Joshua Tree National Park

One of the things I love about America is visiting different National Parks.  This week, I am going to take you on the Travel Tuesday post, that actually started it all for me, and made Travel Tuesday's a thing on my blog for the past several years.  After this post, others asked me to share more about where I have been, and so I decided to start taking all my readers along on my trips, well virtually of course:)

I love the heat, I lived in St. George, Utah for a while and days in the 100+ and nights that sometimes if your lucky in the summer cool down to around 90 degree's is fine for me.  I still enjoy running, hiking and playing no matter the climate.  But the key to being able to stay active and enjoy the heat is making sure you are always fully hydrated!

I will say, if my foot wasn't injured I would have been standing on top of that
little boulder mountain for a picture:)  

Joshua Tree National Park, is located in Southern California and although I know most probably hit up this little gem in the spring, fall and winter.  I decided to hit it up in the hotter than hot month of July.  On the particular day I snapped these shots, it was only about 100 degrees out, so I was lucky because it could have been hotter.

This is Skull Rock

Not only a great place for adults, but kids will love this place.  So many fun rock formations for their little imaginations to run wild.

Maybe because I am from Utah and I have lived and hiked around deserts my entire life, but I find there is so much beauty in the desert if you look for it.  This National Park has beautiful large cactus and large bouldering rock formations and beautiful vista views.

The beginning of one of the trails, hiked around for a beautiful view on the other side

I am a little bit of a nerd in my mind, when I am out hiking I like to think about the geology and the reason that things formed the way they did, when they did to look the way they do now.

There are actually several hiking trails in this park, some are even short enough for the kids and the whole family.  But you will definitely want to bring PLENTY of water!

I love cactus too, I don't know why I always have.  Odd fact about me, when I was younger I raised cactus terrariums instead of regular ones like other kids did, LOL

This is the view from Key's View - You can look out and see the Mountains of Mexico
in the far distance, as well as Palm Springs in the valley below.

Don't you love how big these cactus tree's grow.
The tallest in the park is about 40 feet tall.  These are what gave the park it's name.

Again if the foot wasn't injured I'd of been on top of this one too for a picture:)

Okay, so if you look really really hard, you can see me up on top of one of the boulders.

The picture doesn't make them look very big, but take my 5 foot size and compare it to the rock

next to me and you get the idea, they are bigger than they look:)

I am like a kid and I can't resist climbing a big rock:)

You can call me weird, for liking the desert, but I loved this photo for some reason!

There is camping in this National Park, or nearby.  This is a park, you can easily see and do a lot in one day, and it's not too far of a drive from San Diego, we drove there after for the night.

One of the hikes to an old mill and dried up lake:)

I had a great time on this trip.  We had driven from Utah, so headed down through Las Vegas (hitting 122 degree's at the hottest), we stayed near Las Vegas for 1 night.
Then the next morning drove through the Mojave Desert in California and into Joshua Tree National Park for a day.


Have you visited Joshua Tree National Park before?
Tell me about some of your National Park adventures.