About 130 miles from Los Angeles, California where the Mojave and Colorado Deserts meet, lies Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree is home to a diverse population of desert-adapted species, including the famed Joshua tree for which the park is named. This post details our spring break trip taken before the weather heated up.
There are many trails in the Angeles National Forest. Popular hikes in the Chantry Flats area take hikers to various pools and waterfalls. Bears are a common sight along the trail, so remember to be bear aware and recreate responsibly.
This post features just some of the adventure that can be had in California's expansive Inyo National Forest. From the oldest trees to the highest peaks, there is much to be explored, with many options for camping.
Yosemite National Park is one of the oldest national parks in the US, first protected in 1864 by President Lincoln. The park sits in the Sierra Nevada mountains in central California and extends across four counties. Most of the park is considered wilderness, but its wild beauty attracts millions of visitors a year, consistently placing it in the top ten most visited national parks.
Nestled in the Inyo National Forest not far from the California-Nevada border and the Eastern Sierras grow the ancient bristlecone pines. In the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, these Pinus longaeva trees grow in the harsh conditions, along with limber pines. The Great Basin bristlecones have stood the test of time and are some of the oldest trees on the planet, with many thought to date over 4000 years old, surviving for millennia in conditions most other plants can't. The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is accessible via U.S. 395 to CA-168, with some narrow and slightly scary parts.
The Cranky Camper 