We've been to Palm Desert several times and it's one of our favorite winter getaways! We finally fit in a day trip to Joshua Tree national park and it was so worth it!

We drove up to the west entrance to the park, which was about an hour and a half, and then worked our way through the park and out the south entrance near Cottonwood Springs which was just 30 minutes from Palm Desert.

The first stop in the park was at the ranger station to pick up activity books for the kids. They got to show them off at the end and get a cute ranger hat!

Our first hike was Hidden Valley Trail - it was a 1 mile loop, complete with Joshua trees, cacti and massive boulders that my kids had a blast climbing!! We found some leftover snow to play in from their rare winter storm and the boys had a snowball fight in the desert!

Next stop right down the road was Barker Dam. It was another short 1 mile loop and we had gorgeous views at the top of all if the Joshua trees in the valley and snow covered mountains in the distance. The boys climbed around and continued their snowball fights.

Next stop was a little ways into the park and was at Skull Rock. Once we saw the famous rock we spent a while climbing boulders and hiking around. The guys all climbed to the top of some really impressive rock piles 🙌

Our last stop in the park was at Cholla Cactus Garden. These are the “jumping cactus” and if you brush against them the needles will jump on you. They were super cool to see and we definitely didn't get too close.

This wrapped up a full day in the park for us. We left through the Cottonwood spring entrance and headed back to Palm desert to relax. I've heard the stars are amazing at night in the park if you stay in the area. We thought it was the perfect day trip from Palm Desert, but would have spent the night if we had driven up from further away.

I would love to hear what National Parks you’ve been too, or what else is on your bucket list!

xoxo

Liz