High Desert Motel

Lost Palms Oasis

by blaird

This hike is about 8 miles long and offers some nice changes in scenery & action. It is a great day hike. As with many other areas in the park, there is plenty of opportunity for scrambling on the rocks. At the trailhead you will see a huge group of California fan palm trees, along with some indian artifacts from the previous peoples here.

You will also pass a bunch of mine shaft that we used for mining for such things as gold. The trail is marked fairly well, although it is easy to get lost if you start scrambling and don't pay attention.

Bring boots, definitely lots of water, and some warmer clothes in a backpack if you will venture far away from your car.

Best remote bar / club in the area

by Jewel_D

Check out the Palms Restaurant and Saloon, about 30 minutes east of Joshua Tree, in the remote desert area of Wonder Valley.

Not far from the Joshua Tree National Park, and lots of free camping nearby. :) Other local activities include artist's open studio events, horseback rding, dirt biking, hiking, etc.

Clientele is part biker, part artist-locals, and the burgers and fries are good AND a good deal!

Music events semi-weekly, check their site for details:
http://www.computorzone.com/palms/

Alien House

by Echo_29

This house, owned by an extremely wealthy local artist, has been under construction since the early 1990s. This house used to be the talk of the town for many years when it alone seemed to keep part of the local economy humming. Now complete (we assume) except for some finish work along the street, this place is quite a sight. Designed by the architectural firm that used to design Chart House Restaurants in the 1960s and 70s.

Take Highway 62, 5 miles east of Joshua Tree and turn right (south) on Mount Shasta Road until it ends 1 mile up.

Besides viewing it from the road the house can be viewed from Joshua Tree National Park, just past the barbed wire fence that reads PARK BOUNDERY.

Please do not disturb the owners or neighbors!

Joshua Tree National Monument

by bellagio

The first day of my 1997 holiday, after a long journey from England, saw my son and I arriving late afternoon at Los Angeles International Airport. We picked up our hire car and headed off to drive the 120 miles to Palm Springs, where we stayed for two nights at the Best Western Palm Springs Inn. After an early (6.00am) dip in the pool we drove off to visit the Joshua Tree National Monument.

Joshua Tree

by bellagio

"Joshua Tree National Monument"

The admission price $5 per car when we were there. Make sure your gas tank is full and carry ample supplies of water to drink. The heat can be punishing here, with very little shade from the sun. Summer temperatures can be in excess of 100 degrees fahrenheit. If you are hiking do not venture anywhere without a map and make sure you stick to the route. Joshua Tree is also one of the most popular places in the world apparently for rock climbing.

Joshua Tree is around an hours drive away from Palm Springs and covers an area in total of 850 square miles. It is a surreal landscape consisting a mix of these peculiar shaped spiky and twisted Joshua trees and boulders piled high like giant bowling pins. The trees can grow up to 40 feet tall and have to contend with extreme aridity and rocky soil. All around lie these great heaps of boulders, which have been pushed up by the San Andreas fault. Their edges have been rounded and smoothed over the years by flash floods and winds. The Joshua trees are not really trees, but a large type of Yucca plant, and they were given the name Joshua tree by Mormon settlers in the 1850's who saw their reaching, craggy branches as the beckoning arms of the prophet Joshua leading them to the promised land.

Watch out for the wild life! This was our first ever view of a coyote in the flesh. It seemed friendly enough and it, nervously, came right up close to the car as we fed it some bread and crisps through the open car window.

As the coyote was munching merrily away on our food, it suddenly turned and ran. A Park Ranger had pulled up behind us, appearing as if from nowhere. He politely told us NOT to feed the wild life, and then went on his way. We just felt sorry fot the poor old critter stuck out there in a barren wilderness.