Hi-View Nature Trail

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Hi-View Nature Trail

he Hi-View Nature Trail is located up in the hills behind the Black Rock Campground, in the northwest corner of JTree. If you're looking for a family-friendly campground, Black Rock can't be beat. Numerous sites, each with a picnic table and fire ring. Restrooms and actual, real life WATER are available here, something most of the other campgrounds in JTree do not provide. Tents, campers, RVs, even an area for horse owners to camp or stage a ride. There is also a nature center located in the middle of the campground.

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Covington Flats

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Covington Flats

The Covington Flats area of JTree is located in the northwestern portion of the park. While it doesn't get a lot of press, and there's not much solid information about the 'Flats to be found online, it is well worth the small adventure of getting there. Why? Because some of the park's largest Joshua Trees, junipers, and pinyon pines call either Lower or Upper Covington Flat home. From this point on, beware. If you don't like Joshua Trees, you may not fully enjoy this post....

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Ivanhoe Mill

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Ivanhoe Mill

While driving along a stretch of open road, something off in the distance catches my eye. Hmmmm, that demands investigation. T Red finds its way along a dirt road and up a slight hill to what appears to be the ruin of an old milling operation. 

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Golden Bell Mine

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Golden Bell Mine

The day was perfect, mid-70s with clear skies, the slightest breeze and no one in the area. Once you've been in the desert long enough, you get a feeling of how "visited" an area is. The Golden Bell Mine is a seldom visited place. Hidden behind a low hill, there's no evidence from the road that there's something interesting behind it. Like many of the awesome places in JTree, you gotta get out of the car and do some exploring (and of course, pre-trek research always pays off, and helps keep you from getting lost, breaking a leg, dying of thirst and being eaten my coyotes and turkey vultures, but that's another story).

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