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Joshua Tree National Park

By Scott Richardson

February 22^nd, 2025

When my brother texted that our family was planning to spend Christmas with him in California, we quickly accepted the invitation. Before heading to Anaheim for the holiday, we wanted to revisit a few places I'd cruised through on previous trips: Anza Borrego, Joshua Tree, and the Salton Sea.

A late deicing kept us on the runway in Philadelphia, causing us to miss our connection. We ended up spending the night in Salt Lake City, and, by 8 AM, we were on our way to California. The pilots circled the Salton Sea for 30 minutes, waiting for the fog to lift. Then, they glided over Mexico's misty valleys on our approach. Finally, we landed in San Diego to begin the trip.

The Salton Sea

Once a thriving oasis in the desert, an ancient lakebed in the Imperial Valley has shifted from a popular getaway to a public health danger. Officials channeled water from the Colorado River to support agricultural development in the area. By the mid-1900s, lakeshore communities popped up with vacation homes and yacht clubs. The lake attracted many for recreational fishing and waterskiing.

By the 1970s, an ecological disaster became evident. The lake's salinity increased, killing the fish, and farm runoff created a terrible smell.

Today, Bombay Beach on the southeastern edge of the Salton Sea is a haven for the eccentric. The community encourages artists to turn its bungalows and trailers into works of art. At sunset, the glow from exposed lightbulbs lit up the sign for the "Bombay Beach Drive-In," featuring a collection of abandoned cars. A group of college-age kids setup a drum set along the beach and prepared to jam. Unique exhibits created from found objects decorated the edge of town. I only briefly entered the town's only restaurant, The Ski Inn, but regret not having the time to grab a quick drink at its quirky bar.

By the time we left Bombay Beach for Joshua Tree, it was getting dark. We pressed on through Box Canyon as planned. The supposedly scenic ravine was invisible in the dark, but we'll have to leave it as a to-do on our lengthy travel wish list.

We crossed over the interstate and entered Joshua Tree National Park from its southern terminus, driving the park roads to the gateway town of Twentynine Palms.

Twentynine Palms

We rented a cozy desert bungalow as the base for our adventures around Joshua Tree. The first night, we grabbed dinner at Grnd Sqrl, a mural-lined gastropub in the center of town. Once my brother and his fiancee joined us, we grabbed hot dogs and beers at 29 Palms Beer Company. Across the street, we searched for independent magazines at Hi-Desert Times (finding my favorites Adventure Journal and Trails among their stock), and learned that The Psychedelic Furs guitarist owns an eclectic store of home goods, clothing and accessories called Very Very. They had a collection of guitars to play, but were suffering a power outage keeping the store a bit quieter than usual. We took their clerk's suggestion to get dinner at The Cactus Bar, whose appearance as a casual dive bar was blown out of the water by its delicious greek food.

And I can't say enough about The Jelly Donut: a hole in the wall that's equal parts pho and donut shop. It's "under old management" and is full of surprises like offering a "taco dumpling," or its "secret menu" that is pasted all over its walls. 29 Palms Beer Company honors them with the "Delly Jonut," a prickly-pear sour blonde that is just tart enough to be pleasant.

Joshua Tree National Park

I was first drawn to Joshua Tree in 2016 by its surreal-looking trees, dark skies, and boulder formations. I completed the first half of that trip alone, later meeting with my parents to explore Death Valley before returning to Joshua Tree to experience the park together.

I'd always wanted to return and explore the park with my wife, and luckily we were able to make that happen this year.

Arch Rock

We woke up well before dawn and hiked to Arch Rock for sunrise. The parks service warns that the parking lot can get crowded early, but we were the only car when we showed up. We walked among sparse joshua trees until we arrived at the boulders. The sunrise filled the sky with soft pinks and purples. We could have spent hours wandering among the various rock formations near White Tank Campground.

Pinto Basin Road

We drove the length of Pinto Basin Road after sunrise. This area is where the Colorado and Mojave deserts meet, allowing plants from both to flourish. At the southern end, we found Cottonwood Spring, an oasis created by earthquakes. This area has few joshua trees, but it features clear desert views. You can see distant sand dunes, a lovely cholla garden, and an ocotillo grove.

