Tag: Joshua Tree National Park

What you should know about Joshua Tree’s most haunting landmark

Say hello to Skull Rock.

Are you looking for a mysterious and spooky place to visit this Halloween? If so, Joshua Tree National Park is the place to be. While many curiosities decorate this famous destination, only one landmark has the honor of being the desert’s spookiest attraction. Here’s what you should know about Skull Rock and why it’s the perfect Halloween sightseeing opportunity.

Joshua Tree visitors will find Skull Rock along the park’s main east-west road. This massive chunk of granite gets its name from the skull-like indentations on the front of the rock. While this spot is no hidden gem, it is popular for a reason. This round-up of Skull Rock info and travel tips will show you why this sight is so beloved.

A skull shaped rock formation against blue sky.
Photo by Grae Gleason / Outdoors Wire

What is Skull Rock?

Ages ago, raindrops began the slow process of wearing away at a massive slab of granite within Joshua Tree. Over time, the water shaped the rock and created the indentations that give Skull Rock its unique look. Today, the landmark is characterized by two hollow sections that form the skull’s eyes and a third hole creating the illusion of a nasal cavity.

Where can you find it?

As previously mentioned, Skull Rock rests along Joshua Tree National Park’s main east-west road. For the fastest trip possible, enter the park through the North Entrance Station and follow the main road’s signs past Split Rock to reach Skull Rock. If you want to stay the night, you can set up your tent nearby at Jumbo Rocks Campground.

A skull-shaped rock hiding behind brush in a desert.
Photo by NPS / Robb Hannawacker

What can you do there?

At Skull Rock, visitors can navigate around the desert brush and up the rocks for a closer view of this spooky sight. Expect to run into other tourists, though. During busy seasons, you’ll probably have to wait your turn for a picture in front of this magnificent rock.

If you want to get a little more out of your visit, go for a hike along Skull Rock Trail. Keep an eye out for cool cacti along the 1.8-mile loop trail.

A hill of large, smooth orange-tinted rocks.
Photo by NPS / Robb Hannawacker

The 5 best hikes at Joshua Tree National Park

Incredible sights await.

Joshua Tree National Park shows how gorgeous deserts can be. Amid dusty, arid landscapes, the park shines with its fascinating plants, rocks, and wildlife. Located in southeast California, Joshua Tree encompasses over 1,200 square miles of land. That’s over 795,000 acres of unique natural wonders just waiting to be explored. And there’s no better way to explore Joshua Tree National Park than on a hike.

The park offers tons of fun hikes. For visitors with limited time, choosing which trails to tackle can be difficult. Make those choices easier with this list of Joshua Tree National Park’s best hikes.

Ranking the 10 most visited national parks

Popular parks face off.

Every national park is special. Every national park is beautiful. But not all parks made it onto the National Park Service’s (NPS) list of 2022’s most visited national parks.

In 2022, NPS sites tallied over 311 million recreation visits. While many beloved locations contributed to that number, not all of them were national parks. Historic sites, national battlefields, scenic trails, and more also factor into NPS statistics. In fact, the most visited NPS site in 2022 was the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, which received over 15 million visits.

All of these areas are worth visiting, but today’s rankings focus solely on national parks. In descending order, the most visited national parks in 2022 were: 1. Great Smoky Mountains, 2. Grand Canyon, 3. Zion, 4. Rocky Mountain, 5. Acadia, 6. Yosemite, 7. Yellowstone, 8. Joshua Tree, 9. Cuyahoga Valley, and 10. Glacier. These bustling sites hosted the most recreation visits out of all 63 national parks.

Does “most visited” mean “best,” though? Not always. Find out which of these 10 highly visited parks Outdoors Wire ranks as its favorites in the list below.

Can you spot the bighorn sheep that is using cryptic coloration?

The folks at Joshua Tree posted an image of a bighorn sheep on a rock out in the open, yet it blends in well enough to make it a fun search.

The brown rocks and boulders in Joshua Tree National Park in California are a perfect backdrop for the sandy brown coloration of bighorn sheep to blend in so well you can hardly see them.

The folks at Joshua Tree captured an image of a bighorn sheep sitting on a rock out in the open, yet it blends in well enough to make it a fun search.

So, the national park posted the photo on its Facebook page, saying, “Bighorn sheep use a tactic called camouflage, or cryptic coloration, to blend into their environments. Their sandy brown fur disguises their appearance and helps them blend in with the surrounding rocky landscape, making it more difficult for predators (and hikers) to see them.”

Most commenters on Facebook located the bighorn sheep pretty easily, but the park suggested that sightings won’t always be as easy as this one.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Can you spot the rattlesnake ‘hiding in plain sight’?

“While exploring the park, always keep an eye on the rocks and boulders around you…you could easily walk right by a bighorn sheep without even knowing!” the post on the Joshua Tree National Park Facebook page reads. “But please keep in mind, these animals are very sensitive to human disturbance. So, if you do see one in the park, help protect it by quietly viewing it from a distance.”

Nobody probably needs help locating the bighorn sheep in the photo, but just in case, here’s a closeup of the sighting:

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