Blauert on Outdoors: Now is a great time to visit Joshua Tree

If you haven’t heard, 2016 marks the 100th birthday of the National Park Service and the rangers that have protected our parks and welcomed visitors for as long as any living person can remember.

The National Park Service manages more than 400 parks, preserves, monuments, seashores, lake shores and historic sites across the country. Only 59 of these sites have the top designation of “national park,” and we are lucky to have nine in California.

In honor of its 100th birthday, I’ll feature some of the lesser-known California parks over the next few months, starting this week with Joshua Tree.

Joshua Tree National Park is located in the transition zone between the higher-elevation Mojave Desert, where the park’s namesake plants are found, and the lower-elevation creosote-dominated Sonoran Desert. Much of the landscape is dominated by weathered granite formations that vary in color from tan to pink-orange, depending on the lighting. The landscape is sort of otherworldly, especially when there aren’t many people around.

The Joshua tree is the largest of more than 40 species of yucca in North America. They grow in all kinds of weird shapes and, together with the park’s rock formations, provide endless subjects for photographers.

The park also has several naturally occurring palm oases, historic ruins of ranching and mining operations, and a wide range of wildlife. It was designated as a national monument in 1936 and upgraded to national park status in 1994.

My first trip to Joshua Tree was nearly 15 years ago, when I was a college student in Los Angeles. My buddy James and I set out on a trip during winter vacation with two parameters: not going anywhere where it would be too cold to camp and visiting national parks neither of us had previously visited.

Joshua Tree was our first destination. It was a fun trip in a memorable landscape, and the park became a favorite place for my friends and I to escape the city during the cooler months. Temperatures are lowest in December and January with daytime highs about 60 degrees and freezing temps common at night.

On our first trip, it was perfectly still and not particularly cold when we set up our tent, and it stayed that way until we were deep asleep. We woke up to howling winds that would have carried our tent away if our bodies hadn’t been there as anchors. There was a point where we finally decided to try to anchor it down, and while I was running around collecting heavy items, James was practically flying the tent like a kite.

Last weekend, I returned to the park for the first time in more than 10 years. I asked my wife which nearby national park was atop her list to visit out of those she hadn’t been to, and Joshua Tree was her top choice. Despite being the middle of February, the highs were in the mid to upper 70s and the lows in the 50s. I would have preferred it a bit cooler, but the landscape was as beautiful as ever, and we had a great trip.

The park has become more popular since my first visit – logging 1.6 million visitors last year. Campgrounds are booked well in advance on weekends, and the first-come, first-serve sites fill up by Friday morning. I highly recommend making early reservations and camping in the park, though. The campsites are spacious and located in picturesque locations. Unlike many other parks, there isn’t any lodging or food available within the gates. The nearby communities of Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms have several affordable options.

Joshua Tree is fun because it’s different from the landscapes we are closest to – the Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, coastal ranges and the coast itself. There’s a lot to do and see, and many of the hiking trails are short and easy enough that anyone can do them. There are also miles and miles of more challenging trails, a network of 4x4 roads, endless rock-climbing possibilities and campgrounds that can accommodate horses overnight.

I highly recommend it as a fun and affordable place to get outdoors in the cooler months.

Because it’s a long trip from Merced, you need at least four days to not feel rushed. Unless you like extreme heat, plan your trip for November through March. Next week, I’ll follow this up with recommendations for favorite things to do within the park.

For more information about the park, go to www.nps.gov/jotr or call 760-367-5500.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Blauert on Outdoors: Now is a great time to visit Joshua Tree."