We arrived at Black Rock Campground which is in the park on the edge of the town of Yucca Valley on Thursday about 5:30 pm. It was a long day with leaving at 6:30 am and traveling 495 miles. The campground was nearly empty until Friday afternoon but it was full for the weekend.
The site we had reserved took some serious leveling to get set up and an extra step below the normal steps to be able to climb into the trailer. That accomplished we went to town and had a tasty Mexican dinner, quite good.
The campground doesn't have road access directly into the remainder of the park, you must go out of the park and enter either of the north entrances. This campground is the only one that has a dump station and limited water.
We were here in 2011 and the road into the park was in bad shape as were the roads in the campground. Now they are terrible. The last quarter of a mile of the access road is nothing but deep potholes (up to a foot deep) and you have to snake your way down the road. Some just drive in the sand on the side of the road. The park website warned about it but it is worse than they suggested.
Apparently that 1/4 mile is privately owned road and the Parks Service, the town, and the county all point fingers at each other saying they aren't responsible and can't fix it. There are only four homes on the private section and more than 90% of the traffic is to access the park. A ranger here said this campground has 2000 visitors per months but indicated if they fixed it they would be responsible for it. BUREAUCRACY!!!!
It will be a long time before we return again.
This is one of the better sections of road in the campground.
This is our campsite which was at the edge of the campground and was more private.
This year we didn't find any of the Joshua Trees blooming.
This was the sole Yucca plant we found in bloom in the campground. There are likely others at different elevations in the park.
View or the surrounding hills and mountains from our campsite.
Our daughter, son-in-law and 6 month old grandson joined us on Friday afternoon for the weekend.
They have discovered that it takes more stuff for him than both of them combined to camp. Welcome to the world of parenthood.
One happy Grandma!
Cal ready for a hike.
Off on a 2.3 mile hike, them, not us, someone has to man the fort!
After they returned from the hike they made lunches to take with them into the park and a guided tour of the Keys Ranch. We (Grandma) will baby sit while they go on the tour. If you ever vist Joshua Tree make a reservation for this tour in advance as it it very interesting, even amazing what the Keys family was able to accomplish in the middle of nowhere.
The temperatures were mild during the day and chilly at night but the wind was almost constant making it cold.
We had originally planned to go to Anza Borego State Park but our daughter and husband had been there and hadn't been to Joshua Tree and asked if we could meet them here instead. Fine with us as it made it a one day drive instead of two or a real, real long one.
We will pack up Sunday morning and all will go separate ways, us to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada and they to their home.
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