Joshua Tree was a spectacular park, with two different desert ecosystems to explore, and amazing camp grounds that were only $15 a night. Since it was ‘off-season’, reservations were not required for most campgrounds, and we stayed at a few of them.
Each campground was amazing, were located at different elevations and offered a variety of amenities, but Jumbo Rocks was probably the favorite. While it was one of the more primitive sites (pit toilets, no water), it had hiking trails through the rocks right at our back door, the individual sites were situated in a way where you felt pretty secluded, and the night sky was absolutely incredible.
The elevation of a campground was handy on days that were warmer, because we knew we could have a cooler night if we stayed in one that was a higher elevation. We enjoyed evenings around our little campfire, and watching shadows dance across the rocks. One site had a little heart-shaped impression in the rock above our fire pit, which was cute.
The park itself was beyond beautiful, and there was something for everyone: rock climbing, hiking, biking, and photography, to name just a few diversions. Most of our time was spent taking pictures while we were on easy hikes.
We feel lucky to have been able to experience this park before it was damaged during the government shut down, when careless people came in a destroyed plants, tore up the terrain, and left piles of garbage everywhere. It is our hope that as time goes on, everyone who visits the park will take an extra moment to help the recovery by picking up and disposing of an extra piece of garbage or two.
Most of the campers we have met in our travels are like us, in that they like to leave the places they visit better than they were when they arrived, so the next visitor has a more pleasant experience. We tidy up our campsite when we check out, and try to collect garbage we see on trails, beaches, and campsites for proper disposal later. We’ve even helped clean up dumping stations after storms pass through. The point is, it only takes a few minutes to help. The more people who do this, the better our parks are for everyone.
Traveling Team Fischer 