Well, we did it. We made it to Joshua Tree National Park! We went on a Monday morning - October 3. It took just under 2 hours from my FIL's house in Lake Elsinore to Yucca Valley. Ultimately, we took the 10 to 62 - Twentynine Palms Highway (2-lane each way highway - but has stop lights in towns). The plan was to enter in Twentynine Palms entrance, but we left the house WAY later than I wanted, and our Nav gave us some BAD directions. We ended up with a Ford Excursion with working NAV, we entered in "Joshua Tree National Park" - it took us off of 62/29 Palms HWY via side roads through Yucca, and pointed us at a dirt road in the middle of a residential neighborhood. We didn't get the warm fuzzies about those directions, so we headed back to the main strip, 29 palms HW (which is really just a busy road), found a new-ish strip mall with a Dickies BBQ, and opted to have lunch (it was right at noon ... remember, we left the house 2 hours later than I had hoped).
The staff at Dickies pointed us to a main entrance off Park Blvd - with visitor center. We opted to do that rather than the Oasis of Mara (which would've been more interesting, I think). We went into the visitor center, hit up the bathrooms, got lots of maps, some souvenirs while we were there too. Then headed down the road. It takes a while to actually get to the entrance (I think maybe 4-5 minutes). Showed our day ticket - $20, and headed on our way.
My husband was being a bit of a spoilsport ... pulling out the old European Vacation tone .... "look kids, rocks, joshua trees, rocks, joshua trees - oooo, more rocks". Kids got in on it also. It was ~75 degrees and GORGEOUS - couldn't have been any more perfect to be in the middle of a desert!!! I put on a sweater at one point due to cross-winds, else none needed, and wasn't too hot, either. We stopped at one of the first sights, kids got out & tried to start the junior ranger booklets. The 7 year old had no patience for it, my 9-year old started & was trying in earnest, but we just weren't finding any of the wildlife in the booklet, so she was getting frustrated. We stopped at several sites along the way - didn't make any full hikes or even partial hikes, because, well, my kids are a "P in the A". They did get to climb around rocks and that made them very excited. We spotted 1 lizard the entire afternoon - which was probably the excitement of the day.
I really enjoyed the Hidden Valley Nature Trail. We took that only for ~1/4 mile. The trail was AMAZING - nothing too dangerous, too treacherous that any average person from the 'burbs who NEVER hikes couldn't handle. Seriously awesome. Not flat, that's for sure - you must be mobile to get through some of these trails - the rocks from steps which was neat. We got out of the car at Barker Dam's trail entrance. We didn't do anything other than go back in about 1/8 mile, seriously. Just walked a bit in, then kids needed the facilities. I didn't go in, but the kids said the facilities were loaded with TONS of TP and were very clean. They are normal bathrooms, just no sinks - bring hand sanitizer or wipes.
I can't believe I haven't loaded my pics of our trip yet, but the photography opportunities are ENDLESS. Seriously.
Keys View was awesome - I love getting those broad, sweeping views. Here is where my kids lost it. Literally. There were so many bees swarming us, that I had both kids screaming that this was a horrible place and they didn't want to be outside. We made them suck it up & go to the top of the hill at the lookout and for some photos, then they ran faster than I've ever seen them run back to the car. When I load my pics, I'll have to load a shot of their faces. They are a mixture of pure horror from the bees and hatred towards us as parents for making them stand still for pictures. LATER, we read in one of the handouts that due to the drought, the bees stay near cars for the dripping of exhaust pipes, and any other water sources visitors bring in. Had we known, we would've poured water in a puddle nearby, maybe that would've kept the bees away. They were aggressive and there were a lot of them the day we were there. Both kids had wasp stings this summer & recalled how painful they were, so they were rightfully frightened.
We turned out back onto Park Blvd and continued to Skull Rock. When we saw how crowded it was, we kept driving. Kids were only lukewarm about getting out of the car anyway. They were tired from all the driving & wanted to nap. We were headed to Cholla Cactus Garden, so we kept driving & promised naptime AFTER Cholla. It is a pretty decently far drive from everything. And, there are NO BATHROOMS HERE!!! Of course, that's when I needed one. Silly me, I saw bathrooms at every stop we made, figured there'd be one there too. NOPE. The cactii are otherworldly. Definitely worth the extra drive to get here. Hubby really enjoyed it. We wandered around for 20 minutes, then we figured it was time to go. We really wanted to make it to the Palm Springs Aerial Tram by sunset. It was about 4:15 at this point, and we were racing the sun.
