Joshua Tree National Park

(Click on pictures above to enlarge them)

Joshua Tree National Park is a completely separate eco-system between the Mojave Desert (3,000’ or higher) to the north and the Colorado Plateau (3,000’ and lower) to the south. The San Andreas Fault, Palm Springs Desert strip, and the Salton Sea can be viewed from the mountain tops in Joshua Tree National Park. The Joshua tree is neither a tree nor a cactus and received its name from the Mormon people that discover this unique environment. They named the tree after the prophet Joshua because it resembled his outstretched arms to those who believed in God. They say that ½ inch represents one year of the trees lifecycle. Many of these trees are extremely tall. They survive in the desert and grow quite a distance apart from each other because of the lack of moisture and nutrients in the ground. We have heard that this is the only place in the country where the Joshua Tree exists.

The geologic landscape of Joshus Tree is spectacular. How did the rocks take on these fantastic shapes? What forces sculpted them?

Geologists believe that these granite rock formations were formed more than 100 million years ago. Molten liquid, heated by the continuous movement of the Earth's crust, oozed upward and cooled while still below the surface of the overlying rocks. These plutonic intrusions are a granitic rock called monzogranite.

We stayed at the Jumbo Rocks campground (4,400’) for two nights. We paid $5.00 a night for our campsite. We had a fire ring, table, and very clean pit toilet’s available to us. The nights were very clear, beautiful, and cold (30 degrees). We were able to see many different constellations in the dark sky. Here we hiked the Skull Rock, Keys View, Barker Dam, and the Wall Street Gold Stamp mill trails which take you through the many magnificent rock outcroppings. We spend a lot of time just wondering around among the Joshua Trees enjoying the weather and looking at cactus, birds, rock formations, and wildlife. It was very difficult to leave this area, but we needed to move on to the Cottonwood campground (3,000’) located in the park and see the Fan Palm Oasis area. While we were staying at Jumbo Rocks, we met our new friends Bill, Anne, and Sara (sheltie) from Victoria, BC. They are both very nice people and we have shared some very memorable experiences with them so far.

We saw so many beautiful sites and took so many pictures that we have separated our three days at Josuha Tree National Park into three picture albums: 1) Jumbo Rocks, 2) Keys View, Barker Dam, Wall Street Mill, and (3) Fan Palm Oasis (Cottonwood Canyon).

CLICK HERE to see the pictures we took of Jumbo Rocks. Look for the many different images in the rocks as you view the pictures. You may need to go through them a couple of times.