Joshua Tree National Park, California - Part 1

October 3-7, 5,354 miles and 81 days into the trip.
29 Palms RV Resort, 29 Palms - 3 Nights
Belle CG, Joshua Tree NP - 2 Nights

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Our original plan was to spend 2 or 3 days touring Joshua Tree National Park. But after 5 days of hiking and sightseeing we still did not want to leave. We signed up for 3 nights at 29 Palms RV resort before we checked out the NP campgrounds. The resort was nice and had a large indoor pool which we enjoyed after hiking in the NP. But after we saw the Belle Campground in the National Park we could not resist staying there for two nights. It was dry camping (no hook-ups), remote and quiet. Most campgrounds in the NP have very small sites and would not accommodate our size motorhome. The Belle CG only has 18 sites and we ended up in site 18. Joshua Tree NP is in the "High Desert" region and the park has valleys at different altitudes. The plant and tree growth in the park varies as you change altitude.

Our site at 29 Palms RV Resort.

The very refreshing indoor pool at 29 Palms.

Our site at Belle CG, Joshua Tree NP. We had great reception on the Satellite TV.

The campground is in a very flat valley with granite mounds of huge boulders pushed up through the sand in various places. The sites surround the mounds.

During the week only about 5 of the sites were being used. On Saturday about 10 were used. Rock climbers come here to practice and develop their climbing technique before hitting the high mountains.

Developing my rock climbing technique. A note from Mom You may have noticed that there are many pictures of Dad on top of or on tall rocks. I tease him that he is going thru a Mountain Goat stage. But I guess it is better than being an Old Goat!

Looking down from up high?

The next mound over is also a campground (White Tank CG) but limited to 25' units, including tow vehicle. We did go on a nature trail hike which started at the White Tank CG. The valley we are in is about 4,000 ft above sea level.

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