Joshua Tree National Park, Inland Empire, California

Joshua Tree National Park is located inland from Los Angeles. It is in a part of California called the "Inland Empire". The Joshua Trees, which give the park its name, are a kind of cactus. Most famously, they were featured on the cover of U2's "Joshua Tree" album. The location of the actual Joshua Tree which was photographed for that album cover is a closely guarded secret, but it looked a bit like this one:



Getting there: If you fly into Ontario Airport (popular with budget airlines) then you are not far from Joshua Tree. Palm Springs airport is better still. But even the drive from LAX is not too bad, unless you go at rush hour that is...



View Larger Map


The towns near Joshua Tree National Park, such as Palm Springs, Indio, and Rancho Mirage, can have the feel of retirement villages. Many retirees live here, it is quiet, and there are many golf courses and salons. The exception is Coachella when the annual music festival is taking place.

And, of course, the weather is hot. The area can be quite windy though, since the hills create natural sluices for (polluted) air from Las Angeles to escape. This means there are many wind farms around, such as the one shown below. At night, the whirring sound of the generators can be quite eerie.



When you drive through the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, you're asked to make sure you have brought sufficient water for the trip. On the drive up to the entrance from Palm Springs, you pass stores which sell rattlesnake antidote. And, for more mundane requirements, there is a Walmart. Here is the entrance to the park:



Here are some in-car photos of the park. You can see the Joshua Trees (actually cacti of course) beside the road.



Skull rock is a forbidding looking rock formation:



There are plenty of places to pull over and explore. At this stop, you can see a rock perched precariously:



Here is a panoramic video taken from another stop in the park. You can feel the isolation, although of course you can't feel the heat.






The Joshua Tree National Park is close to the Salton Sea, a lake which was accidentally man-made. Once you get to high ground in the park, you can see a view out to the Salton Sea in the distance, visible in the panoramic video below:





If you enter the park at the main entrance, you can drive a circuit of the park and come out near Indio. Definitely worth a visit, but bring plenty of water!