Sovna NaikIt offers a stunning desert landscape with boulders and spiky Joshua Trees protruding out in unpredictable angles yet in symmetry. With its close proximity to southern California, we planned on driving to Joshua Tree National Park when our friends were visiting us for the holidays. If you are planning on visiting Palm Springs do keep it as an option, It’s a wonderful place to visit at least for a day. Because of its proximity, the national park attracts a lot of day-trippers, and we were one among them!
The first place we visited was the Cottonwood Visitor Center, we inquired about the places we can visit with the given time we had and things to keep in mind while in the national park. We even collected maps to better explore the national park.
We officially started our trip from Cholla Cactus Garden Trail, this cacti grove is one of the marvels of our trip to the national park. This area houses scads of Cholla Cactus also known as teddy bear cactus because of its fuzzy-looking appearance or spines. But, don’t go by the name they are truly dangerous, and keep a safe distance from them while on the trail. This is definitely a must-visit location in the national park, especially because of the backdrop it offers to those cacti.
The next stop we made was at White Tank Campground, where we all had our first encounter with the Joshua tree and it was amazing. It has this unique yet distinct appearance that definitely lures people. We did roam around for a while and saw some amazing rock formations.
Later, we drove to Split Rock Loop Trail, where we strolled around and climbed onto small rocks, but be careful and cautious of your actions. We did get to watch a lot of rock formations in the area. It’s definitely a mecca for rock climbers.
After that, we headed towards Keys View, which happens to offer panoramic views of the Coachella valley and mountains around, but it was too gloomy the day we visited. Hopefully, we get to experience inarguably one of the best sites in the national park on the next visit. But we did take many random stops in between to take in the views and to enjoy every bit of it and while on our way back we got to experience a beautiful sunset.
That is all about our day trip to Joshua Tree National Park from Southern California, as it was during holidays we struggled to find places to eat near the national park so keep that in mind before you make plans and make your itinerary accordingly incorporating restaurants and their timing. Still, we had an amazing time with friends.
