>> Back to Joshua Tree NP - Pine City -- Joshua Tree NP - Pine City: Hiking Trail Guide
4.5 miles
100 feet gain
3/10
Joshua Tree ,CA (92252) 112.1 miles from you Weather Map
Take the 10 freeway to the 62 - head North, pass through Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley and the town of Joshua Tree. You will see signs that say Joshua Tree National Park. Turn right on Park Avenue, there is a sign and a stoplight. Follow the road for 6 miles to the entrance gate. Pay your entrance fee and continue, drive for about ten miles, until you see the sign for Parker Dam, turn left and follow this road almost to the parking lot. Here you will see a dirt road on your right - this is Queen Valley Road - follow it. You will come to a fork, take the left one. Follow it to the parking area and new restroom.
There is a backcountry registration board, map, and signs pointing you to the trailhead.
The trail follows an almost flat wagon road/wash the entire route. It has almost no elevation loss or gain.
I would recommend this hike above all others in Joshua Tree. You get the best of all worlds on this trail. You start out in a forest of joshua trees, travel on an easy, easy path to a beautiful boulder-wonderland filled with Pine Trees. You can search for remnants of the old "city" which was really only a few log cabins, but you will probably spend a large amount of time just exploring.
The best part about this trail is that it isn't marked in the guide, so the RV'ers and crowds that throng to places like Hidden Valley or Barker Dam don't even know this place exists.
Take a picnic lunch and head out with the family, do some boulder hopping and relax under a pine in the desert.