panoramic views look
into the Coachella Valley
and reach as far south as
the shimmering Salton
Sea or, on an unusually
clear day, Mexico’s Signal
Mountain. Looming
in front of you are Mt
San Jacinto and Mt
San Gorgonio, two of
Southern California’s
highest peaks, often
snow-dusted even in
spring. Down below
snakes the shaky San
Andreas Fault.
The Drive » Head back
downhill to Park Blvd. Turn right
and wind through the park’s
Wonderland of Rocks, where
boulders call out to scampering
kids and serious rock jocks alike,
passing more campgrounds.
After 10 miles, veer left to stay
on Park Blvd and drive north
for 7 miles toward the town of
Twentynine Palms onto Utah
Trail.6 Oasis of Mara
Detour to the National
Park Service (NPS)
Oasis Visitor Center
(www.nps.gov/jotr; 74485
National Park Dr, TwentyninePalms; h8am-5pm; (^) c)
for its educational
exhibits about Southern
California’s desert fan
palms. These palms are
often found growing
along fault lines, where
cracks in the earth’s crust
allow subterranean water
to surface. Outside the
visitors center, a gentle
half-mile nature trail
leads around the Oasis
of Mara, where Serrano
peoples once camped.
Ask for directions to the
trailhead off Hwy 62 for
the 3-mile round-trip
hike to 49 Palms Oasis,
where a sun-exposed
dirt trail marches you
over a ridge, then drops
you into a rocky gorge,
doggedly heading down
past barrel cacti toward a
distant speck of green.
4 p347
The Drive » Drive back south
on Utah Trail and re-enter the
park. Follow Park Blvd south,
Cottonwood Spring