Wall Street Mill

Local rancher and miner Bill Keys developed the Wall Street Mine as a gold ore-crushing mill. The mill's remnants are preserved, and old cars scatter the boulder-filled landscape. A stone marks the spot where a rival prospector was killed. "Here is where Worth Bagley bit the dust at the hand of W. F. Keys, May 11, 1943." Keys turned himself in and was found guilty of murder. He served five years in prison before receiving a pardon.

Juniper Flats

Looking to make the most of our short visit to Joshua Tree, we headed toward Keys View for the iconic sunset view. Traffic blocked the road to the viewpoint, so we turned around and looked for a less populated spot. The Juniper Flats was a stunning spot for sunsets, and completely empty. The sky glowed in bright blues and pinks above the hills. The joshua trees offered unique shapes for our photos.

Cholla Cactus Garden

We watched the sunrise as we explored the cholla cactus along Pinto Basin Road. The cactus has a few names: teddy-bear because it looks soft from afar, and jumping cactus as it seems to "jump" onto hikers' shoes and pants. By the end of our sunrise exploration, we were picking cholla needles out of our shoe soles.

Stirrup Tank Road and White Tank

Following sunrise, my brother and I worked our way back toward Twentynine Palms to pick up the rest of our group. We stopped for an hour to hike through the rock formations between Pinto Basin Road and White Tank Campground. We wandered through the desert brush and boulder fields and got a bit lost.

We considered stopping at The Jelly Donut on our own, but picked up our other halfs first before making a run to the store. The donuts are adequate, the coffee acceptable, but the vibe is top-notch.

Sunrise along Park Blvd

My wife and I spent our last morning in Joshua Tree searching for unique trees to photograph at sunrise. We drove along Park Boulevard as it offers a variety of iconic trees that create endless compositions. We watched the remnants of a rocket launch in the distance as the sun painted the landscape in a golden glow.

City of Joshua Tree, CA

Traveling with my wife, brother and future sister-in-law was a different experience than my last visit to Joshua Tree in 2017. Back then, I tent-camped in the rain, and drapped my soaked tent over my rental car while seeking a much-needed shower behind the Coyote Corner gift shop. A line of dirtbag climbers proceeded me into the shower. The whole thing felt a little wild.

This time, we stopped next door to the gift shop and shower house at the "World Famous Crochet Museum," a life-sized art exhibit which I found listed on Accidentally Wes Anderson.

Across the street we found really good sandwiches at JT Country Kitchen.

On our way out of town, we found the newly-opened Rivian Charging Outpost. The electric-vehicle charging station, showroom and hangout space felt right at home on Joshua Tree's doorstep. I've aspired to own a Rivian electric truck since seeing its prototype at the New York Auto Show years ago, so we jumped at their offer to take one for a short test drive through the desert.

Anaheim and Los Angeles

Despite some illness on my part, we enjoyed Christmas in Anaheim. My brother and his soon-to-be wife prepared the Christmas dinner. While waiting for the rest of the family to arrive on Christmas Eve, they entertained my newfound obsession with tiki drinks at their favorite tiki bar, Strong Water. I developed an obsession for recreating an authentic Mai Tai after a conversation with a bartender near Shenandoah in Virginia, and after a month of tests, I can say the flavor of my drink very closely matched the drink I had at Strong Water.

We hopped around Orange for a family dinner, breakfast and shopping and spent a day exploring the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. We drove through the Hollywood Hills, and toured the recently restored Rivian South Coast Theater in Laguna Beach to take another look at their amazing trucks.

Newport Beach whale watching

The whole family was able to enjoy a whale-watching trip in Newport Beach. Though we didn't see any whales or orcas, we saw many sea lions, and learned a ton about whales from a very knowledgeable volunteer naturalist.

Live music in Mission Viejo

Since moving to California, my brother has played in many bands. He’s always out gigging. We caught his new wave cover band playing for an excited crowd at a sports bar south of Anaheim.