Hi, View!

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

03.21.2019

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 perspective on the park through, well, high views, interpretive trail markers, and minimal foot traffic.

Grab a map/guide at the Black Rock visitor center and drive west along a dirt road to the never-packed parking lot and marked trailhead through a gap in the wooden fence. At the first junction, go right for a gradual ascent, left for a steep climb. Either way, you’re going up! As you do, look down on Yucca Valley to the north and admire snowcapped San Gorgonio and its fellow mountain peaks to the west. Be sure to admire the native flora as you pass alongside junipers, pinyons, and perhaps blooming buds of Joshua Trees, nolinas, beavertail, and blue sage.

Continue ascending as the trail turns north, listening and looking for both pinyon and western scrub jays, as well as cactus wren, poorwills, and soaring turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks. The trail’s apex lies at 4,300 feet, where you can a register as you savor 360-degree views that now include vistas deep into Black Rock Canyon. Hi-ho for Hi-View!

BONUS ARTS: Just northwest of Yucca Valley is the small community of Pioneertown, built as an Old West movie set by the likes of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Many Western classics were filmed here, including High Noon and The Cisco Kid. Walk down Mane Street and enjoy the sights (minus the tumbleweeds and gunfights) and shop for local art. For a barbecue dinner and live entertainment, stop by the legendary Pappy & Harriet’s, a shoot-kickin’ venue that has hosted Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, and Leon Russell, and still draws top rock and country acts year-round. Welcome to the wild, wild West!

To get to Hi-View Nature Trail, take the I-10 east to CA-62. Stay on the CA-62 for 21 miles, turning right onto Joshua Ln., following it for 4.6 miles. Turn right onto San Marino Dr., followed by an immediate left onto Black Rock Canyon Rd. Turn right at the campground, following signs for the trail. The dirt road ends at the lot. No dogs. To get to Pioneertown, take the CA-62 for 19 miles and turn left onto Pioneertown Rd. Continue 4 miles to Pappy & Harriet’s. Pioneertown is dog-friendly!

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories
  1. Field of Light at Sensorio in Paso Robles

    Light This Way

    Hidden in the bucolic hills of Paso Robles lies one of the greatest light shows on earth. The lighted art exhibition, Sensorio, is as if the rainbow magic of the aurora borealis was plucked from the sky and planted in the fields.

    View
  2. Surfboards and tents for shade are set up on the beach at Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area in the Swim Lagoon Area

    Switchbacks and Swimming Holes

    Hike hard, play hard! This 7-mile out-and-back in Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area is a great workout with payoff vistas and a relaxing post-hike picnic and dip in the water.

    View

  3. Hike the Rainbow

    Catch all the colors of a rainbow at Calero County Park on this 10-mile hike currently showcasing the season’s best blooms.

    View

  4. 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.

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories
  1. A woman on a hiking trail with huge open space and yellow flowers around her at Wildwood Park in Thousand Oaks

    Going Wildwood

    Consider this your invitation to get a little untamed. In just one walk through Wildwood Park in Thousand Oaks, you can chase the sound of a cascading waterfall, duck into a shadowy cave, and soak in big hillside vistas. The mostly flat 4.25-mile loop makes wild feel wonderfully accessible.

    View
  2. Two women on e-bikes at Cass Vineyard and Winery near Paso Robles

    Eat, Drink, E-bike!

    No offense to charcuterie but sometimes you want a full meal while tasting world-class wine. And Paso Robles knows this better than perhaps any other wine region in California. Case in point: Cass Vineyard and Winery, where you can eat, drink, and e-bike!

    View

  3. Jurupa Jamboree

    If you like a short hike with a side of adventure, try the Jurupa Hills North Trail in Martin Tudor Jurupa Hills Regional Park.

    View
  4. 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.

    View