Joshua Tree National Park – Road trip in the American West #15

Between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, we were recommended to pass through Joshua Tree National Park.

This article is part of our series of articles on the American West road trip. If you haven’t read the previous travel diaries, here they are: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14

Part 1: Travel Journal
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Journal

This little stop at Joshua Tree National Park lets us take a small part of Route 66, the famous one!

After several days of hopping from city to city, we really miss the national parks. We’ve heard about Joshua Tree National Park as something wonderful, but I admit I didn’t find it exceptional. The fatigue of our long road trip is starting to weigh on us.

First, the road between Los Angeles , and Joshua Tree National Park was so long and desert-like that I mostly slept. I didn’t even have the energy to take the wheel. Then, when we arrived (entering through the South entrance and exiting through the North entrance), we weren’t really in any state to hike or do anything.

I’m just sharing the park photos and the cactus garden (which seem to be in bloom). Despite the thorns, we really want to touch them, but apparently, you absolutely shouldn’t!! They’re full of poison. Dogs are also not allowed in the cactus garden Cholla Cactus Garden. They call it a “garden,” but it’s just an area with lots of cacti along the road.

There are rocks with peculiar shapes, arches you can visit with a short walk, but I didn’t feel like it, so we left pretty quickly.

I’m also including a photo of the famous “Joshua Tree”

If I had taken the time to research more, we could have made a quick stop at The Spa at Séc-he in Palm Springs to enjoy the thermal water, or stay at a hotel with a thermal pool at Desert Hot Springs. But no regrets, we’ll enjoy the Japanese onsens in Japan in a few months, at a lower cost.

To read our latest travel journal in the American West, click here

Part 2: Practical Tips

All our routes and points of interest are available on this Google Maps map. I’ve already explained how to use our custom maps here