Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

And in Steve's canyon, not far from the Hobbit Roof climb, is the cattle rustler's jail. It's natural stone enclosure with a steel door. I notice that you have Yosemite in the background in your avatar. Cool, my other home. I climbed those walls too. Thanks to my tutelage at J-Tree.

wesm Loc: Los Altos CA

Wow!! Excellent place. You can spend a couple of weeks and not see all the main points.
The Park Service hands out a newsprint brochure with all the highlights, according to them. You can use that as a starting point.
My favorite walk is the mile-long trail inside Hidden Valley, which at one time was a gigantic cattle pen for rustlers. No kidding, it's amazing. Very popular with rock climbers now.

If (and considering it may rain, only if) you have a four-wheel drive, there is a quite good dirt road in the very northwest corner of the park, Covington Flat, Lower and Upper, that you can follow all the way up to a little peak. In between, there are amazing stands of mature Joshua trees and junipers, probably the best stands in the park, at least that I've seen. Just gorgeous, must be seen to be believed. This road is accessible from the town of Joshua Tree, a bit east of Twentynine Palms, and the only real issue is that there is fairly deep sand on some of it -- no other hazards, big ruts, or rocks to worry about.

For night photography, get off the main roads. The campground at White Tank is very nice, especially if you walk off a couple of hundred yards into the rock formations, which are fantastic. Lost Horse campground is also good. But the best, which is an official Dark Sky site, is to get into Pinto Basin from either the north or south entrance, then I would further recommend following the dirt road Old Dale Road, which is also 4WD, but probably passable in a regular car for a few miles. I photographed the supermoon in Pinto Basin, attached.

There are also a bunch of dirt roads, easily passable in a regular vehicle, around the Desert Queen mine area, between that and Barker Dam. I have another photo of the moon the next night from that area that I am attaching.

Man, I've got the itch to go back now. Maybe I'll see you there.

Wes

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Dress warm. It is likely to be very cold, especially at night. Night time around Jumbo Rocks is magical. Its a wonderful experience to go out on the rocks just before sunset, watch the sun set and then just sit back and let the night enfold you. Don't forget a flashlight to help you get back to the car - the rocks can be hazardous to your health if you are not careful. Wonderful photo ops at every turn - the light can be overwhelming at mid day but the hours before and after sunrise and sunset are well worth the loss of sleep.

RE Loc: California

Thanks Wes, lots of good information and I enjoyed your photo's. We do have 4wd so if we don't make it this trip then the next for sure, sounds intriguing!

RE Loc: California

Flashlights is something I have plenty of....husband thinks I have too many....lol! Thanks for the info., I am so looking forward to this visit!

Steve Perry Loc: Sylvania, Ohio

What? That's crazy - flashlights are like cameras, you can never have too many!

bobsisk Loc: Chandler, Arizona

JTNP has a lot of desert plants with some beautiful blooms if it's the right time of year. The walking trails allow you to be up close and personal with them, many of which can only be found there. I liked the rock formations, especially the one shown here. This is a morning shot and the shadows make it seem like a huge, resting bovine (cow? bull? your choice). If you go by it in the afternoon it just looks like a big old rock. This photo was taken in April, 2010 with a Canon SureShot, 10Mp, f5.9, 1/500 sec. It's a bit fuzzy because I wasn't very careful about the focus.

Bob Sisk