we visited from people not paying attention and hitting them as they crossed the road. There is also lots of other wildlife that roam, from chipmunks to mountain goats!

We’d love to hear about either your favorite thing when you visited, or what you want to see in a future visit to this park! To find out more about where we stayed, check out our prior blog Traveling from the Forest to the Desert here!

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