Quote: We stayed overnight in twenty-nine Palms so it was only a few minutes’ drive to reach the Utah trail by the Oasis Visitor Centre. We didn’t stop at the visitors centre as we were only planning a few hours in the park but if you are planning on doing more intensive hiking or need to camp then this is the place to go. We progressed to the North Entrance Station where we paid $15 entrance fee for the car and were given a map. I am sure we were told that the entrance was good for a week to re-enter but I am not sure as we knew we wouldn’t be able to return.

The terrain was very barren dessert with small cacti and Mojave Yucca plants. Every now and again there was a pull-in with an information board. Some of these boards were very relevant to the place that we had stopped and some just seemed random and told you general information about the park.

The receptionist at the hotel we were staying in had suggested that we didn’t bother going right down towards Cotton wood Springs as he said that due to the time of year (mid-august) there was not a lot to see and that we would be better off just doing a loop and coming out of the Park at Joshua Tree and re-joining route 62. This cut out a lot of driving so we decided to take his advice.

We followed the road around to the West and came across Jumbo Rocks. There was plenty of space for us to park and there is also a campground and a restroom. The Jumbo Rocks are piles of enormous monzogranite boulders as a result of volcanic activity. These huge rocks jut out of the desert floor and provide a stunning vista. Climbing on the rocks is an acceptable activity and the larger rocks are tackled by proper climbers but my children immediately headed on to the lower boulders and began scrambling around. We had been given a very sensible piece of advice before we entered the park and that was to make sure not to put your hands in to any crevice without checking it first as this will be where snakes and scorpions will be resting.

Whilst the children enjoyed challenging themselves on the smooth granite rocks I occupied myself watching the desert iguanas sunning themselves in the early morning sunlight. As the heat of the day increased we saw less of these well camouflaged little creatures running around.

We had a look at the campsite whilst here too and I felt that you had to be tough to want to camp there. The site had lovely little private areas for each tent but with the temperature in the low 40s it was incredibly hot and with scorpions and snakes around I would rather not! It was whilst watching some chipmunks and squirrels at the campsite that I saw a good sized snake sliding its silent way along the base of a nearby rock. From what I could tell it looked like a Western diamondback rattlesnake so I didn’t go any closer to investigate!
After investigating the Jumbo rocks for a while we hopped back in the car and passed "Skull Rock", a smooth piece of granite that resembles an enormous human skull.

Our next destination was Keys View. This drive is not suitable for RVs and there is a turning area so that they do not become stuck on the mountain road. Before the road started to rise we drove across a plain of Joshua Trees. Seeing so many of these unusual looking plants in the one area was quite breath-taking and you can understand why the early Mormon travellers thought they looked like people with their arms upstretched to heaven. I believe this part of the park is the Lost horse valley and there is a hiking trail up to Lost Horse Mine but it is not suitable for the casual walker in the height of summer, proper equipment and a large supply of water is needed to tackle it.

Keys View is at over 5000ft. There is a parking area and restrooms and a map showing what you are seeing from this amazing viewpoint. The scenery is spectacular and you can see valleys, mountains and desert and on a clear day you are supposed to be able to see as far as Mexico. We took in the vista for a few minutes but the excess of enormous flying ants and the heat had us scurrying back to our air-conditioned car very quickly.

We had also been recommended to go to Hidden Valley. At first we pulled in to the wrong car park and found ourselves at another campground so we came out and spotted the signs to the day-use area so we went in there. We knew that there was a one mile trail through a gap in the rocks that had been used in the days of cattle-rustling when the openness of the Mojave Desert was a dangerous place to be due to being ruled by bandits. We parked the car and grabbed a few bottles of water and followed the signs to the trail. We had to scrabble up a few rocks and then we found ourselves in an almost large round enclave surrounded by rock walls which was completely hidden from the adjoining car park. Desert plants grew plentifully in this environment and we started to enjoy walking the trail whilst keeping an eye out for snakes. The temperature in the shade was 41 degrees and there was virtually no shade at all in the Hidden valley so we were very glad we had taken plenty of water. A mile doesn’t normally seem very far to walk but under the intense conditions of high sun and rock walls radiating heat back it felt like we had run a marathon by the time we returned to the car but it was certainly worth seeing.

We had taken some food with us as there is no food available in Joshua Tree NP at all but we ended up eating it in the car since there were picnic benches but none of them had any natural or artificial shade. Throughout the park there were plenty of bins and many had recycling options too.

We had to be on our way then but as we were driving out of the park a coyote casually walked across the road in front of us. We had seen no trace of these during our visit so it was lovely to see one up close.

We spent a lovely three hours at the park and it was a welcome change from the noise and bright lights of Las Vegas that we had left the day before. The park suggest taking at least a gallon of water per person in to the park and even though we were there only a few hours we found we had to drink plenty so I think that is sensible advice.