Joshua Tree's Best Photo Spots

A giant boulder accessible via an unmarked trail from the White Tank Campground has a natural formation in the shape of a heart. It's about 10 feet tall, rising out of a landscape strewn with boulders. Getting there might be tricky since there is no official path. The easiest way would be to first find Arch Rock and then find a path that will lead you northeast to Heart Rock. In a straight line Heart Roc...

This natural formation is about 30 feet across. The hike to get to the arch is pretty easy - about five minutes from the nearby campgrounds. Watch out for the plants on the path - many of them are thorny! If you can plan your visit for a moonless night, you'll be treated to a star-studded sky stretching across the vast landscape. Lat/Long: 33.986235, -116.015566

This gold ore crushing mill was built in 1933. To get there start your hike at the Barker Dam trailhead. The 2-mile roundtrip hike will end at Wall Street Mill. The trail is pretty flat so it is suitable for all skill levels. You can keep to the trail or you can wander through the brush to take a shortcut to the mill. Either way the mill is a great piece of history with a lot to see within the ruins. ...

Located on the Wonderland Wash Trail between Barker Dam and Wall Street Mill these ruins are a small piece of the pioneering history in Joshua Tree. While the pink ruins are not much to look at the trail itself will take you through the Joshua Tree landscape with its amazing rock formations and sparse desert plant growth. The hike is 3 miles round trip, moderately paced. The trailhead is at Park Boulevar...

As if the dry, harsh desert landscape of Joshua Tree isn’t enough to make you think of death, there’s a natural rock formation in the shape of a skull there that’ll do the trick, real quick. Water erosion carved out the eye-sockets and nose cavity, and your morbid imagination will fill in the rest. Lat/Long: 33.997815, -116.059565

This popular trail is located at the top of the Little San Bernardino Mountains giving hikers a bird's-eye view of the Coachella Valley. Other natural attractions that can be seen from this vantage point include the San Andreas fault, the San Jacinto peak, and the Salton Sea. People of all activity levels can enjoy this destination - the viewing platform is wheelchair accessible.  Lat/Long: 33.926812,...

Also known as the Big Horn Dam this water-storage facility was constructed in 1900 by cattle ranchers. A hiking trail of around 1.5 miles is easy enough for most people to travel on. You might see a lot of desert wildlife while you're here, attracted by the water. To get to the trailhead go to Queen Valley Road.  Lat/Long: 34.030834, -116.146237

Because it is such a cute cactus the cholla has been nicknamed the "teddy bear" cactus. Naturally, that doesn't mean you want to touch, much less hug it. Unlike a soft teddy bear this one is prickly! This trail is pretty flat so it's more like a leisurely stroll rather than a strenuous hike. Keep a fair distance from the cacti so they don't stick you! Lat/Long: 33.925441, -115.92885

Between 1894 and 1931 this mine produced more than 10,000 oz. of gold and 16,000 oz. of silver which would be worth more than $5 million today. The mill is one of the best-preserved of its kind. The four-mile round trip hike to the mine is moderately paced and starts off at Keys View Road. Although the hike is a very popular destination, steer clear of the historic mine itself which is very old and unsta...

These historic ruins were established by JD Ryan in 1890, but were destroyed in 1978 by a fire. The six-room structure is adobe with some wood additions. There's also a small cemetery nearby. It's highly recommended that you buy a map at the park entrance or the visitor's center as there is little cell phone service near the house. If you'd like to see JD Ryan's Lost Horse Mine, it's about two miles away...

Another one of those unique Joshua Tree attractions that you won't find on any of the park maps. Samuelson Rocks are a series of boulders with words of wisdom carved into them by early homesteader John Samuelson in the 1920s. It's a little tricky finding the rocks because there isn't an official trail so we suggest you plug the below coordinates into Google Maps before you make the trip, save an offline ...

Lots of mystery surrounds Joshua Tree's Iron Door Cave. The cave itself is about 120 square feet with enough room to stand up in and a little air hole at the far end. Nobody really knows how the iron door got there or what it was for, but the leading theory says that Bill Keys used it as a cold storage room for his dynamite. Another story says that he used it to store gold from nearby mines. But the craz...

Inside the Jumbo Rocks Campground, you'll find a 13-foot tall boulder that looks like a penguin (minus the tuxedo). A penguin in the desert, you say? Yep, we know, crazy stuff. To find Pinguino Rock, park in one of the guest spots at the Jumbo Rocks Campground entrance and make your way to campsite 18. The rock and and the almost-as-popular juniper tree are on the hill right behind that campsite. It shou...

There are hundreds of historic mines in California, but this secret mine is unique. Giant boulders were used as shelters by the miners as the scarcity of wood and other natural resources made it next to impossible to build adequate protection. This old mining homestead is essentially frozen in time and still has many of the old household artifacts from the mining days, dating all the way back to the 1890...

It's amazing that people tried to eke out an existence here in the Mojave Desert. Today we can see some of the results of that hard work. Visits to the ranch are only by guided tour. You can buy your tickets online in advance - visit the website to do this. As you'll be out walking around in the desert, comfortable walking shoes, water, and sunscreen/hat are a good idea. Lat/Long: 34.045834, -116.169213