Unforgiving Land

Joshua Tree National Park in the high desert of California is home to an otherworldly landscape, filled with California juniper, desert scrub oak, yucca and cholla cactus, and, of course, the namesake Joshua trees.

Camping and hiking are popular activities in this park, though it is important to remember that this is a desert with searing heat in the summer and almost no water to be found. When you do go hiking, understand that the many varieties of cholla cactus (like the silver cholla, pictured here), are uniquely suited to adhering to skin, clothes, and shoes, and can become quite difficult to remove.

Despite this, Joshua Tree NP is a beautiful place, and popular with photographers, in particular, for capturing unique floral and plant-life opportunities, dark skies, and diverse wildlife found here.

Soft and Inviting...Not!

The long spines in the early morning light look like a soft covering for this silver cholla cactus, but I wouldn't recommend getting too close.

Joshua Tree National Park is a relatively new member of the United States NPS. Designated in 1994, it encompasses parts of two deserts and covers a land mass just slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.

This specimen was found in the Mojave Desert portion of the park, not too far from Skull Rock. Visit California's national parks and see for yourself that there is far more here than the urban environments of LA, San Francisco, and San Diego.

Barker Dam Nature Trail

The Mojave Desert in Joshua Tree National Park is home to all sorts of interesting geographic and natural phenomena.

Of course, there are the namesake Joshua Trees, the Mojave Yucca plants, and the California Junipers. But, what do you call these granite outcroppings? Apparently, geologists refer to these as inselbergs, which is German for 'island mountain', and the rock itself is called monzogranite.

Whatever the names, the formations combined with the verdant plant life make Joshua Tree an interesting location for hikers, climbers, and photographers alike. Come visit natural California, and see for yourself!

Hello, AAA - Can I Get a Tow to Earl Scheib?

In the high Colorado Desert of Joshua Tree National Park remain the ruins of the Wall Street Mill.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the mill was used to crush gold ore from the several mines located nearby. The cast of characters that made their living in this part of California is full of disreputable individuals, and tales abound of disputes ending in killings and ruinous business investments.

There are a number of relics from the early days of these operations scattered around the site, with a couple of dilapidated jalopies slowly yielding to the desert.

Lost Horse Valley Forest - Wide

There is a Joshua Tree forest located in the Lost Horse Valley of Mojave Desert, just north of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, which is, of course, smack dab in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park.

These plants, which are the species Yucca brevifolia, grow tall (up to approximately 50'), quickly for a desert environment, and have deep root systems, that reach up to 36' in search of water in their native desert climates. Since they are not truly trees, they don't have growth rings in their trunks, rather thousands of small fibers, making it difficult to determine their age. It is thought that some survive a thousand years.

Most of the places we explored throughout Joshua Tree NP had relatively spartan populations of the namesake trees; but along the road to Keys View, and the Queen Valley Road, there are forests of the trees, which our children find amazingly like the truffala trees imagined by Dr. Seuss

Lost Horse Valley Forest

There is a Joshua Tree forest located in the Lost Horse Valley of Mojave Desert, just north of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, which is, of course, smack dab in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park.

These plants, which are the species Yucca brevifolia, grow tall (up to approximately 50'), quickly for a desert environment, and have deep root systems, that reach up to 36' in search of water in their native desert climates. Since they are not truly trees, they don't have growth rings in their trunks, rather thousands of small fibers, making it difficult to determine their age. It is thought that some survive a thousand years.

Most of the places we explored throughout Joshua Tree NP had relatively spartan populations of the namesake trees; but along the road to Keys View, and the Queen Valley Road, there are forests of the trees, which our children find amazingly like the truffala trees imagined by Dr. Seuss.