Joshua Tree National Park October 19, 2025

Euri and I went to Joshua Tree National Park when we were in Palm Springs for her birthday.

The park sits where two deserts meet. The lower, hotter Colorado Desert side has the Cholla Cactus Garden, a whole field of cactus that looks soft and fuzzy right up until you remember what cholla does to anyone who brushes against it. The higher Mojave side is where the Joshua trees grow, along with the piles of granite boulders that make the place look like a giant got bored with a sandbox.

If desert trails are your thing, I've also hiked Flatiron via Siphon Draw and Lookout Mountain in the Phoenix area.

The Entering Joshua Tree National Park sign on a block wall with the National Park Service arrowhead Jereme and Euri take a selfie in front of a hillside of granite boulders in Joshua Tree A field of cholla cactus at the Cholla Cactus Garden, with bare desert mountains behind A yucca with a tall dried flower stalk in front of stacked granite boulders under a blue sky Joshua trees scattered across a sandy desert slope behind a large granite boulder Looking up through a narrow gap between granite rock walls to a strip of blue sky Joshua trees and yucca in desert scrub with a ridge of piled granite boulders behind Jereme stands under a tall Joshua tree with boulder piles and mountains in the background Euri in a straw hat climbs among granite boulders above a desert plain dotted with Joshua trees Euri balances in a yoga dancer pose on top of a large granite boulder in Joshua Tree Jereme pretends to hold up a huge boulder wedged between two rock walls in Joshua Tree A large, many-branched Joshua tree in sandy desert under a clear blue sky Euri climbs up a slanted granite slab inside a narrow rock crevice in Joshua Tree

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