Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [251]
Lost Horse Mine
4 miles RT. Moderate. Access: End of a dirt road leading from Keys View Rd., 2½ miles south of its junction with Park Blvd.
This trail leads to the ruins of the area's most successful mining operation. Well-preserved remnants include the steam engine that powered the machinery, a winch for lowering equipment into the mine, settling tanks, and stone building foundations. The trail, actually an old wagon road, winds gradually up through rolling hills; once there, you can take an additional short, steep hike to the hilltop behind the ruins for a fine view into the heart of the park. Hikers with children should keep a watchful eye around the mine ruins.
Lost Palms Oasis
7.5 miles RT. Moderate. Access: Park at Cottonwood Spring, accessible by paved road just beyond the Cottonwood Campground.
This long trail leads through sandy washes and rolling hills to the oasis overlook. A steep, rugged, and strenuous trail then continues to the canyon bottom. Whether or not you're up to the entire challenge, the beauty of birdsong and rustling palms echoing through the canyon make this a special hike. Lost Palms is the park's largest oasis; look closely for elusive bighorn sheep in the remote canyon bottom.
Other Sports & Activities
Biking. Because most of Joshua Tree National Park is designated wilderness, visitors must take special care not to damage the fragile ecosystem. That means bicycles are restricted to roads, none of which have bike lanes. This effectively puts biking out of reach for most casual pedalers. If you're into mountain biking and up to a challenge, miles of unpaved roads are ripe for exploration. Distraction from cars is rare, particularly on four-wheel-drive roads such as the 18-mile dirt Geology Tour Road, which begins 2 miles west of Jumbo Rocks. Dry lake beds contrast with towering boulders along this sandy, lumpy downhill road; you can stop to see a Joshua tree woodland, abandoned mines, and American Indian petroglyphs.
A short but rewarding ride starts at Covington Flats, accessible only by unpaved (two-wheel-drive okay) La Contentata Road in the town of Joshua Tree. From the picnic area, ride west to Eureka Peak, 4 miles away through lush high desert vegetation such as mammoth Joshua trees, junipers, and pinyons. The road is steep near the end, but your reward is a panoramic view of Palm Springs to the south, the Morongo Basin to the north, and the jagged mountain ranges of the park in between. For other bike-friendly unpaved and four-wheel-drive roads, consult the park map available at all visitor centers. There are no bike rentals available in the park, so you'll have to bring your own.
Rock Climbing. During most of the year, visitors to the park can observe rock climbers scurrying up, down, and across the many geological formations in the northwestern quadrant. Joshua Tree is one of the sport's premier destinations, with more than 4,000 individually rated climbs.
Spectacular geological formations have irresistible names such as Wonderland of Rocks and Jumbo Rocks. Lovers of Stonehenge and Easter Island will delight in bizarre stacks with names such as Cap Rock (for the single flat rock perched atop a haphazard pile) and Skull Rock (where the elements have worn an almost-human countenance into a boulder arrangement). But human hands had nothing to do with nature's sculptural artistry here; these fantastic formations are made of quartz monzogranite, once a molten liquid forced upward that cooled before reaching the surface. Tectonic stresses fractured the rocks, and as floods eventually washed away the ground cover and exposed the monzonite, natural erosion wore away the weakened sections, creating the bizarre shapes and piles you see today. Climbers of every skill level travel here from around the world, drawn by the otherworldly splendor of rock piles worn smooth by the elements.
Hidden Valley is another good place to watch enthusiasts from as far away as Europe and Japan scaling sheer rock faces with impossible grace.