If you exit via Cottonwood Springs, forwarned, it is a LONG drive even from Cholla Cactus Garden to exit southbound. It took us probably 30-45 minutes to get to the 10. And, there are no facilities between Cholla and the Ranger Station at Cottonwood Springs entrance - Nothing. I believe we passed only 3 other cars that entire drive. It was almost creepy. Oh, we made it to the Tram at Sunset :-0 - was cool for the kids to see San Jancinto from Keys view, THEN, get to ride up Mt. San Jancinto on the tram!
Here are my fleeting thoughts on Joshua Tree:
1. SO unbelievably happy we made it there. My kids gave it a 5/10. They liked the rocks to climb on, they said they got a little bored because everything looked the same - rocks, Joshua Trees. I'm surprised we so so little wildlife. Except for the lizard and bees, really we didn't see anything that afternoon.
2. hubby & I both have iphone 6S AT&T phones. We are grandfathered into the unlimited data services, so we keep on data roaming as a backup to cellular options. We had ZERO RECEPTION!!! What did this mean? That every little bookmark and blog I highlighted to pull up while we were there, Nada. Couldn't get any of the tips/tricks while we were in the park. BUMMER. I should've printed everything I wanted before we left. I had planned on using a few mom-blog hints from Nobackhome, but I couldn't get any reception. At all. At Keys View, we got spotty service - enough I could post a pic to FB, but it took like 15 minutes to load, then I lost connection.
3. If you think you might even need to use the bathroom a little, USE IT WHEN YOU SEE ONE!!! The drive from Cholla Cactus to Cottonwood Springs ranger entrance was a LOOOOONG one for me. They are at just about every single "exhibit" - use them. Just don't expect to use one at Cholla. I seriously regretted not going earlier.
4. I would've enjoyed this on my own a LOT more. I took a TON of pictures, I hope to load them tonight so I can see what I took all the pictures of! I would have LOVED to have been there at nighttime, I imagine the stars are extraordinary to see in person and sunset would've been fantastic for photos. Something we don't get in the Chicagoland area for sure.
4a. I would've enjoyed wandering around Joshua Tree town on my own too - looked like a lot of artisan pottery shops & boutiques.
5. The magnitude of this park is beyond description. It is HUGE. Seriously. I looked it up - it is the 15th largest National Park in the U.S. To give you an idea - the Grand Canyon is 11th at ~1900 square miles; Joshua Tree is 15th at ~1250 sq miles.
6. The Roads are phenomenal. Seriously like they were just paved - super smooth, exceptionally well maintained. no complaints. parking is ample at each "exhibit". I was so impressed with the upkeep of public services.
7. I wish there were more signs as you drive - other than the "watch for tarantulas in roadway" at the ranger entrance ;-) . For example - something like "Cholla Cactus Garden, 15 miles" would've been nice as we were driving, and driving, and driving, and driving even further, wondering if we took a wrong turn or missed it. you drive along Park Blvd then BAM - "exhibit x next right". Given the size, a bit more signage would've been nice.
8. We lucked out at ~75 degrees, don't recall seeing more than 1 or 2 clouds in the sky, wonderful cross breeze - bring a sweater. I was actually chilly as part of the hidden Valley walk is between rocks - not a lot of sun, but lots of breezes. We were all fine without sweaters and weren't too hot. We all had water, but didn't get so hot where we constantly needed to drink. I imagine anything over ~80 would feel SUPER hot from the rocks soaking up the warmth of the sun.
9. Bring hand wipes or sanitizer - bathrooms have no sinks at the exhibits. Plenty of TP at each stop, just no way to wash your hands.
I'd go again - I won't race back. Glad we took the kids to visit, glad I got to visit it FINALLY. It's been near the top of my SoCal bucket list for ages. Kids got what I wanted them to - ocean on Sunday, in a desert on Monday. Awesome experience!!!
