Blog 8:  Joshua Tree National Park

March 25-26, 2019

Rivers Edge RV Resort, Winterhaven, California to Indian Cove Campground, Joshua Tree National Park, 224 miles, to BLM dispersed campsite, 11 miles.

We hooked up the Airstream and drove to the parking lot across the border from Algodones. My brother had a dental appointment at 10 am to have his permanent bridge put in place. We were out by early afternoon, stood in the long line to exit Mexico and on our way to Joshua Tree National Park, 224 miles away.

On our way we drove through very diverse landscapes of desert, seemingly endless sandunes, a salt lake, the Salton Sea, that once was connected to the Sea of Cortez, between the Mexican mainland and the Baja Peninsula, agricultural land growing dates, nut trees and produce, and finally the Mojave desert, with barren mountains and valleys.

We did see joshua trees along the way before the national park. Actually some of the best stands and were in the city appropriately named Yucca Valley. Here the trees were in forest clusters and many of them were larger and healthier looking than those we saw within the national park.


The joshua tree is a species belonging to the genus yucca and can attain heights of 40 feet or more, with life spans of hundreds and even thousands of years. One doesn't have to go to the national park to see grand stands of this giant yucca, as you can find them in Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and other parts of California.

Since the Indian Cove Campground is in the national park, we were very lucky to get a spot on such short notice. Being so close to Los Angeles and being spring break month, finding a campsite here is very difficult. People will reserve them months in advance. We noticed that many were not occupied, but still reserved. Seems people book them so far in advance and then have a change in plans or just forgot they even reserved them. I would suggest you show up close to sunset and you will likely find a place. I would only do this if you are vehicle camping though, so you can leave without pulling up a tent if someone does show up that actually reserved the site and then just move to another empty site.

The Indian Cove Campground is dispersed among giant reddish boulders with a range of similarly colored mountains forming the southern border. Interestingly there are no joshua trees in site here. You have to go to the park's main northern entrance to see them. The park was way more crowded than I like, so it wouldn't have been my preferred choice of a destination. One of the main benefits to van or SUV travel is your choices of places you can stay for the night are not so limited as they are for those with travel trailers. One of my main reasons for travel is to escape crowds and find solitude. I'm a take the road less traveled kind of personality, but when I'm with my brother and sister I'm enjoying their company, the luxury of the Airstream, being in the present and still enjoying the wonders of nature no matter the numbers of humans present.

The next morning we hiked a trail in the camping area. Here we saw a wide variety of wild flowers and cactus.

After breakfast we drove around the park and saw all the main highlights and scenic overlooks. All the roads and parking areas were busier than I like though.

Must be the tallest Joshua tree!

Still the landscapes here are beautiful, like being in a Dr. Suess story, when surrounded by the out of this world Joshua trees.

Then we located a dispersed campsite on BLM, 11 miles away, via some internet research between the cities of Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree, near Sunfair. Free camping is my style especially when I'm on my own, but in the Airstream with a gasoline powered generator it's glam camping at its finest. The area was in a flat, grassy field, covered in wild flowers.

We had quite a few neighbors, but the field was so big everyone had plenty of space and privacy. The sunset here was spectacular as was the panoramic view surrounding us with mountains in the distance. We woke up the next day to a beautiful view of the snow covered San Gregornio Mountain at 11,503 feet in the San Bernadino National Forest, 35 miles to the west as the crow flies.

Soon we are on our way to our next destination somewhere to the north.

Iron art in a fenced area near our dispersed campsite.