![]() You’ll find the trailhead parking lot just 9 scenic miles into the park from the West Entrance Station (closest to the town of Joshua Tree.) This short 1-mile loop is the perfect little hike to get a taste of Joshua Tree goodness. Here’s two recommendations: Hidden Valley Nature Trail This way you can maximize your weekend trip to Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree is a huge park, covering more than 790 thousand acres! With time at a minimum, its best to stick to hikes that you don’t have to drive too far to get to. Quick hikes in Joshua Tree NP – for when the weather is good Because this place is freaking beautiful. These crazy trees only exist in this part of the world (the Mojave desert and parts of Arizona) which is why they decided to make it a National Park. But “Joshua Tree” is a heck of a lot easier to say than Yucca brevi-whatever, so let’s just roll with it. Unless Joshua had several arms held out at crazy angles. A Joshua Tree up close.īut why the heck is it called a Joshua Tree?Īpparently, Mormon pioneers came across these trees in the mid-19 th century and thought the branches resembled the outstretched arms of the biblical figure Joshua, guiding them westward. What IS it? A cactus? Palm? Evergreen? I guess it’s kind of all those things – and also none of them. But then it all gets crazy from there, as shaggy porcupine-looking branches sprout upwards in all directions. At first glance, the trunk appears fairly normal. They don’t really resemble anything else. But what the heck are these tall, bushy trees? It looks like you just landed on a strange planet. ![]() Seuss-looking trees dot the desert landscape as far as you can see, surrounded by huge mounds of orange boulders. It’s only 2 hours east of L.A., but Joshua Tree National Park feels (literally) like worlds away. So I’ve put together a little guide for enjoying a weekend trip to Joshua Tree – that covers those weird times in life when you just have a little sliver of time to enjoy something beautiful – and then the other things you can do when the weather turns to crap. ![]() On the bright side, the weekend wasn’t ALL rain. We ended up having a half-day of sunshine before the weather went to crap. You gotta work with the lemons the universe gives ya, pack a rain coat, and make some freaking lemonade. No worries though! You can’t let bad luck get you down. Not only did it rain on us in the desert, it FLOODED. A little exploring, a little hiking, and a lot of star-gazing under a brilliant desert sky. I mean, it’s in the DESERT for crying out loud. I thought I’d be pretty safe when I planned a girl’s weekend trip to Joshua Tree National Park with my bestie Haley. Because I seriously have the WORST luck with weather. Or at least, I’ve upset the weather gods at some point. An easy weekend trip to Joshua Tree… or so I thought.
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