6-7 May 2024

My dad has never been to Joshua Tree National Park. So when he expressed interest in going, I immediately suggested a road trip.

Woo hoo!

We set out from San Diego across Anza Borrego, stopping in at the Visitor Center to do a short nature walk. Then on to the weird and fun Salton Sea.

From there we headed north to the park.

Our first stop was the Bajada Nature Trail.

From there we stopped at a roadside wash to snap some more photos.

We took a break for lunch in a lovely pavilion at the day use area in Cottonwood Campground.

And on the way out we found some gorgeous Desert bluebells

Up the road we passed some desert milkweed with a tarantula hawk on it. This bug is not aggressive towards humans, but it is known to have one of the most painful stings in the insect world.

And then we did the nature trail at Cholla Cactus Garden. This was dad’s favorite!

After that we drove out the north side of the park to an Airbnb, but there was plenty of nature there, too!

The next morning we headed back into the park to the Arch Rock nature trail. For a short trail, this one was definitely tougher, with lots of rocks, sand, and elevation changes.

We had to do a photo-op at the famous Skull Rock.

The best walk of the day was at Cap Rock. Flat, beautiful, and full of nice information about what we were seeing.

And to wrap things up we drove out to Keys View to see the mountains.

I always forget how much I love this park. Half Cookie and I should come back and do a backpack soon….