Best trails to see Joshua Tree’s wildflowers

Pinto Mountain rises over a superbloom at Porcupine Wash.

We often think of deserts as places of great desolation. The truth is plants abound there, and during spring after a wet winter or a good rainfall, millions of blooming wildflowers prove the point.

Unfortunately, the time to see wildflower blooms in the park is limited, with a couple of weeks sometime in March or April the narrow window. Check the national park’s website for bloom updates.

Should you see a great flower bloom on the drive to or from the trailhead, don’t walk into the flower bed, as doing so damages the fragile desert environment while increasing your chances of encountering a rattlesnake, which like to hide amid the blossoms.

Among the best trails to see wildflower booms at the park are:
• Bajada Trail – The 0.25 mile loop heads over a bajada – a slope of alluvial material at the foot of a mountain – with a variety of Colorado Desert plants growing upon it. The trail is located south of Cottonwood Visitor Center off of Pinto Basin Road near the park’s southern entry.
• Barker Dam Trail – Wildflowers along the 1.5-mile round trip include yellow fiddleneck, white woolly bluestar, red mistletoe berries, and beavertail cactus. The trailhead is off of Barker Dam Road, which branches from Park Boulevard.
• Boy Scout Trail (southern trailhead) – Another fantastic bloom to see in mid-April is the giant white blossoms of the Joshua tree. Each bloom is about the size of a pineapple and grows off the Joshua tree’s arms. Between a half-dozen to 18 blossoms can be found on various Joshua trees. Pick up the trailhead on Park Boulevard.
• Cap Rock Trail – The 0.4-mile loop heads past desert wildflowers rising beneath Joshua trees as circling the fascinating Cap Rock formation. The Cap Rock parking area is at the junction of Park Boulevard and Keys View Road.
• 49 Palms Oasis Trail – Each spring, the ridge this 3-mile out and back trails hikes up and over lights up with the red-orange blooms of the barrel cactus. Access the trail from Fortynine Palms Canyon Road off of Calif. Hwy. 62.
• Indian Cove Nature Trail – Flowering yucca and various small wildflowers can be seen on this short, 0.6-miles kid-friendly trail. The trailhead is off of Indian Cove Road West, which can be accessed from Hwy. 62.
• Lost Horse Mine Trail – A 4-mile round trip segment of this trail passes some of those wildflowers on its way to an abandoned mine. Usually in mid-April a field of yellow flowers appears in Lost Horse Valley below; the flowers include golden linanthus, Wallace’s woolly daisy, and bristly fiddlenecks. The trailhead is off of Lost Horse Mine Road, which branches off Keys View Road.
• Maze Loop – Though best known most for its granite jumbles, hikers also can see fields of Mojave Desert wildflowers, cactus gardens, and Joshua trees on this 6.5-miles route. The trailhead is off of Park Boulevard.
• South Park Peak Trail – Look for the lavender-petaled Mojave Aster on this O.6-mile loop, which heads up to a peak overlooking Yucca Valley with great views of Mt. San Gorgonio and San Jacinto Peak. Technically not in the national park, it is accessed via the park’s Black Rock Canyon Campground.
• Split Rock Loop – Most people hike this 2.5-mile loop to explore the Jumbo Rocks, but in spring the wildflowers steal the show. Among them are California indigo bush, cushion foxtail cactus, desert mariposa lily, desert paintbrush, false woolly daisy, Mojave sandwort, turpentine broom, and Wright’s buckwheat. The trail starts at the Split Rock picnic area near Park Boulevard.
• Willow Hole Trail – Spring wildflowers usually are abundant on this 6.8-mile round trip trail that heads through a Joshua tree forest and alongside the Wonderland of Rocks. The trailhead is the Boy Scout Trail’s southern end off of Park Boulevard.

Joshua Tree trail runs to Old West gold mine

Lost Horse Mine at Joshua Tree National Park.

Lost Horse Mine Trail topo map. Click for larger version.

The following article was originally written for and published by the Uken Report.

