Joshua Tree with tweens

January 13, 2022 7:19 AM

Headed to Palm Springs and would like to drive to Joshua Tree tomorrow. I have a wife and two tweens in tow. Any suggestions on hike or drives we should take while we are out there. Any pro tips? We have the entire day.
posted by jasondigitized to Travel & Transportation around Palm Springs, CA (9 answers total)

Skull Rock Trail. If memory serves it was fairly short, but there were some opportunities for some cool scrambling on and near the trail.
posted by po822000 at 7:26 AM on January 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

Arch Rock Trail (although when I was there at the beginning of the December, it was pretty busy.)

Also, if you stop in the town, take a couple minutes for the World Famous Crochet Museum. (Literally a couple minutes - it's the size of a bathroom.)
posted by pixiecrinkle at 7:31 AM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Sam's Indian Food and Pizza - the pizzas are also Indian food, it's all very good. They also had good-looking sub sandwiches if anyone in the family is not into Indian food.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:14 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

I like the dam hike--it's short and the scenery is good, and it's cool to see water. When you get to the sign for the petroglyphs, take the brief side hike. The sign is SUPER vague but the petroglyphs are mere steps away.
posted by mollymayhem at 8:52 AM on January 13, 2022

Mastodon Peak is my favorite low-intensity hike in Joshua Tree. It's a gorgeous walk with lots of plant life, and if you want to scramble up the peak you can get views out to the Salton Sea on a clear day. It's three-ish miles. Cholla Cactus Garden, also near the southern entrance, is SO COOL. There's nothing else like it.

If you do the loop (come in the N or W entrance and exit out the S), sandwiches at TKB in Indio are right off the 10 and delicious. At one point it was the #1 restaurant in the country on Yelp, which is more funny than accurate, but they are good sandwiches.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 9:47 AM on January 13, 2022

So for me the Joshua Tree hiking is not the highlight, it's the bouldering. There are a thousand cool rock piles that you can race to the top of near Skull Rock, pull off anywhere you like. Just beware, the sedimentary rock is very rough, don't wear any clothes that you care about. Also, I'm not convinced that the drive through the park is prettier than the highways that go north and south of it. Kind of a long, dusty, road.
posted by wnissen at 11:05 AM on January 13, 2022

Go check out the outdoor Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum.
posted by quince at 1:34 PM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Hidden Valley trail loop is beautiful and only about a mile, and there can be shady spots depending on time of day. I did it with a pair of tweens a few years ago, and everyone had fun. Also, the view from Keys View is REALLY spectacular (the Salton Sea, the entire Coachella Valley, Mt. San Jacinto, and beyond), and it’s just a short walk from the parking lot.
posted by mubba at 6:36 AM on January 14, 2022

Skull rock is great for just getting out of the car and climbing on things - easy in, easy out, my tween loves it but then again she just loves scrambling. Also the hidden valley trail is entertaining enough for them and my personal favorite since it's got a very unique ecology and story.
posted by escher at 9:08 AM on January 14, 2022