Joshua Tree National Park, about a three-hour drive from the city of Los Angeles, is home to Joshua Trees. If you have a day to spend, I would recommend a hike followed by the viewpoints.

A scenic photograph of a Joshua Tree in the desert at sunset with mountains in the background, emphasizing the iconic silhouette of the tree against a vibrant sky.

We started from the south entrance and went northwards, here’s what we did

  1. Lost Oasis Trail - An easy ~7.5 miles 3-hour hike close to the south entrance and you see a dead Oasis at the end

    A 7.5-mile, 3-hour hiking trail near the south entrance leads to a dead oasis, featuring a stop at Porcupine Wash.

  2. Porcupine Wash - A small stop along the way

    desert landscape with diverse flora, including porcupine wash, ocotillo patch featuring red flowers, and a cholla cactus garden.

  3. Ocotillo Patch - Ocotillo is a desert plant with red-colored flowers

  4. Cholla Cactus Garden - A small passage to walk around in the midst of Cactus

    A path winds through a Cholla Cactus Garden, surrounded by diverse cacti in a desert setting, offering a small passage for visitors to walk amid the foliage.

  5. White Tank - You can do some nice scrambling here

    An arid landscape features a cactus garden with multiple types of cacti. The setting includes rock formations suitable for scrambling activities. 'White Tank' and 'Twin Tanks' are mentioned as locations.

  6. Twin Tanks - very similar to White tank and is reachable only via a dirt road. Feel free to skip.

  7. Cap Rock - Isn’t something majestic but looks beautiful at night

    A rock formation known as Cap Rock situated in a desert environment, appearing strikingly under moonlight.

What we skipped

  1. Hall of Horrors - This is gorgeous, but it was already dark. I would highly recommend prioritizing this.
  2. Barker Dam - The view isn’t very different from the Lost Oasis Trail, so, feel free to skip.