Joshua Tree National Park, about a three-hour drive from the city of Los Angeles, is home to Joshua Trees. If you have a day to spend, I would recommend a hike followed by the viewpoints.
We started from the south entrance and went northwards, here’s what we did
- Lost Oasis Trail – An easy ~7.5 miles 3-hour hike close to the south entrance and you see a dead Oasis at the end
Lost Oasis Trail - Porcupine Wash – A small stop along the way
Porcupine Patch - Ocotillo Patch – Ocotillo is a desert plant with red-colored flowers
- Cholla Cactus Garden – A small passage to walk around in the midst of Cactus
Cholla Cactus Garden - White Tank – You can do some nice scrambling here
White Tank - Twin Tanks – very similar to White tank and is reachable only via a dirt road. Feel free to skip.
- Cap Rock – Isn’t something majestic but looks beautiful at night
Cap Rock
What we skipped
- Hall of Horrors – This is gorgeous but it was already dark. I would highly recommend prioritizing this.
- Barker Dam – The view isn’t very different from the Lost Oasis Trail, so, feel free to skip.