Joshua Tree, November 1995


Joshua Tree NP

Summary:

Trip Report:

This was five years ago, so bear with me (my memory isn't good on the order of days, let alone years). We drove to the north entrance of the park and checked into a motel in Twentynine Palms. I don't think we had much time the first day, so we just checked out the visitors center and points of interest nearby.

A Joshua tree

We did more exploring the second day. I remember seeing Jumbo Rocks (self explanatory) and some other rocks that were supposed to look like something... a skull maybe? Anyway, I think we went down the dirt road in Queen Valley, which had a small web of road, all very easy (we saw cars). We stopped at various location to get a closer look, or take a short hike with Reilly.

Geology Tour Road

The last day was mostly the Geology Tour Road. This is a road that cuts through the center of the park from north to south. It's a 4wd road, and we weren't sure how long it would take, so we jumped right on it that morning. At the start of the road, you can picked up a self-guided geology tour. Some of the geological points were interesting (I vaguely remember dry river beds and a dry lake). All of the scenery was amazing. The southern half of the road passes through the mountains. This is the only part that got rough, but it was still somewhat easy. After exiting the park, it connects up with a paved road that eventually hits the 10. Going east on the 10, we headed for home.

Maps, books, etc.

We picked up a map at the park entrance. Very crude, but the road system in the park is not very complex.

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