101 Things to See in Joshua Tree National Park

/ 101 Things to See in Joshua Tree National Park/
“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Or an old, abandoned car. Or a stone ruin. Maybe a Native American site. A Gold Mine. A rock that looks like a turtle. Wildflowers. Obscure machinery. The list of neat things to find in JTree is endless, and most likely differs from one person to the next. Many noteworthy spots can be seen while in the comfort of a car driving along Park Blvd., or just a short walk from convenient parking areas. Others require hiking (sometimes serious hiking) to reach their remote locations. But no matter if you drive by, hike to or accidentally stumble upon an awesome sight, the sense of wonder at first glance is the same. And has the power to create explorers out of visitors.

Having explored many regions of the park over the past few decades, I thought I'd put this post together about some of my favorite sites and sights. Narrowing it down to only 101 was challenging....

Rocks. There are lots of Rocks. All shapes and sizes. Some hold secrets.

Mines. Who doesn't love a good gold mine?

Native American sites. These are perhaps the most difficult to locate, but sometimes luck is a great guide.

Stone Ruins. Who built them and why? Sometimes in the most remote places.

Old Cars. The miles they drove, their owners and their final destination. Did someone learn how to drive in this old car?

Desert Gold. Some look at it as trash, some see sand strewn with history. Thankfully, it's all protected by law.

Now comes the fun part of this post (not that looking at those award-winning shots wasn't fun). I've put together a short video that contains 101 images of some of my favorite sites and sights in JTree. It runs a little over 7-minutes-long and was a true pleasure to put together. I hope you enjoy it, be sure to watch it full screen and in high resolution. If you'd like to take the 101-Places Challenge, print out the image to the right and fill in the blanks as you watch. Feel free to post your score in the comments section.

Spoiler Alert: The complete list of sites and sights will be available at the end of this post.

As promised, here's the list of sites and sights in the slide show:

Fort Tejon, California. This was the Orderly's Quarters. The fort was first garrisoned by the United States Army back in 1854. For a short time between 1859-1860, a group of camels was stabled at Fort Tejon. Today, the grounds of the old fort are a C
Some awesome Neon in Bishop! . . . . #neonsigns #bishopcalifornia #395 #hwy395 #neonmotelsigns #exploratography #iphone16pro #roadtrip #owensvalley #smalltown #easternsierra #mojavedesert
Grave of the Unknown Prospector. I'll bet there are a lot of unknown prospectors, settlers, travelers buried out in the wilds. . . . . #395 #hwy395 #owensvalley #california #exploratography #urbex #roadtrip #grave #headstone
Crazy sick spot out in the Mojave. This was the main building, a two-story home with root cellar, workshops, outhouse, outdoor tub, chicken coops, livestock pens. . . . . . . #abandoned #urbex #california #abandonedmines #exploratography #ghosttown
Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery. Beautiful spot near Independence, Cal. Right off Hwy 395. https://youtube.com/shorts/e7wNK6eoc-E?feature=share . . . . #mtwhitneyfishhatchery #fishhatchery #395 #hwy395 #independencecalifornia #roadtrip #nature #iphone13pro
An old pet cemetery out in the Mojave. A really neat spot. https://www.exploratography.com/blog-abandoned/pet-sematery-rip-mojave-desert-california . . . . . #pets #petcemetery #ghosttown #mojavedesert #desert #exploratography #iphone16pro
Just some naked trees I passed by a bit ago, whilst on an afternoon walk. . . . . . . #nakedtrees #afternoonwalk #exploratography #goprohero12 #strollforhealth #lahabra
Mound cactus flowers are red the sky and water are blue, that pointy rock looks dangerous, just like you. . . . . . #barkerdam #joshuatreenationalpark #dayhike #cactusflowers #wildflowers #badpoetry #nohaiku

Follow on Instagram for current wanderings: @exploratographer

Thanks for reading and watching! Feel free to grab any of my personal images from any of my posts to use in your own projects or as screen savers or wallpaper. No muss, no fuss, no fee. Credit back to www.cali49.com would be nice, but it's not required. If you need a really hi-rez copy, shoot me an email. I'm limited as to what I can post on my site.