Joshua Tree National Park 4/29/21 – 5/1/21
When your friend asks if you want to join her at a campsite at Joshua Tree, you say yes. In fact, not only did I say yes, I booked the same site for the night before. This wasn’t an expected trip. Sure, I would like to visit all the national parks, but this one wasn’t my focus as of yet. But since it is close enough and there was motivation to go, it worked out. What also worked out was the timing of my acquisition of my sister’s Happier Camper HC1 trailer. My sis purchased this adorable 13 ft trailer back in 2017 and has been taking it on adventures for years. After learning of her military move to Germany, she asked if I wanted to hold onto it while she was gone. Of course, I said yes and plans were made to bring it to Arizona the second to last week of April 2021….one week before the Joshua Tree trip.
I quickly checked the camp sites at Cottonwood Campground and found they allow campers/RV’s. I changed my reservation from tent to trailer and BOOM, our maiden voyage with “Margarita 909” was set.
April 29: We took a leisurely 5 hour drive to good old California. The trailer towed well since it only weighs 1100 lbs dry. Brad’s large diesel truck didn’t even feel it. We arrived through the south entrance of the park and found that Cottonwood campground is just before the “gate.” I say gate in quotation marks because there is not a guard type shack that you normally see. Instead, there is a visitor center where one must park and walk up to the window to pay the park entrance fee. But don’t get any ideas…if you bypass the payment window, you will find that you cannot exit the park via the 29 Palms or Joshua Tree exits without being asked to show proof of payment or your national park pass.
The first action item was to set up the trailer in our camp site. We were a little surprised at the type of sites and the layout of the campground. I would say that this is the least pretty campground in the entire park, but it is the only one with water. Our site consisted of a strange parallel parking area with bushes along the perimeter that mostly blocked the view of the site. Behind the bushes were a couple of spots where you could fit a tent. Each site had a picnic table as well. Because we were in the camper, we had to park and attempt to find a spot where we wouldn’t open our door into a bush. We also had to keep in mind that we had friends coming the following day (one of us ended up parking in the bathroom parking spots across from our camp site).
We unhooked Margarita and made sure we had everything settled. After that we decided to pass some time checking out Cottonwood Springs not too far from the campground. This location was used for centuries as a water source, but saw the most change when miners dominated the area between 1870-1910. Their presence is seen through old mine and homestead ruins. We walked up to the springs and then took a stroll on Mastadon Loop (2.4 miles). It was a pretty area with old stone mortars, cool rock formations and the remains of an old mine.
After that it was still early so we headed into the park. We drove into a couple of the other campgrounds just to see what they are like. I absolutely love the sites and crazy rock formations that you can camp next to at the other campgrounds. I would love to camp here in cooler months with the kids. We stopped at the Cholla cactus garden along the way. We have Cholla all over Tucson, but it was cool to see so many isolated to this one particular area of the park. At this point, we still hadn’t seen barely any Joshua Trees! We later found that they are mostly on the west side of the park.
We decided to check out Skull Rock, which is conveniently located on the side of the road. We took several photos with it. A little ways behind it is Elephant Rock, which you hike to in order to get a better view. Across the street is Discovery trail, which was designed by and for children. There are educational signs along the way, which I found to be very interesting. You can also see Face rock from this looped trail.
Before heading back we took a quick stop at Split Rock. We didn’t do any of the trails, but we did play around, under and in the giant boulder. By the time we got back to camp, it was close to sunset and we opened up Margarita. I love that the back gate/hatch opens and acts as an awning. We opened up the two side concession-style windows as well. It really gives it an open feel. The temps started to cool off and we had our Mountain House dinner and ginger beers while listening to music from Brad’s phone. We turned on our little sparkle lights and relaxed after a hot day. The lights give it such a peaceful ambiance.
April 30: Sleeping in Margarita was ok. I was hoping the little cushions would be more comfortable, but they were a tad hard. I slept horizontal to the back door and Brad slept perpendicular. It may be the only way for us to sleep since he is so tall.
We woke up and had mimosas and Mountain House biscuits and gravy. Breakfast of champions. We then took off for some more exploring. We started out with Keys Point, the best view in the park of Coachella valley. It isn’t much of a hike, but the views are beautiful.
We then headed to Barker Dam. This hike was nice, but it would have been better if there were actual water to be dammed. I would love to see it with some water. We continued on a bit to see the petroglyphs. These petroglyphs were vandalized back in the day so they appear to be colored. After that we headed to Hidden Valley trail. This one was probably my favorite. It is a loop and it can only be described as a wonderland of rocks. This is a popular spot for rock climbers.
We then decided to head into the town of Joshua Tree. There is a ranger post at this exit to check your passes on the way OUT and in. When looking at things to do in Joshua tree, I saw that they have the World Famous Crochet museum and we had to stop. There are actually lots of little funky, artsy shops in town. 
The Crochet Museum is located behind a grouping of shops, specifically La Matadora. You simply follow the little walkway to the rear courtyard and you will see the bright lime green building in all her glory. You will also see various art installations and a small shop with Shari Elf’s art. We took some photos and bought some cute magnets to add to the obnoxious collection I have on my fridge.
After that we headed towards Pappy & Harriet’s restaurant in Pioneertown. Along the way we were distracted by a park with all kinds of Jesus statues. It’s called Desert Christ Park. It consists of more than 40 bright white sculptures and images portraying scenes of Christ’s life and teachings.
We eventually arrived at Pappy & Harriet’s. It was quite busy, even though CA was pretty strict on Covid restrictions. I quickly found a couple of seats at the small bar and ordered a pulled pork sandwich and a Moscow mule. P&H came alive as a restaurant in 1982, but there is more history to it than that. In 1946, Pioneertown was founded by a group of Hollywood investors who wanted to use it as a living movie set from the 1870’s. P&H was a facade used as a cantina in numerous Western films. In 1972, Harriet’s mother bought the building and made it “The Cantina,” a biker burrito bar, which lasted 10 years. Then, in 1982, it became the family-style Tex Mex place that locals know and love today.
After getting some food, we walked around the little Western town behind P&H and then headed back to the campground. We spent our final night chatting with our friends and hanging out. It was hard to sleep due to a few rowdy and inconsiderate campers that mistook the campground for either a bar scene or burning man. Note to self: ALWAYS bring ear plugs.
May 1: We took some photos of Margarita by the Joshua Tree sign and headed back to Tucson.
Overall, we had a great time checking out Joshua Tree and taking Margarita out for the first time. Have you been to Joshua Tree? What were your favorite parts?
