Cali49

Let's go see what we can find

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park - Places of interest, hidden spots off the beaten path.

Joshua Tree National Park

“Yeah, Desert Sky - Dream beneath the Desert Sky”

— Bono

A drive through Joshua Tree National Park might take a couple hours, viewing the park from the road. An exploration of the park would take a lifetime. Joshua Tree National Park has over 550,000 acres of wilderness filled with a variety of plants and animals that make their home in this land shaped by strong winds, unpredictable torrents of rain, and climatic extremes. Every now and then, man intrudes in this wilderness and leaves his brief, passing mark among the surreal geologic features that cover the landscape. Let’s go see what we can find.

December 02, 2016

White Cliffs of Dover - Joshua Tree National Park

December 02, 2016/ Elliot Koeppel

The White Cliffs of Dover is a well-known rock climbing formation located less than one mile south of the parking area at Quail Springs picnic area. Not used to doing things the easy way, I drove a bit south of QS and parked in a pullout on the west side of Park Blvd. This jaunt was a spur-of-the-moment idea. I was actually heading towards Jumbo Rocks, but caught a nice view of the cliffs as I was driving past, so decided to hike out to them to see what I could find.

November 12, 2016

101 Things to See in Joshua Tree National Park

November 12, 2016/ 101 Things to See in Joshua Tree National Park/ Elliot Koeppel

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....

November 03, 2016

Desert Queen Ranch, Part 2 - Joshua Tree National Park

November 03, 2016/ Keys Ranch/ Elliot Koeppel

Put the Desert Queen Ranch, aka Keys Ranch, on your list of things to see on your next visit to Joshua Tree National Park. It's a glimpse back in time to a hardier era, and into the mind of one of the area's most notable early-day settlers, Bill Keys. The Ranch is only accessible via Ranger-guided tours, and generally only on the weekends. Check in at any of the visitor centers located at the park entrances to make a reservation.

October 29, 2016

Rock Hopping at Joshua Tree National Park

October 29, 2016/ Joshua Tree National Park/ Elliot Koeppel

I recently had the good fortune to spend parts of several days at Joshua Tree National Park. Without any firm destination in mind, or extensive hikes planned, I used my park hopper pass to hop around the park. An annual pass to JTree is a sound investment.

October 27, 2016

Spooky Hollow - Joshua Tree National Park

October 27, 2016/ Elliot Koeppel

Let's face it. Some of the rocks in Joshua Tree National Park are creepy. Many have fearsome names that arouse feelings of dread, terror and foreboding (Skull Rock, the Hall of Horrors, the Old Woman). And I'm sure we can all agree that many are bloodthirsty, lying in wait for the unwary to make one false step. Knowing this, I still pulled into a turnout on Park Blvd. and headed into Spooky Hollow to see what I could find.

Cali49

Joshua Tree National Park, the California Gold Country, forgotten places in the Mojave Desert. These are a few of my favorite things.