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| Saguaro National Park (AZ) |
Admittedly, my road trip adventure was probably too early for the best opportunities to see the desert plants in full bloom but I still enjoyed my time in three of the Southwest's most well known desert national parks . . . Joshua Tree & Death Valley in California and Saguaro in Arizona.
The benefit of a late April visit to these areas is that the daytime temps were very comfortable in the mid to high 80's, and for camping at night lows in the 50's . . . except in Death Valley where it was rather warm sleeping when going to bed with it still in the 90's! All in all, however, the weather was perfect.
Saguaro National Park (near Tucson) was on the way from my sister's ranch in southern New Mexico to my friend's home near Phoenix. I did mostly a "drive through" the Saguaro East - Rincon Mountain District of the park, with a stop for a late lunch/early dinner at one of the picnic areas. There weren't a lot of flowers to be seen, and where they were, it was a challenge to stop and take photos due to the lack of turnouts on the main park road. The short 8 mile one-way loop road offers nice views of the wilderness as well as parking areas at trailheads for those interested in hiking. I enjoyed seeing the variety of shapes and sizes of the saguaros. Take a look at the one below on the right . . . it looks like a tall, lean cowboy to me!
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| Saguaro National Park (AZ) |
After my visit with Dawn & her hubby Ray, I headed west for California. My next stop would be Joshua Tree National Park. It's been nearly 12 years since my most recent visit to this area of SoCAL so I was looking forward to my time there. I booked a campsite in the Jumbo Rocks Campground, one of several places folks can camp while exploring this area.
I also booked the Key's Ranch Tour, which is only offered during the "cool season" (through May 1st I believe). This 2-hour tour has very limited availability with only one (9:30am) tour offered daily and then only 25 guests are accepted. Tickets must be purchased ($20 adults/$10 kids 11 & under) on Recreation.gov and are available 60 days in advance. NOTE that folks with a NPS Senior or Access Pass are provided a 50% discount. While this tour has quite a bit of walking and standing, it is very interesting and worthwhile as the only way to access this remote area of the park is on this tour. For more information,
click HERE.
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| Joshua Tree National Park (CA) |
After my morning tour of Key's Ranch in Joshua Tree NP, I headed on to Death Valley. I knew this would be a long drive with arrival planned for early evening. I was able to get checked into my campground before dark and then head out for a short drive to catch the sunset over the below sea level valley floor. I really expected to see wildlife, especially bighorn sheep, but alas none. Admittedly, my time and interests in Death Valley were limited to the Furnace Creek area although I did do a short visit to the nearby Harmony Borax Mine. For anyone interested in the mining history in Death Valley, consider a stop by the Ranch at Death Valley. This resort has a very nice museum quality exhibit on their grounds and is worth a stroll through. Before leaving Death Valley, I took advantage of my campground privileges at the Inn at Death Valley to use their swimming pool and showers.
NOTE: The Ranch at Death Valley and the Inn at Death Valley together are known as The Oasis at Death Valley and is operated by NPS concessionaire Xanterra. The Fiddler's Campground is also part of this arrangement, which is why camping guests have access to the amenities of the resort.
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| Death Valley National Park (CA) |
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