Stark, rock-strewn mountains rise all across California’s deserts thanks to the Pacific and North American tectonic plates colliding. A good place to explore those peaks is on the Lost Horse Mine Trail.

A 2-mile (4-miles round trip) segment of the trail heads to the base of one desert summit – Lost Horse Mountain, which rises nearly a mile above sea level to 5,278 feet.

To reach the trailhead, from Interstate 10 in the Coachella Valley take Calif. Hwy. 62 north through Morongo Valley. In Joshua Tree, turn right/south onto Park Boulevard (aka Quail Springs Road) into the national park. Just before Cap Rock, go right/south onto Keys View Road. Next, turn left/southeast onto Lost Mine Road, which quickly becomes gravel. A parking lot is at the road’s end, and the trail heads out from the lot’s southeast corner.

Little San Bernardino Mountains
The route immediately enters a low-lying arm of the Little San Bernardino Mountains. A stout range, the Little San Bernardinos run about 40 miles along the Coachella Valley’s northeast side. The mountains mark the transition zone between the valley’s Colorado Desert environment and the Mojave Desert that sits above the coastal basin.

About 2 million years ago, the Little San Bernardinos began to rise, thanks to action along the San Andreas Fault where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates slip against one another. Just about every time there’s an earthquake in the Coachella Valley, the Little San Bernadinos grow a bit taller.

The rocks making up the mountains are mainly granitic and metamorphic and are hundreds of millions of years old. Granitic rock forms when magma solidifies underground; the coarse rock usually contains a large amount of quartz. Metamorphic rock also forms underground but when heat and pressure alters the chemical composition of other rocks, such as sandstone or shale.

Joshua trees and yucca line much of the boulder-strewn trailsides. You’ll gain about 500 feet of elevation on a gradual uphill grade.

Lost Horse Mine
About 1.8 miles in, a spur off the trail heads to Lost Horse Mine. The rusted remnants of its stamp mill mark the mine’s entry. A chain-linked fence prevents hikers from walking amid the mill and entering the mine, however.

For two decades beginning in 1884, miners pulled gold and silver from the mountainside. About 16,000 ounces of silver and 10,000 ounces of gold were extracted. That may not seem like much, but in today’s dollars it’s nearly $5 million of gold.

The trail and mine got its name because one of the mine’s original owners had lost his horse while camping in the area. That’s when he met a man who told him about finding the gold and sold him his claim to it for $1000.

The Lost Horse Mine Trail actually is a loop through the mountains and from the spur heads south. Rather than take that long circle route, which adds 2.9 miles to your hike, instead retrace your steps to the parking lot.

The entire route is exposed to the sun, so be sure to don sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat as well as bring plenty of water.

Check out these quiet Joshua Tree NP trails

Snow-capped San Gorgonio Mountain - Southern California's highest point -
rises in the distance, as seen from Keys View in Joshua Tree National Park.

Sometimes the best trails in a park are the ones few people know about. Those hikes don’t always attract crowds because of their length, remoteness or the feature there isn’t usually associated with the park.

Such is the case with three trails at Joshua Tree National Park:
• California Riding and Hiking Trail – Though the trail runs 35 miles through the park, hikers can enjoy it in several short segments. One interesting section is a 1.25-mile stretch (2.5-miles round trip) heading from south/east from Ryan Campground through a canyon in an arm of the Little San Bernardino Mountains.
• Crown Prince Lookout Trail – During World War II, the military maintained an observation post for airplanes atop a granite formation. While the route is not maintained, the jeep trail that once led to the warning station still is visible. The 3.25-mile round trip hike leaves from Park Boulevard about a quarter mile west of the Jumbo Rocks Day Use parking lot and crosses a desert plateau en route to the outlook.
• Keys View Trail – The 0.25-miles paved loop path is short and steep but offers what probably are the park’s most breathtaking views – the Coachella Valley, San Jacinto Peak, San Gorgonio Mountain, and the Salton Sea all can be seen from here. The trailhead is at the end of Keys View Road, which runs south from Park Boulevard.