![]() ![]() If traveling to Joshua Tree during summer, be sure to get there at dawn or twilight when temperatures will be cooler. You’ll also pass through fantastical rock formations, slot canyons, Joshua tree forests, and desert washes. It sits in the southern portion of the Wonderland of Rocks rock climbing area north of Barker Dam and can be accessed, with some scrambling over and between boulders, from that trail.Īn arch that looks vaguely like a bird sits at the top of a rock wall along the Window Loop, a stacked loop off of the Maze Loop for a 5.3-mile hike. The Moon Mat Cave also is near the campground, off of Pinto Basin Road, in a two-for-one geology adventure.Ī series of rock formations that looks like an elephant features small arches to help give the “pachyderm” its shape. The trail leaves from a parking lot off of Pinto Basin Road about 3.3 miles south of Park Boulevard.Īn eye-shaped hole sits in a boulder about 0.6 miles (1.2 miles round trip) north of Belle Campground along the California Riding and Hiking Trail. Taking a few steps off the main trail allows you to get underneath it, and the surrounding rocks can be climbed so you can touch the arch. The 1.3-mile lollipop trail partially heads to an arch spanning 30 feet across in the granite rock formations surrounding White Tank Campground. It’s a testament to Mother Nature’s patience…wind, rain, and the freeze-thaw cycle always win out.Īmong the best arches and the trails to see them at Joshua Tree are: Just consider that Arches’ formations are carved out of soft sandstone while those at Joshua Tree were whittled out of hard granite. While Joshua Tree’s arches can’t match the size or number of those at Arches National Park, they are impressive, nonetheless. The clear, glass-like rock is quartz, the milky white mineral is feldspar, and the flaky black stone is biotite.Ġ4 Sunrise and sunset mark the best times to visit Joshua Tree’s arches as the lighting makes for magnificent coloration. The rocks are White Tank Granite and composed of three types of minerals. Once above ground, rain and wind eroded a hole within the rock slab while rounding its top, resulting in an arch. Since then, the overlying rock has eroded away, exposing the granite. They began forming between 135-155 million years ago when magma pushed up into the overlying rock then cooled and hardened. Joshua Tree National Park north of the valley has four major arches. ![]() Given enough time, the window can grow quite large – one at Arches National Park in Utah is almost a football field long. ![]() This allows more water to settle in these openings and for wind to assault more of the stone’s surface. When trapped water freezes, it expands, widening the crevice. It usually begins when water seeps into small crevices in the stone. Arches at Joshua Tree National Park are carved out of granite.Īn arch forms when the elements carve out a hole – known as a “window” – into a rock formation. ![]()
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