What I love about living in California is the wide range of opportunities for weekend getaways. From my home in Orange County, I can visit the coast in Santa Barbara or San Diego, the mountains in Yosemite or Big Bear, the wine country in Temecula Valley or San Luis Obispo, and the desert in Death Valley or Joshua Tree. During this COVID-19 pandemic, I was really disappointed that I had to cancel my trips to Washington DC, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. To satisfy my travel bug, I decided to do a Joshua Tree National Park weekend getaway.
Joshua Tree National Park had been on my bucket list for the longest time. For some reason, I always ended up traveling abroad or another state. I’m thankful that this pandemic helped me beautiful gems in my home state. Joshua Tree is approximately 2 hours from Orange County. It is characterized by rugged rock formations, and desert landscapes and is known for thousands of Joshua trees.
Dome in the Desert
We spent 2 nights in Dome in the Desert, which is a geometric house that is in Joshua Tree town. It is approximately 10 minutes from the park. The Dome in the Desert provides a luxurious feeling of being in nature and is the perfect escape from city life. It has Bohemian vibes with 2 bedrooms that can sleep up to 4 people at a time and a bathroom. It also has perfect sunset views and a clear sky to see thousands of stars at night. We really enjoyed our stay here and would love to come back in the near future.
Cell phone service within the park is limited. We didnβt have any Verizon cell phone service in the park. Prior to the trip, we downloaded a Google offline map of Joshua Tree National Park to get around the park.
Things to do in Joshua Tree National Park
See below for a list of the top places that we visited during our trip to Joshua Tree National Park.
Hidden Valley Natural Trail
This is an easy one-mile loop featuring giant boulders and rock formations.
Skull Rock
The Skull Rock is right next to the main road and it’s hard to miss.
Split Rock
Starting out at the Split Rock Trail parking lot, you’ll see Split Rock, which might be the most visited boulder in the park.
Jumbo Rocks
There are many boulders and rock formations that can be found near campsite # 93 at Jumbo Rock Campground.
Penguin Rock and Juniper Tree
This penguin rock and juniper tree are located above campsite #18 at Jumbo Rock Campground. This is my favorite spot in the park.
Barker Dam
This is an easy 1.1 miles to see the small water-storage reservoir located in Joshua Tree National Park in California.
Keys View
The highest viewpoint and a perfect place to watch the sunset over the mountains.
Cholla Cactus Garden
The cholla cactus garden is a 10-acre garden filled with teddybear cholla cactus. This is an amazing place and it’s beautiful to see at sunrise. Β The sun gives the cactus needles and beautiful glow.
Overall, we had a wonderful weekend getaway at Joshua Tree! There are so many things to do here and we did not get to visit them all. We cannot wait to visit it again in the near future.
If you have been to Joshua Tree National Park before, what is your favorite spot in the park? Check out another cool Joshua Tree National Park Airbnb, read Joshua Tree Bubble Tent Weekend Getaway
It’s beautiful!