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California Day 3: Joshua Tree and Points South

22 December 2024 • 387 km / 241 mi (map)

  • Added to Eric Scouten :: Travel on 29 December 2024
  • California 38

This morning, I woke up early again to view more of Joshua Tree National Park. This time, I took the turn to Pinto Basin Road toward the Cottonwood Springs area and exited the park to the south toward Salton Sea.

There were (you’re shocked, I know) more rock formations along this route.

Large rounded granite boulders with smooth, weathered surfaces dominate the foreground of a desert landscape under an overcast gray sky. In the distance, scrubby desert vegetation and low hills stretch toward the horizon at Joshua Tree National Park.
Joshua Tree National Park, California
Large weathered granite boulders with mottled tan and gray surfaces rise above a sandy desert floor in Joshua Tree National Park. In the foreground, dry brush and a sparse, leafless shrub grow from the pale sandy ground.
Joshua Tree National Park, California
A close-up of weathered, mottled gray and tan granite boulders with a diagonal crack, with tufts of dry golden grass growing along the base where the rock meets sandy desert ground.
Joshua Tree National Park, California
Large weathered granite boulders pile up in the desert at Joshua Tree National Park, with a dry, gray-brown scrubby bush nestled in a gap between a rounded boulder and a cracked rock face, all under a pale overcast sky.
Joshua Tree National Park, California

The famous Cholla Cactus Garden trail was closed for trail restoration, but some of the “garden” was accessible from the main road. They look so fuzzy and inviting, but I am told they are anything but soft and fuzzy. (I decided not to test that theory.)

A tall cholla cactus with fuzzy golden spines on its upper branches and a darker, weathered brown trunk, standing in a sandy desert clearing under a partly cloudy blue sky. More cholla cacti and a dry green shrub are scattered across the flat, gravelly terrain in the background.
Cholla Cactus Garden, Joshua Tree National Park, California
A dense stand of golden, fuzzy-looking cholla cacti spread across sandy desert ground, with a long ridge of barren mountains and an overcast gray sky behind them at Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park.
Cholla Cactus Garden, Joshua Tree National Park, California
A large cholla cactus with dense, golden-yellow spines glowing in the light, its lower trunk fading to a brown, weathered base, set in a desert garden with more cholla cacti, sandy ground, and low brown mountains under an overcast sky.
Cholla Cactus Garden, Joshua Tree National Park, California
A wide panoramic view of a flat desert landscape in Joshua Tree National Park dotted with low scrub brush, with an empty two-lane road stretching toward distant brown mountains under an overcast gray sky.
Joshua Tree National Park, California
A desert landscape in Joshua Tree National Park under a wide sky streaked with wispy cirrus clouds, featuring a rocky boulder-strewn mountain ridge in the background and dry scrub brush, a cholla cactus, and a yucca scattered across sandy ground in the foreground.
Joshua Tree National Park, California

I took a brief hike at the Cottonwood Spring area, which offered a small bit of oasis from the dry scrub of the surrounding desert.

A desert oasis at Cottonwood Spring in Joshua Tree National Park, where a cluster of fan palms with shaggy skirts of dead fronds rises above green brush, set against a rocky, scrub-covered hillside under a dramatic blue sky streaked with wispy white clouds.
Cottonwood Spring, Joshua Tree National Park, California
A cluster of fan palms with shaggy brown skirts of dead fronds rises from a desert oasis at Cottonwood Spring in Joshua Tree National Park, surrounded by dry brush, a sandy slope, and rocky outcrops under a partly cloudy sky.
Cottonwood Spring, Joshua Tree National Park, California
A tan brick entrance monument with a wooden sign reading “Entering Joshua Tree National Park, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service,” alongside the brown arrowhead National Park Service emblem, set against desert scrubland, distant mountains, and a blue sky with scattered clouds.
Joshua Tree National Park, California

After departing the park, I drove along Box Canyon Road toward the north shore of Salton Sea.

A wide desert landscape of eroded sandy-tan badland hills and rocky terrain dotted with green smoke trees and scrubby brush, beneath a dramatic blue sky filled with broad bands of white clouds.
Box Canyon Road, north of North Shore, California
A two-lane desert road with double yellow center lines curves through a barren landscape, with a lone scraggly tree and scattered low shrubs beside it. Eroded tan and gray rocky hills flank both sides under a dramatic sky of broken clouds.
Box Canyon Road, north of North Shore, California
A pale, eroded desert mountain ridge with rugged, furrowed gray rock rises against a blue sky scattered with white clouds. In the foreground a flat, sandy gravel wash is dotted with sparse green desert shrubs.
Box Canyon Road, north of North Shore, California
A desert landscape with a green creosote bush growing in sandy gravel in the foreground, backed by pale, eroded badland ridges and rocky hills. Above stretches a bright blue sky filled with scattered white clouds.
Box Canyon Road, north of North Shore, California

I spent almost five hours below sea level today, bottoming out at -66 m / -216 ft. And yet still breathing air.

So very odd …

A few scenes from the north shore of Salton Sea: (The south / west shore wasn’t exactly photogenic 🥲.)

A flat, dry desert shoreline of sparse scrubby vegetation and pale cracked earth stretches toward the hazy water of the Salton Sea, with a low range of bluish mountains across the horizon under a vast sky filled with broken white and gray clouds.
Salton Sea, southeast of North Shore, California
A single rusted railroad track running across a gray gravel rail bed through flat desert scrubland near the Salton Sea, with sparse dry brush, low brown mountains on the horizon, and a wide partly cloudy sky overhead.
Salton Sea, southeast of North Shore, California

I’ll be in Palm Springs for a day or two (mostly working, so don’t expect much for photos) and then heading home.

Joshua Tree to Palm Springs, California · 387 km / 241 mi
(Mouse over or tap on the markers to see the photos there. Use the button to adjust the map’s position and zoom.)

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