A Joshua Tree National Park Traverse: Trekking a Multi-Day Loop around the Mojave Desert

March 1, 2021

Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California is the home to two desert ecosystems: the lower altitude Colorado and the upper elevation Mojave. We have been coming to Joshua Tree long before it transitioned from a national monument to a national park in 1994. It was also the first stop on our four-month journey to 27 national parks in 2017.

As 2021 dawned, we became cautiously optimistic about extended outdoor trekking opportunities this summer. We were anxious to get outside for a few days and gauge our fitness, as well as the condition of my recovering foot. We considered trekking another section of the Arizona Trail but hesitated traveling several hundred miles away from home before getting vaccinated.

Instead, we decided to focus on our own backyard in Joshua Tree National Park. Only a one-hour drive from our Palm Desert, California home, it is a convenient and safe destination for us. There are over 30 named trails and 191 miles of paths in the park. We have completed one-night backpacking trips in Joshua Tree several times, but never longer than that because of water constraints.

Our challenge was to plan a multiple-day trekking loop to start and end at our car. And since there are no public water sources on the trails, we needed to devise a water caching strategy, similar to what we did last October on the Arizona Trail. 

After some research, we created what we called a “traverse” around the northwest Mojave Desert portion of the park. Our custom 62-mile loop linked together trails, dirt roads, and two overland sections. Some trails we had previously hiked, but many of the miles would be totally new to us.

Of the park’s 800,000 acres, 85% of the land is designated as wilderness. That meant that we could camp anywhere in those areas, as long as we were more than a mile from a road and at least 500 feet off the trail. And we designated five water drops, located at roughly 10 to 15-mile intervals, to keep us properly hydrated along the way.

Map of our custom route – click an icon to see a photo

The only question left was when to hike. We wanted to hit the sweet spot of cool daytime and warmer (above-freezing) nighttime temperatures. At our planned elevation, ranging from 3,800 to 5,200 feet, it can snow, so we made sure precipitation was not in the forecast. Finally, Joshua Tree National Park is perpetually windy, so we wanted to minimize that as well. The best window was the last week in February, so we packed up our gear for a Monday start.

Caching Water and Getting our Permit

On the Friday before our trek, we drove to the park to walk about 3.5 miles down a trail to cache two gallons of water. It was a quick hike to our coordinates. Once there, Darren spied a scrub oak behind a lone Joshua tree. We wanted to keep the bottles out of view, as well as away from any ravens (they are known to peck through the plastic containers to get to the water). With the gallons placed and location marked on our phones, we headed back to the car.

Three days later, on Monday morning, we drove to the park to drop off our other four water caches by car. We took our time to hide the gallons out of view and to carefully note each location on our phones. After lunch at a picnic area, we drove the car to the Boy Scout Trailhead to begin our trek.

There are 13 backcountry parking areas to leave a car. We filled out a free walk-up permit and then set off at about 12:30 pm.

A Short but Diverse First Day

For our first day, we planned only about 5.5 miles of hiking, carrying 3 liters of water each to take us to our first water cache the next morning. The Boy Scout Trail is a popular day hiking path, so we came across several people during the first couple of miles. We put on our masks and stepped off the wide trail to let people pass us. Soon we were by ourselves as we climbed gently up the path with Joshua trees around us.

Joshuas are not really trees per se but actually a yucca species. They can grow to over 40 feet tall and typically bloom during the early spring. But since it has been a dry winter, we were not treated to the clusters of cream-colored flowers that we had seen in other years.

While hiking we passed Mojave yuccas, scrub oaks, junipers, and pinyon pines. After about 4 miles we turned west to join the Big Pine Trail.

In addition to more passing more trees, we hiked along some rocks to the right of us featuring red cactus. Even with carrying four days of food and 6.6 pounds of water each, we made good time and arrived at our campsite area after about two hours of hiking.

We had chosen the campsite location because it was in the wilderness zone and the area appeared flat on our topo map. Looking to the right of the path, we could see a rock formation a little more than 500 feet away from us. It seemed like a good spot to camp, so we ventured off-trail to that location. 

It was only about 3:00 pm, and we would have liked to continue a little further, but the trail was going to be climbing along a ridge before exiting the wilderness area. So we decided to set up our tent where we were and relax for a couple of hours before cooking dinner. It was sunny and in the high 60s° F, with no wind, making it pleasant to sit and read on a rock in the sun.

After eating dinner, we watched the sunset and got into the tent a little after 6:00 pm. We did some more reading before going to sleep at about 4,200 feet.

Grand Vistas and Elevation Gains

Day two was our longest planned distance and greatest elevation gain and loss of the trek. Our water cache was about 4 miles away, so we decided to wait and eat breakfast there. That allowed us to begin hiking a little after 7:00 am.

We almost immediately transitioned to the North View Trail, which wound through some steep rock formations, gaining about 450 feet in 3.5 miles. As we hiked, we occasionally had views of the desert floor north of the park.

At the end of the path, we intersected with the Maze Loop, one of our favorite trails in the park. We turned on to it for about 0.5 miles before crossing the main park road to join the Bigfoot Trail. At a rock formation a short distance from the road, we found our two gallons of water intact. Here, we took a long break to fill our water bottles, crush the empty gallon containers to carry with us and eat our breakfast. 

Starting up again, we continued on the Bigfoot Trail. This would be the second-longest path we would hike, totaling about 9 miles with 1,650 feet of elevation gain. We had previously hiked a short distance of this trail, but most of it would be new to us. As we trekked down a wash, we came across three other hikers. They were the only people we saw the entire day.

The wash opened up to a large valley, and we began a long climb. As we hiked, we felt all alone in this vast area. It was still relatively cool, but there was absolutely no shade and the sun felt strong. We were glad to have plenty of water to drink since our next cache was located just a few miles away at the end of the trail.

During our climb, we came to some steep switchbacks up the side of a mountain. At the top, we looked back at where we had come. The view was totally pristine with no wires, dirt roads, or any signs of civilization. Such a vista made the difficult ascent worthwhile.

After a lunch break, we continued downhill, crossing a dirt road in the Covington Flats area. Another short climb took us to a saddle. Our cache was now less than a mile away, so we hurried to the oak where we had hidden water the previous Friday. I was relieved to see that the gallons were still there and untouched. This water would last us through the night and until lunch the next day after about 15 more miles of hiking. 

After picking up the cache, we left Bigfoot and turned on to the California Riding and Hiking Trail (CRHT), the park’s longest path and premier backpacking trail. A 37.5-mile point-to-point path, it is a popular multi-day trek. We would hike the next 26.5 miles on this trail and spend two nights here in the process.

We still had 4.7 more miles and 750 feet of additional elevation gain until we would be in a flat wilderness area with potential campsites. The climb was more gradual, and we kept up a steady pace to arrive at our destination before it started to get dark.

At about 5:00 pm we crossed into the wilderness area and began looking for spots. For this trek, we used Gaia GPS to create and navigate our custom loop. We opted for the annual subscription, which provided us with a national park map layer while showing our current location. It was especially helpful in ensuring that we were camping in the proper wilderness areas.

A clearing beckoned to the right of us at about 4,900 feet, so we headed off-trail and found a suitable location. There was even a log to cook on a short distance away. I set up the tent and the bedding while Darren made our dehydrated meal. It was just getting dark as we cleaned up, and we made our way into the tent to relax.

Clear Views and Gusty Winds

After our 18.1 mile stage, we had 15.5 miles planned the next day. It was crystal clear, and we noticed that we could see both Mount San Jacinto (10,834 feet) and Mount San Gorgonio (11,503 feet), the two tallest mountains in Southern California, from our campsite.

Starting up at a little before 8:00 am, we climbed up gradually to a ridge. Here, we were at the highest elevations of our trek at a little over 5,000 feet. From our vantage point, we could see the Salton Sea in the distance.

The trail went sharply down the ridge to a valley known as Juniper Flats. We had backpacked here several years ago, and it is another beautiful area of the park. Unfortunately, because of the lack of rain this winter, the bushes were brown and dry around the Joshua trees. But the clear day provided great views of the northern park as we hiked. 

Except for a steep 1.5-mile climb, the path was relatively flat, so we made good time. At the 11-mile point at our stage, we reached our next cache and stopped for lunch. It was a little before 1:00 pm, and we had a little more than 4 miles to go to our potential camping area. There had been some wind in the forecast, and, almost right on schedule, it began to blow in the late morning.

We knew that the terrain we were entering had fewer trees and rocks, so we would have more exposure to the elements. And I was not sure how protected the camping area I had flagged would be. I had found a hiking website listing a better campsite further down the trail (near a rock formation). But if we wanted to continue to that area, it would be 3.5 miles further than my option.

Because the elevation gain was minimal, we felt confident we could shoot for a longer distance. After making a quick stop at a developed campground adjacent to the trail to empty our trash and crushed gallon bottles, we hit the CRHT again in earnest. 

After a short climb to a saddle between Ryan Mountain and Lost Horse Mine, we marveled at the change in scenery to black volcanic rocks around us.

As we came down the other side of the saddle, the wind intensified. Fortunately, it was at our backs, so it didn’t bother us too much. We continued to hike quickly on the slightly downhill trail. After crossing the dirt Geology Tour Road, I noted the time: a little after 4:00 pm.

After about 30 minutes, I checked my phone map to verify that we had crossed into the wilderness area and were more than a mile from the road. Ahead of us was the anticipated rock formation – the only one around. Hopefully, we would be able to find a suitable place to camp out of the wind. 

Using my phone, I switched into a topo map layer to calibrate our location to the rock formation and the coordinates I had marked designating the possible campsite.

Soon after, we left the trail and crossed overland toward the rocks. It was too windy at the suggested location, so Darren left me to climb around to find the best spot. After a few minutes, he motioned me down some rocks to an area that was just wide enough to set up our tent.

We were out of the wind, so we could cook and eat outside without any issues. The only downside was that we could not stake down our tent in one corner because of the limited space. Instead, we took 3 liters of water and weighed down the corner from the inside.

After eating and watching the sunset, we got into the tent and settled down for the night after completing 19.1 miles for the day. The wind continued, but our tent buffered us from the gusts. Eventually, we drifted off to sleep.

A Harrowing Night of Wind and a Morning of Overland Trekking

At about midnight we were both woken up by gusty winds pounding the tent wall next to our faces. The wind had changed direction, and it was now hitting the tent side that was not staked down. The gusts began compromising the tent, and it was on the verge of collapse. Darren quickly went outside to strengthen the ropes and reinforce them with rocks. In the meantime, I put more inside weight on the unstaked corner.

The tent held for a while, but then the walls started to bow again as the gusts became stronger. Another outdoor trip and more weight seemed to help. When Darren came back inside again, we discussed contingencies. We had three headlamps and a full moon in the sky in case we needed to start hiking in the dark. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, and the tent held for the rest of the night. But even with earplugs, it was hard to sleep with all the wind.

It was still gusting when the sun rose, and we broke camp. We had about 20 miles left to complete our loop. It was cold, with a temperature of 46°F and 20 mile-per-hour wind, making the air feel like 39°F. We started down the trail in jackets with our sun cap and capes covering our faces. 

There was only a little less than 3 miles to go to our next cache. After stopping there to drink and fill up our bottles, we left the California Riding and Hiking Trail. To connect to the next path, we needed to travel off-trail about 2 miles overland through the desert to a picnic area. I had found a GPS recording of a hiker from the Alltrails website involving a little rock climbing, but nothing that looked too crazy. So we set off down a wash in a northwest direction with our faces right into the wind.

We soon realized that the hiker’s recorded path took us through a series of washes. This meant we needed to make some rocky climbs down into and out of each one of them. At least the wind was much less fierce when we were in the washes. 

It was slow-going to make our way through each wash, so Darren decided to use his phone topo map to navigate toward landmarks near the picnic area. There were still a few steep rocky climbs, but we could better control our route.

After about an hour, we exited the rocks and washes and came to a flatter area. Relieved, we sped up our pace. But as we were getting close to the picnic area, we realized that there was one more deep wash to navigate. Darren left for a few minutes to determine the best way to climb down the rocks and then up the other side.

As we entered the wash, we could see an old “tank,” built by the ranchers who grazed cattle in the area from 1870 to 1945. Once a spring was located, wells were dug and the tanks functioned as rainwater reservoirs. One of the most famous structures in the park is at Barker Dam.

After the last climb and a break at a picnic area, we headed across the main park road to the Split Rock Loop. There were many day hikers, so we donned our masks again.

We hiked about half of the loop and then turned down an unnamed wash to follow another overland Alltrails GPS recording. It was much more straightforward than the earlier rocky section we had covered. We walked a short distance, then exited the wide wash to a narrower one. After about 10 more minutes, we needed to climb straight up a hillside to a plateau. It was pretty gradual and the footing was fine, so it didn’t feel dangerous.

At the top, we came to a sign signifying a vista on the Lucky Boy Loop. We both breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that we were back on established trails and roads for the remainder of our trek.

To the left of us was Elton Mine, one of about 300 former mines that are in the park. We took a few minutes to explore it before taking a lunch break a short distance down the trail.

Cruising to the End of the Trek and Warm Surroundings

As we ate lunch in the brisk wind, we realized that it was only about 12:45 pm. Our campsite for the night was just a short distance away. It was the only place we could camp, as we would be hiking in day-use areas for the remainder of the trek.

We had covered about 8.5 miles (including the slow-going overland sections) and figured we had about 11 miles to go. Fortunately, the rest of the route had a negligible elevation gain. We figured we could shorten our remaining mileage to closer to 9 miles if we substituted paved road walking for dirt trails at the end. Since neither of us was crazy about spending another night in the wind, we decided to keep hiking, even if it meant that we might arrive at the car after dark.

So we started up again at about 1:15 pm. After hiking to the beginning of the Lucky Boy Loop in the headwind, we came to the dirt Desert Queen Mine Road. A short distance later we turned onto the one-way dirt Queen Valley Road for the next 4 miles. We needed to step aside for cars passing in our same direction several times, but we made good progress. 

At about 3:20 pm we reached the end of the dirt road. We had planned to hike about 5 more miles, consisting of two short trails and a dirt road, but opted to shorten it to just 3 miles using paved roads. In the process, we opted out of our final water cache, leaving it to be retrieved after we got to the car. 

The brisk wind continued to blow in our faces as we hiked faster on the paved roads. It began to get even colder in the late afternoon, but we just kept moving.

The last mile seemed to take forever, but we finally saw the road sign designating the Boy Scout Trailhead in the distance.

After a quick selfie at the trailhead, we got to our car at about 4:45 pm, well before sunset.

As we turned on the car, the outside air temperature registered at 46° F. It felt good to be warm inside and out of the constant wind blowing in our faces. After driving a short distance to retrieve our unused cache, we started home.

In the end, we still covered about 60 miles as we trekked in the northern Mojave Desert of Joshua Tree National Park. As we hiked, it was amazing to see all of the diversity that the desert has to offer, from cactus to oaks to pines to Joshua trees. Even though we had to contend with the wind, we were still happy with the weather that we had. My foot also felt good. And we encountered very few people along the way, making it a safe experience.

We created a short video to highlight our trek. Take a look.

Our successful trip gave us more confidence about the outdoor adventures that we have planned this summer. Stayed tuned for more updates on our plans.