Joshua Tree Art Hikes

Joshua Tree National Park is itself a work of natural art, so it’s no surprise that this gorgeous desert is a magnet for artsy individuals. Here are three hikes in the northern part of the park that are close to surprising art venues where music, movie sets, sculpture, and even crochet (!) are on display.

Week: 03.21.2019
Regions: Southern CA

49 Palms and Counting

A Hike to Joshua Tree's 49 Palms Oasis and a Visit to the Outdoor Desert Art Museum

The hike to 49 Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree has pleasures great and small. Big: a genuine palm oasis and expansive views. Small: the possibility of spotting a desert tortoise or a chuckwalla lizard. It’s all in the course of a 3-mile out-and-back gem that is situated between Indian
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Spring for Yosemite's Waterfalls!

Escape to Yosemite's Tenaya Lodge for Spring Waterfalls

It’s a waterfall time to be in Yosemite! Spring means raging waterfalls without the crowds. Stay at Tenaya Lodge, just two miles from Yosemite’s southern entrance, and experience these waterfall adventures in Yosemite. With a record snowpack, you can expect raging waterfalls this
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Hi, View!

Joshua Tree's Hi-View Nature Trail and a Visit to Pioneertown

Pop quiz: Closest Joshua Tree trail to the LA metro area? It’s Hi-View Nature Trail near Yucca Valley’s Black Rock entrance to the national park. Overlooked, but worth looking over. This 1.3-mile loop doesn’t require an entry fee, gains 325 feet in elevation, and offers a fresh p
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When Disney met the Petroglyph: It's Complicated

Joshua Tree's Barker Dam Hike, Petroglyphs, and World Famous Crochet Museum

An unlikely desert lake is generally the high point of a hike to Barker Dam, but there’s an even more unusual sight at the end of the loop trail that you might have missed even if you’ve hiked it a few times. We’re talking petroglyphs—but there’s more to this story. The flat, 1.2
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  1. Serene Las Gallinas

    A serene stroll alongside marshland, passing ponds and grasses frilled in seasonal wildflowers, with Mount Tam a beacon in the background … how nice. As part of the esteemed Bay Trail, San Rafael’s Las Gallinas Valley Birding Loop and Wildlife Ponds comprises about 3.5 miles of wide-open trail.

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  2. Paint Brushy

    This time of year you’ll have good reason to head for the hills—the electric-green rolling hills of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve in Livermore. This 4.5-mile loop hike is like stepping into a plein air painting.

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  3. Sponsored

    2025 POST Wildflower Walks

    Get flower empowered! POST’s complimentary 2025 Wildflower Walks guide blooms with the best places to see a variety of florals across the Peninsula and South Bay this spring.

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  4. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

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Trending Stories SoCal

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  1. Sponsored

    Weekend in Reno Tahoe

    Weekend plans? Reno Tahoe! Just a few hours by car or a short flight away, Reno Tahoe springs to the moment with great ways to combine adventure and relaxation in its beautiful mountains-meets-desert setting.

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  2. Hiker walking along the North Bluff Trail on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

    Purely Wild

    Channel Islands National Park lives up to its nickname as “North America’s Galapagos.” This less-traveled national park is an undeveloped and isolated series of five dramatic and distinct islands reached by boat. Hike the largest of the islands, Santa Cruz.

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  3. Woman hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon

    Truly Grand Day Hike

    One of the best spring day hikes in the Grand Canyon? See layer upon layer of the park’s grandeur—including the river—on this 3-mile (one-way) journey to Skeleton Point via the South Kaibab Trail.

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  4. A woman stands amid an array of yellow and purple flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles

    Petal Paradise

    Tulips, lilacs, and daffodils—flower power is in full bloom at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. Sprawling across 150 acres surrounded by mountains, the gardens are putting on their best show right now.

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