Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park, named for the spiky-flowered, uniquely shaped cacti that are found here, sits about 200 miles east of LA and offers visitors a stark, desert beauty to contemplate and explore. Visitors to the park may enjoy it in many different ways--from merely driving in and looking at the rock formations, to actively hiking trails that range in difficulty from kid-friendly to strenuously challenging.

A popular hike is Cholla Cactus Garden, one of 11 interpretive trails in the middle of the park where visitors stroll through clusters of the cuddly looking Teddy Bear cactus known as cholla. Barker Dam takes hikers on an easy one-mile loop around a lake surrounded by the Wonderland of Rocks where, if you look carefully, you'll see Native American petroglyphs carved into the base of cliffs. A little more challenging course is the Lost Horse Mine Trail with a route that takes you to the ruins of a gold mine.

For those ready for an arduous but rewarding climb, the two to three hour round trip hike on the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail leads you along a steep, cactus-fringed ridge at the top of which is a paradise of palm-shaded pools of green water, birds, and other indigenous wildlife.

URL: http://www.nps.gov/jotr