Joshua Tree

[mtthwlw]

Thinking about going to Joshua Tree National Park for spring break. Is there any canyoneering there? What about favorite hikes? I'll be hiking, and top-rope climbing there with my wife and kids, but my wife would also like to leave the kids with family & try a technical canyon while we're there.

Any ideas? We're tired of the rain. JT is always pretty warm and dry, right? :cold:

[Felicia]

Joshua Tree is a beautiful park. Keep in mind that this is Southern California, thus it WILL be busy.

What are the dates that you are considering? How old are the children? Will you be camping?

We continue to have an immense amount of rain. The flower will be awesome this year! :2thumbs:

(I'm out for the day. Will be able to help more later.)

[abirken]

I'll be in JT with my kids over Spring Break as well. Going to prepare myself for the mammoth southern calif crowds! But I am looking forward to some sunny california days, blooming cactus and exploring a different terrain. :2thumbs: Have fun!

[mtthwlw]

Joshua Tree is a beautiful park. Keep in mind that this is Southern California, thus it WILL be busy.

What are the dates that you are considering? How old are the children? Will you be camping?

We continue to have an immense amount of rain. The flower will be awesome this year! :2thumbs:

(I'm out for the day. Will be able to help more later.)

Our Spring break begins March 7 and ends on the 14th. We'll miss the wildflowers by a few weeks, I'm afraid. My kids are young (8, 7 and 4) but they like top roping and rappelling. I have family in JT, so we'll have someone to watch the kids if the need arises. We may camp in Black Rock one night, but we're planning on a hotel.

Thanks.

[Felicia]

Our Spring break begins March 7 and ends on the 14th. We'll miss the wildflowers by a few weeks, I'm afraid. My kids are young (8, 7 and 4) but they like top roping and rappelling. I have family in JT, so we'll have someone to watch the kids if the need arises. We may camp in Black Rock one night, but we're planning on a hotel.

Thanks.

My kids, at that age, loved Joshua Tree. There is so much for them to do. You are correct that it is a bit early for flowers, but the weather is warming quickly. With relatives nearby, they will be able to give you some good ideas of where to stay with regards to hotels.

The NPS site is really helpful: http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm



We may camp in Black Rock one night

There is good hiking around Black Rock, but no climbing of note. We don't spend time here as it is outside the park too far for us. Just a personal thing.

Indian Cove is a great campground for the kids. You can make reservations and convenient facilities. There are numerous rocks to keep the kids busy all day. There is plenty of rocks to top rope from, and you can hike into Rattlesnake Canyon.

Another nice camp ground is Jumbo Rocks. This campground is up in the center area of the park. The kids will love this area because there are rocks everywhere for them to play. The ranger programs are nice.

The high section of the park will be colder both during the day and the night. The lower desert, the Cottonwood Campground entrance of the park will be warmer. If there are flowers, they will be at this end of the park first. The lower entrance is off the 10 freeway.

As a whole, I would suggest that you stick to the touristy program and enjoy the sun. I would spend time driving through the park. Keys View is a nice drive. Geology Tour road is fun.

Hikes with the kids: Hidden Valley, Barker Dam, Ryan Mountain, Boy Scout trail to Willow Hole.


Hikes without the kids: Smith Water Canyon http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11405&highlight=joshua+tree

Queen Mountain, Wonderland of Rock through hike, and many more.

Some flowers: http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10601&highlight=joshua+tree

I would suggest Trash Can Rock for top roping. Actually, there is top roping and climbing throughout the park. There are some great, simple guide books - worth the purchase.

....off for now!








:rockon:

[mtthwlw]

Felicia,
Thanks for taking the time to send this info. I appreciate it. We'll enjoy the park and hope for blue skies.

[Felicia]

Felicia,
Thanks for taking the time to send this info. I appreciate it. We'll enjoy the park and hope for blue skies.

The pleasure is mine. Have a great trip and take lots of pictures! :2thumbs:

Also, don't forget to have a meal at Pappy and Harriets!

http://www.pappyandharriets.com/


:rockon:

[ststephen]

Gotta get out there again soon myself. On our last trip we enjoyed the hike to 49 Palms Oasis. I just noticed the other day that my son still uses that sot as wall paper on his phone! If you haven't hiked to a genuine California palm oasis it is definitely worth doing. There are some in Anza Borega too. The Geology Tour road is kinda cool. Dirt but 2WD if I remember correctly.

We were there over Christmas and did a hotel in 29 Palms. Nice dog friendly place but the food in 29 Palms sucks. If you drive through that town though take a quick spin around and check out all the murals on the exterior walls of various business there. Quite cool!

[DWayne27]

Jumbo Rocks is really awesome. Chulu Cactus Gardens are also cool, and we saw them when it was late summer and they were dying/dead, so seeing them blooming would be great.

49 Palms Oasis would have been cool... We hiked there as the sun was setting, and got about 1.3 miles of the 1.5 mile hike in - we could see the tops of the trees in the distance. At that point, an admitedly decent sized rattle snake crossed the path directly in front my wife, rattling and making as much noise as it could. Needless to say, there was nothing I could do to calm my wife down enough to make it the last few hundred yards to check it out, and had to do my best just to make it back to the car.

There were plenty of other cool looking tourist hikes just from the NPS pamphlet that we would have liked to do, and the nights out there were gorgeous - pitch black and plenty of stars. Also, when we were there in August, the place was totally deserted. Didnt see anyone else at all, just one or two cars driving through. Couldnt find any info on technical canyons though.

[Felicia]

Neat webpage for the flower status:
http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_jtnp.html


:2thumbs: