Back Side of the Visitor's Center with the Hyperbolic Roof
Palm Springs and its surrounding towns lay in what is known as the Cochella Valley. It is actually the very northern tip of what was the Sea of Cortez that was cut off by the rise of the mountains. It is now considered part of the Colorado Desert. As we traveled out of town to the north and east and went up in elevation we crossed into another unique ecosystem - the Mohave Desert. Our destination? Joshua Tree National Park.
The Joshua Tree only grows here in the Mohave Desert - no where else in the world. It is related to the Yucca Plant, both members of the agave family. What makes the Joshua Tree unique is it's shorter needles and the way it braches and looks like, well, a tree.
Joshua Tree
The other unique feature of this park is the rock formations. Large granite boulers that appear to have been stacked on top of one another. They were actually formed by molten lava oozing upward and then being erroded over time forming these outcroppings of rock structures.
Rock Formations
One of the highlights of the drive was stopping at Keys View. (Keys being the name of a rancher who homesteaded in this area and his ranch is preserved inside the park.) This view point allows you to look down over the entire Cochella Valley.. To the south we could see beyond the Salton Sea all the way to an isolated mountain that marks the Mexican border about 100 miles away. To the north was the snow capped peak that marks the beginning of the San Bernadino Mountain Range. And half way across to the east was another major geological feature.....
The Small Ridge Line in the middle is the San Anreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault. From here it just looks like a very small mountain ridge, but this is where the Pacific and the North American tectonic plates bump up against each other on occasion.
After getting a nice overview of this 800,000 acre park area, we retraced our route to return to Palm Springs. Stoppping at the way at a real cowboy saloon type restaurant complete with mechanical bull, rooms upstairs with the pictures of the ladies who once occupied them, dance floor and stage with red velvet tasseled curtains, and a bar full of bearded Harley riding customers. The menu was BBQ and very tasty.
Wiild Willie's BBQ
The afternoon we enjoyed views of the golf course from the patio of our villa. A relaxed and unhurried way to start the vacation. There was much more to see in Joshua Tree so if time allows we may go back later in the week on our own - go in one of the other entrances, talk to the rangers, maybe even tour Keys Ranch or one of the abandoned mines.
Interesting fact, they took more gold out of the mines in the Joshua Tree area in the gold rush days then they did out of Sutter's Creek.
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