City: Twentynine Palms, CA

Category: Getting Here, Getting Around

Telephone: (760) 367-5500

Address: 74485 National Park Dr.

Description: Located at the primary (north) entrance to the national park, this visitor center has a great little gift shop, featuring art from locals, photography of the park, books, pamphlets, and very specific-to-the-desert souvenirs, as well as good maps and postcards. Other information centers are located at the northwestern entrance in the town of Joshua Tree and at the southern entry point at Cottonwood 30 miles east of Indio. There is also a nature center at Black Rock in the park’s northwest corner, accessed from Yucca Valley.

City: Twentynine Palms, CA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (760) 367-5500

Address: 74485 National Park Dr.

Description: Joshua Tree National Park is the jewel of the California desert, even if it lacks the fame and infamy of Death Valley or the shrouded intrigue of the Providence Mountains’ Mitchell Caverns. Straddling two different deserts and both ringed and cleaved by mountains the park is larger than Rhode Island. Joshua Tree can be done as a drive park, though to do that to the exclusion of getting dust on your boots would surely have the late Edward Abbey tuning in his grave. The park is accessible via car from two points on the higher-elevation north side and from the south off I–10 about a half hour east of Indio. It’s a through-route slashing across from top-left to bottom-right, essentially. (Two other access points dead end in the park from the north: the Black Rock Visitor Center, camping, and picnic area at the northwestern corner, and Indian Cove, with individual and group camping, and a picnic area, in the center.) We think starting down south is the preferred angle of attack, for the very simple fact that the lower desert portions of the park aren’t as gutturally drop-dead gorgeous, and concluding up top is exactly why dessert comes last. So if you do this, just drive through in Abbey’s hated “industrial tourism” mode, please at least promise us you’ll obey the posted limit and roll down the windows once in a while. Then either turn around and return the way you came or loop back to the valley through the high desert.Rock-climbers—this is a world-class climbing destination—equestrians, dayhikers, stargazers, backpackers, campers, and even four-wheel drivers know the park is best experienced by being experienced. On foot, or above hoof, the desert screams life, from barrel cactus blossoming in a riot of purple in spring through the forests of Joshua trees that stand sentinel over time to the Flintstone heaps of granite that exceed anything a cartoon could ever hope to over-embellish. Of the host of “musts,” several jump out, and these are all day-use options; if you backpack, you already know the whys and hows.Lost Palms Oasis is a seven-plus mile out-and-back hike starting from the natural springs at the Cottonwood Visitor Center a few minutes inside the south entrance. A moderate hike traversing desert wash and ridge ends at about frond level above the lush oasis, a cleave in the rumble-tumble desert wilderness where plate tectonics conspires to bring water to the surface. Scramblers can scurry down into the oasis and access another canyon and oasis. Pack water and wear sturdy shoes or boots, and think about bringing the youngest dust-kickers back in a couple years.For the car brigade, Keys View brings a stunning view back into the Coachella Valley, stretching from the Salton Sea on your left to the San Gorgonio Pass in the west. The overlook is accessible and a quick walk up a little ridge enhances the scene just a tick. For orientation purposes, if you’re out about Indio look northward, up into that folded mass of terra firma called the Little San Bernardino Mountains, Keys View is in there somewhere.At any number of spots around the park, nature trails lead to the monoliths that are such a draw for climbers. With names like Skull Rock, Arch Rock, and the no-kidding Jumbo Rock, you know you’re gonna wanna have a look.Finally, the park service puts a lot of heart into its interpretive centers. Kids weaned on the Internet mind find it all so quaint—it is—so show them what vacation used to be all about, when seeing the relief map and the stuffed bobcat was almost as cool as the time you made dad waste six hours of pay taking you to Rattlesnake World Safari just off the Interstate. Each of the centers mentioned have displays and information, and the main Oasis Visitor Center in Twentynine Palms has a wealth of books, the works of local artisans and as elsewhere across the park, rangers who just want to share. Hours vary from center to center, but most open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.Joshua Tree is open year-round, and know that it can snow from time to time at the park’s higher elevations. However you “do” the park, please just do it. With several campgrounds, day-use picnic spots, easy nature trails and a bounty of hikes, even dedicated trails for equestrians and off-roaders, there is something in the park for everybody. And bring your camera, and tons of memory, and if you’ve never really seen the Milky Way, come out some night.

City: Twentynine Palms, CA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (760) 367-5500

Address: 74485 National Park Dr.

Description: Located to the north and northeast of the Coachella Valley starting just about at the top of the crestline of the mountains that rim that part of the desert, Joshua Tree National Park is a pristine desert wilderness area covering 794,000 square miles. The park’s enormous boulder formations draw rock climbers, photographers, and visitors from all over the world, and those who have spotted UFOs here say that the park is attracting visitors from other galaxies, as well (What is it about deserts and conspiracy/alien theorists?). This is an ideal spot to watch the ballet of the Milky Way as there is little light pollution from the lower desert and the skies are clear virtually all year.In the spring the park can be carpeted overnight with dozens of species of wildflowers, and if the rains have been particularly propitious in the winter, the many cacti and Joshua trees will be showing off blooms that range from white through brilliant fuchsia. Hikers, equestrians, and off-roaders will find miles of trails, and campgrounds dot the park.Home to the Pinto Native Americans hundreds of years ago, the area saw an influx of explorers, cattlemen, and miners in the late 1800s. Though gold was discovered and mined here, there was never a big “strike,” and the lack of water made life too rough for most settlers.Bill and Francis Keys were hardy types, though, homesteading 160 acres in the early part of the last century and building the Desert Queen Ranch on the site of the defunct Desert Queen Mine. Park rangers lead tours of the ranch grounds, which include the ranch house, schoolhouse, store, workshop, orchard, and piles of mining equipment that help tell the story of life almost a hundred years ago. Whether you’re coming to climb, shoot photos, hike, or picnic, Joshua Tree is worth at least a day of your time. Permits are required for backcountry camping. Pets must be on a leash and attended at all times and are not allowed on nature trails.The park is open year-round. The several visitor and interpretive centers are open daily, generally from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information on Joshua Tree please refer to the listing in “Attractions.”