Joshua Tree, CA

Weekend Itinerary in Joshua Tree, California

Friday

Joshua tree is known for the beautiful rock views and cactus plants. Although many choose to camp, we decided to rent the cutest airbnb that was less than 15 mintues away from the entrance and drove to our activities. You can purchase your National Park Entrance Pass at either entrance of the park. When packing, make sure to bring layers!

For us, as everyone had different arrival schedules, we simply settled in, had dinner, made smores by our campfire (with wine of course), then called it a night. 

Saturday

After your morning coffee, head out to the Cholla Cactus Garden. The garden is paved, family friendly, and is beautiful with thousands of Cacti. The trail is a 0.25 mile loop and should not take you more than 1 hour to walk through, even with plenty of stopping for photos. 

Once done, head out to Arch Rock Nature Trail. Parking is across from the trail and clearly marked. Do not worry, people were parking their cars along the side of the road, so parking is endless. Once you cross the street and follow the path, turn left. This is how you will find the pretty heart shaped rock. The path is bumpy and not marked as well as the entrance to the hike, so no strollers are recommended here. Be sure to give yourself enough time to sit and enjoy the view, as it is breathtaking!  

Head back to where you came from and when you see this sign turn left. 

This will lead you to the Arch Rock. It was a little difficult to find at first, but we asked around and finally found it. There is usually a line to take a great photo. If you do not like heights, I do not recommend climbing to the top like we did.  

If you continue the path past the arch, there are so many rocks you can climb and explore.

 Around this time you will begin to get hungry. We wish we had brought food with us so that we could have stayed and enjoyed the view more, but we didn't. Learn from our mistake and pack food! 

After lunch, head over to the Barker Dam hike. The path is paved and pretty easy to follow, but I do not recommend a stroller (even though we saw a few of them!) There was no water in the Dam but the hike itself is still worth the drive. 

We then headed back to our airbnb, took a nice hot shower, had dinner and drinks while we played games - it was a way great end to the night. 

Sunday

Once all packed and ready to go, head over to Joshua Tree Coffee. They are no longer having guests enter through the front entrance. You can find it by going through the long hallway towards the right back side of the building and there you will see the tent where they take your order. It was so good, and we were able to enjoy our coffee in their patio. Expect long lines as their coffee is well known. You can even buy some extra to take home with you as a souvenir like we did! 

Weekend Itinerary in Joshua Tree, CA

Friday

• Drive from SoCal to Joshua Tree

Saturday

• Morning walk at the Cholla Cactus Garden
• Hike the Arch Rock Trail
• Picnic Lunch
• Hike Barker Dam

Sunday

• Coffee at Joshua Tree Coffee
• Head home

-Out of Office.

With love, Erica

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