Joshua Tree & Twentynine Palms: The High Desert

Three hours northeast of San Diego, Joshua Tree National Park sits on the boundary between the Mojave and Sonoran deserts — the park's 800,000 acres span two distinct desert ecosystems, with the Joshua tree forest of the high Mojave above 3,000 feet and the Colorado Desert below. The park's granite monolith formations (Wonderland of Rocks, Hidden Valley, Skull Rock) are the most dramatic geological landscape accessible from Southern California. Twentynine Palms, the gateway town north of the park, has the Twentynine Palms Mural Project — 23 large-format murals documenting the history and culture of the high desert — and the 29 Palms Inn, one of the oldest operating resorts in the California desert.