“What? Wildflowers now? I just went rock climbing in Joshua Tree this weekend. I didn’t see any wildflowers!”
If you’re looking in the iconic, big boulder, Dr. Seuss Joshua Tree part of the park, you’re right. It’s higher in elevation and won’t really get going until April.
To find flowers when it’s winter in the rest of the country, you’ll have to go south, south of the Mojave, to the Colorado Desert.
Enter the park by the southern Cottonwood entrance, just north of I-10. You’ll start seeing flowers right away. One of the best wildflower walks in the park is the Bajada Trail, at just over a quarter of a mile, this very short legstretcher is easy for anyone and is smack dab in the middle of the best wildflower fields in the park.
Actually, any place you can park from the park entrance to the Cottonwood VC is a good place to start checking out what’s blooming. There’s a great little wash across the road from the Bajada trail that offers awesome displays of belly flowers if you’re into macro.
This area is the best place to see Bladderpod and Chuparosa, two of the showiest bushes in the park. Desert Dandelions, Desert Gold Poppies, Desert Lupine and Chia put on some prolific displays here, too.
Please drive slowly. Desert Tortoise are also out and about looking for wildflowers, and it takes them a long time to cross the road. Don’t touch the tortoise or try to pick them up to help them. They can contract deadly diseases from human hands, and lose all their water if you scare the piss out of them.
North of Cottonwood VC, check out the washes for the next 15 miles or so, up to and including Porcupine Wash. My favorite is hiking downstream in Smoke Tree Wash. The Smoke Trees won’t be blooming yet, but they have great form and are beautiful bonsai-looking kind of trees. These washes are a great place to find what I think is the prettiest flower in the park, Canterbury Bells. Look for bountiful bouquets of Cryptantha and Brown-Eyed Evening Primrose. I’ve also found Spanish Needles blooming here in the early season.
If you’re into four-wheeling or mountain biking, try the Pinkham Canyon Road or Old Dale Road, both excellent wildflower trails.
Just outside the entrance to the park, a dirt road runs west parallel to the highway. This road leads to the Berdoo Canyon Road, where there is a BLM shooting range. There are probably good wildflowers along here if you don’t care about the highway noise at first and then lots of guns later. It’s also a free place to camp, although I prefer to get a little farther away from the highway by going south from I-10 down the Mecca Road.
Outside the park, the Mecca Road has great camping and sublime wildflowers. Backcountry four-wheel drive roads accessing the Mecca Hills Wilderness, lead off of it. It’s an amazing land to hike and explore.
While you’re near the south entrance, be sure to check out the Desert Lily Sanctuary near Desert Center for more wonderful wildflower sightings.
Happy flower hunting!