First-Timer's Guide To Joshua Tree National Park

Above, camping at Cottowood Campground in Joshua Tree National Park in 2015. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Years ago, Joshua Tree National Park was known as Joshua Tree National Monument. It became a national park in 1994.

I had been there several times since I was a kid. My Boy Scout troop camped there back around 1966. I remember we camped in Jumbo Rocks Campground. We had a great time there climbing the huge rocks.

I last visited it in 2015 and camped at Cottonwood Campground.

Cleveland.com posted a first-timer's guide to Joshua Tree National Park. 

They begin it with:

JOSHUA TREE, California – The trees here get all the glory. But the rocks may be the coolest part of Joshua Tree National Park.

Don’t get me wrong – the trees are also special, with their Seuss-like branches and spiky leaves.

But you can’t climb the trees.

The rocks, on the other hand, are open for exploration.

Unlike some national parks, where visitors are discouraged from getting too close, explorers here are encouraged to hike, scramble, climb up, rappel down and otherwise fully experience the hundreds of igneous rock formations that dot the landscape.

To read more, go here.