Joshua Tree on Film
There is simply nothing that lights me up quite like being in a new place.
This past week my sweet friend Allison and I visited Joshua Tree for the first time and honestly, it was so stunning (I cried when we pulled over and saw our first Joshua Tree lol).
But truly, it was magical! The Joshua Tree’s were blooming, which they only do once every 10 years or so, so being there for it was just beyond :’)
And of course I captured the whole trip on film hehe. There’s just something so special about those grainy “in the moment” moments on film. But anyway, let’s hop in :)
The drive there was half absolutely beautiful, half simply highways, but the mountain range that encompasses Palm Springs was snowcapped and the colors were breathtaking. In total, it took us about 2.5 hours from North County San Diego to make it to our AirBnb in Yucca Valley - so not too bad! I’m going to hop right in to all of the pics, but if you want a guide of where we stayed, what we ate, and all the J-Tree deets, scroll to the bottom! :)
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Where We Stayed:
There are so. many. options. when you search Joshua Tree. We ended up finding this place with a beautiful view that was located in a pretty secluded area in Yucca Valley, about 15 minutes from the town of Joshua Tree and 20 minutes from the entrance to the park. It was perfect!
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Where We Ate:
We stopped at Trader Joe’s on our way there because to be quite honest we did not check where our place was located and we weren’t sure if we would be out in the middle of nowhere lol. We bought waaaay more than we needed to because we ended up being fairly close to town and eating out quite a bit.
My favorite place was hands down Sky High Pie which has amazing pizza. They even have fresh homemade gluten free pizza and vegan options. Plus the regular kind was dang good too.
Allison will rave about Boo’s Organic Bakery from the rooftop and even ended up going back to get 4 of their cupcakes. They do serve on a first come first serve basis and sell out of breakfast items pretty quick! They have some vegan options (carrot cake and some hand pies) but no gf if you’re in that boat!
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What We Did:
We spent most of the first day at our AirBnb, just enjoying it and exploring, then headed into the town of Joshua Tree to grab food and explore a bit. Honestly there isn’t a ton of stuff to do in the actual town of Joshua Tree. If you’re looking to go antiquing or looking for more in-town fun outside of the National Park, I’d recommend checking out Yucca Valley or Pioneertown!
On our second day, we headed into Joshua Tree National Park.
Important Notes:
There’s a $30 entrance fee but we went during spring break and it was packed so they were letting people in and having them pay on the way out. It’s definitely pricey but the park is pretty big! (You can also explore and hike just outside of the park if you don’t want to pay).
Print out a map or set your GPS before. There is no service in the park! Luckily there are only 3 main roads, so it’s hard to get lost, but better safe than sorry.
Bring a lot of water. More than you think you’ll need. When we went, we did a super short hike and it was only 65 degrees, but you get dehydrated really fast. Bring your comfort water bottle (and maybe keep a jug in the car).
Bathrooms are available at most hiking parking lots and of course all campgrounds, but they are simply rooms with toilets that lead to a hole in the ground, a glorified port-a-potty if you will. Just a heads up!
There are 3 entrances to the park. One on the south side, and two on the north (one in Joshua Tree (*we used and would recommend this one!) and one in Twentynine Palms). There isn’t much to see by way of the South entrance. It’s pretty flat with no Joshua Trees, just winding through what feels like the valley of death for about an hour. Once you ascend toward the heart of the park, you’ll pass through a Teddy Bear Cactus forest, and then you’ll start seeing Joshua Trees!
If you decide to use the Joshua Tree entrance, be aware that Apple and Google Maps will route you to the visitors center about a mile out from the park entrance. To enter, follow Park Blvd, which turns into Quail Springs Road, and back into Park Blvd to get to the entrance. Basically just turn onto Park Blvd and keep drivin’!
Inside the Park:
Joshua Tree National Park is built out fairly well at each stop. There’s a bunch of “Exhibits” marked with signs on the side of the main road throughout the park. The first few ones are packed since that’s where most people stop, but if you continue driving it thins out a bit.
We mapped our way to the Arch Rock Trail which honestly wasn’t the coolest (haha). The arch is pretty small (this ain’t the 7 arches in Utah) and has kind of fallen, and it’s super packed. Most easy hikes in the area will be pretty busy though, so do your research before and find out which one you want to take. I also probably wouldn’t recommend Skull Rock which was absolutely packed.
After “hiking” Arch Rock (lol) we decided to take the route to the southern exit of Joshua Tree and hit Palm Springs. To be completely honest, we probably wouldn’t recommend this as the drive was pretty long and not super scenic, and not really a shortcut to Palm Springs either lol (oops).
Then from Palm Springs, we took the long way home through the San Bernardino Mountains and Temecula which is such a beautiful drive back to San Diego and definitely worth the extra 10-20 minutes!
Aaaand that’s all! Thanks for reading, friend :)
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Love, Anne