Joshua National Park encompasses portions of two deserts — the Colorado Desert toward the southeast and the Mojave Desert toward the northwest. We camped within the park in the lower-lying Colorado Desert for our first couple of nights here.

Colorado Desert Joshua Trees

We came into the park from the south off of I-10. It took quite a while to spot our first Joshua tree. We found them to be quite sparse and fairly short. I was surprised to find they look more like overgrown Yucca plants (which, they actually are) than trees. We started seeing larger ones after going up into the park further, but none really looked like trees.

Cottonwood Campground

There are no RV hookups in the park, but Lisa did find a campground that has flush toilets. There aren’t any showers so it was wash cloth baths for a couple of nights. The sites at the park campgrounds are very short, but they are perfect for vans, which we saw a lot of throughout the park.

Day 1 — Mastodon Peak Trail

For our first hike at the park we chose the Mastodon Peak Trail since it’s accessible from our campsite. It was a good sampling of this part of the park with large sandy washes, big boulders, and an abandoned mine. We even came across an oasis of palm trees and cottonwood for which this section of the park is named.

Our first day in the park was very hot and had to run the AC for the cats while we hiked, so we decided to take a drive in the late afternoon to fully charge Usain’s batteries in preparation for the next day. We took the long, curvy, scenic Pinto Basin Road up to the very popular Arch Rock/Heart Rock trail. By the time we got there (took about 45 minutes) and started up the trail the sun was starting to set so we thought it would be best to wait until the next day. We had a nice parking spot next to some large boulders in the shade so we ate supper and then drove back to our campsite in the dark. It feels like summer, but the sun definitely sets early on its winter schedule.

Day 2 — Arch Rock, Heart Rock, and a Secret Garden

On day two in the park we got up early and headed back to Arch Rock/Heart Rock. We parked in the same spot as the afternoon before. It was cooler and windy today so we were able to leave the windows open for the cats and took an amazing morning hike.

Arch Rock

There was an easy path to Arch Rock and a more difficult path. Of course, we took the harder one which meant scrambling over large boulders, squeezing through tight cracks, and other maneuvers that tested our aging ankles and knees. It took us an hour just to go a tenth of a mile and then I ended up walking right by it until Lisa told me to look up.

Heart Rock

We kept naming various rocks based upon their shapes, but the Heart Rock is unmistakenly, well, heart shaped. This was a very popular stop fairly close to the road for those just driving through the park.

Garden of Joshua

Beyond the Arch Rock and Heart Rock (and all the non-hikers) is a wonderful trail. It didn’t have a name but at end of the loop is a garden-like, serene area with lots of Joshua Trees along with other desert plants, which I’ve called the Garden of Joshua since it doesn’t have an official name.