Palm Springs & Joshua Tree National Park (Southern California – Part 1 of 3)

Wow, I cannot believe it has been over a month since I wrote a blog post! Between work, life responsibilities, this trip, getting back to reality after being on vacation and preparing for the holidays… time definitely escaped me!

Our trip to California consisted of two parts – we spent 3 days in Disneyland (in Anaheim) and then a little over 2 days in Palm Springs. This post will focus on some of my favourite moments from Palm Springs and the surrounding area ツ.

Joshua Tree National Park

At the top of our to-do list while in the Palm Springs area was to visit Joshua Tree National Park.

I will start by stating the obvious – the Park is massive, and you probably need several days to truly explore the various exhibits and trails. However, we only had a few hours so we tried to make the most of it!

One thing that made exploring the Park a bit challenging was the fact that there is very little cell service in the area, which meant that we had to be prepared and download any trails we were interested in exploring on AllTrails in advance. The visitor centre does provide a map that identifies the popular exhibits; however, it does not include all the various hiking trails from which you can choose. The Park also marks exhibits with signage, making it easy for visitors to pull over while driving along the main road.

The first trail we completed was Skull Rock. While you have the option to drive directly up to Skull Rock and pull over for photos, we decided to take a short trail that loops through both Skull Rock and the Jumbo Rocks. This was definitely the scenic route and really allowed us to take in the amazing rock formations in the area.

Our second stop in Joshua Tree National Park was the Cholla Cactus Garden. The Park is actually made up of two major deserts – Mojave and Colorado – and it was during our drive from Skull Rock to the Cholla Cactus Garden (which was around 20 minutes) where we really noticed the shift in terrain – Joshua Trees were far and few between, less rock formations, and everything became really flat.

The Cholla Cactus Garden was huge – there were so many cacti! I found it interesting how they were “two-toned” – green on top, and brown/black on the bottom.

One quick PSA though – the first sign upon entry into the Garden asks visitors not to touch the cacti, yet I saw many people touching them anyway. If you are planning a visit in the future, please don’t be that person – we can all admire the cacti from afar ツ.

Our next stop, which was actually before the Cholla Cactus Garden (we passed it on the way) was the Silver Bell Mine trail. This was another relatively short and simple hike that goes up a small mountain to the abandoned mine ruins. Right past the mine ruins were also some very nice views of the valley, and you could also see another mine from a distance.

This trail was rather quiet – we only ran into two other people while getting to the end. We stopped to talk to this couple for a few minutes, and they definitely did a good job of reminding me that we might encounter mountain lions, desert big-horn sheep, black widows, scorpions and rattle snakes on the way – I was not worried at all (hopefully you can sense my sarcasm).

For our final stop in Joshua Tree National Park, we pulled over at one of the exhibits to admire the Joshua Trees, themselves. I would definitely recommend using the West Entrance to the park, if this is an option for you, as this is where you will see the most Joshua Trees.

While we were competing with daylight at this point in our visit, the sunset definitely provided some great light for my photos, especially my cover photo for this post!

As I said near the start, there is so much to explore at Joshua Tree National Park – and you really need to have your plan ready in advance – that it is not possible to do everything in one visit. We hope to be back one day soon!

Palm Springs

While we did not have a lot of time in Palm Springs (I feel like I say this about every place we visit), I wanted to give you a quick summary of the hike we completed, along with some of the food/drink establishments we checked out!

The hike we did was called the Museum Trail. While this trail was not very long (it took us maybe 30 minutes to get to the top), there was an incline the entire way up, which made it a bit challenging on the way down – a lot of loose rocks and big steps.

Once you reach the top of the Museum Trail, you are rewarded with beautiful views of Palm Springs, as well as views of the iconic windmills that power the Coachella Valley. There is also a chin-up bar and some free weights at the end – I guess the locals must use this hike as a way to workout ツ.

If you can handle a bit of an incline, and your knees can handle going down hill (this also serves as a reminder to myself to invest in walking poles), definitely make sure to check out this trail when you visit Palm Springs.

In terms of food and drink establishments, here is where we went and what we had:

• Luchador Brewing Company – this Mexican-themed Brewery was a fun stop! I tried one of the mocha stouts, and Justin had a flight. There is also a food truck inside!
• Nature’s Health Food & Cafe – this was definitely our go-to while in Palm Springs. This restaurant is fully vegetarian/vegan, and has so many delicious sandwiches, wraps, smoothies and baked goods. It is also connected to a market that sells packaged food and supplements.
• Sammy G’s – we went to Sammy G’s for our final dinner/night of the trip. We had the Cauliflower Ceviche Bruschetta as an appetizer and the Italian Sausage Pizza for our main (both plant-based, of course). Everything was delicious and we really enjoyed our experience and the excellent service at this restaurant!

Other than a short hike and trying the local cuisine, we visited the Sunnylands Botanical Garden and explored the shops downtown to find some souvenirs. Other than some t-shirts and coffee that we picked up as gifts, my favourite find was a pair of Labradoodle socks – the print looked just like my Bella, so I had to have them ツ!

Well, with 2022 coming to an end, this was our last trip of the year – but I have several blog posts I still need to get caught up on. I am incredibly excited for the adventures that 2023 will bring and I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my posts this year.

Always grateful,

Michelle