Welcome to Travel Tuesday! Come check out the Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail with me in Joshua Tree National Park!
Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail in Joshua Tree National Park
Distance: 0.3 miles (loop)
Elevation: 6 ft
Difficulty: Easy
Duration: <20 minutes (but meander however long you’d like!)
Trailhead Address: Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail, Twentynine Palms, CA
Parking: Lot available
This is located about 12 miles south of Joshua Tree National Park’s north entrance!
I came here at the end of August, so it was super, super, super hot and I didn’t want to be out for too long (didn’t wanna melt!). This “trail” worked out well for that purpose!
I came here at the end of August, so it was super, super, super hot and I didn’t want to be out for too long (didn’t wanna melt!). This “trail” worked out well for that purpose!This is less a hike than it is a stroll around a cactus garden (with lots of different cacti)! I’ve never seen teddybear cholla before and there were a bunch here! You can find out more about the plants you can find on the trail here!
P.S. Don’t hug the teddybear cholla. The stem-joints of them can detach and hitch a ride on you (or articles of clothing) via tiny barbed spines, so be careful! They’re painful to remove.
While you’re here, you might want to stop by the Skull Rock Nature Trail too–it’s pretty close by to this trail and only about 1.7 mile loop. (Alternatively, you could just hike from Skull Rock to the Jumbo Rocks area!)
- Have you ever been to Joshua Tree National Park?
- Would you have thought the teddy bear cactus was huggable too? :[
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Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by! <3 Miss you lots!
J-Tree is one of my favorite places ever. During med school we would go in the winter there to camp, rock climbing, hike, etc. Indian Cove was the usual proving ground. I have fond memories of sitting in front of the camp fire and scrambling around rocks near the campsite at night. Astrophotography out there would be awesome! There is nothing like looking up into a clear night sky at stars with absolutely no light pollution. Those days are in the past though and the rock climbing gear (ended up accumulating a fair amount of protection, rope, webbing, slings, biners) sits in the garage collecting dust.
That’s awesome! I was in WV for med school and am super sad that I didn’t do as much exploring as I would’ve liked while I was out there. :[ Those sound like great memories though + I don’t doubt that it’d be beautiful there at night away from all the city lights! I miss climbing–I’ve only done outdoor rock climbing twice in my life but it’d be awesome to get to do more!
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
I have always wanted to visit Joshua Tree National Park, and your pictures bumped it up a few spots on my Bucket List. I have a friend that lives super close by, and she goes by often. It will be amazing to go and join her to go see this cool park someday!
Aww, yay! I hope you get to go sometime — that’s awesome that you have a friend who lives nearby — she can show you all the best places to go! :]! I spent way less time than I would’ve liked there, but hopefully next time, I can hang out for a longer period of time! *-*
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
Chollas are very common where I am from, and they never cease to amaze me with their beauty. One tip I have for anyone who visits the forest is- bring a comb! You DO NOT want to try to remove a cholla pod with your fingers. Pull the pod out with the comb and then you can work on pulling out any remaining spines with your fingers.
Ahh, thanks for letting me know! Will definitely have to keep that in mind (thankfully didn’t get pricked this time and hope to never experience that but knowing this will definitely be useful)! Thank you!
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
What interesting sights! I’ve never had a chance to get out there but it’s definitely on my list. Thanks for sharing!
I’m sad that it took this long for me to get out there (hoping to go back to spend a longer amount of time there next time) — I hope you get to go sometime!
Ohh.. it’s so cool to visit a cactus garden. Teddybear chollas sound cute, but I’ll be careful not to hug them! 😄🌵
hahaha, right? They sound so cute and cuddly, but definitely better to admire from afar! :P
My partner absolutely loves cactus’s so she would really like to go on a walk through this part of the national park!
Aww, I hope she (or both of you) get to check this out sometime! Might wanna stop by Saguaro National Park sometime too if you haven’t already! :]
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
I loved Joshua Tree but we were only there for a few hours. I would love to go back! We did do this trail though, it was in the dark with flashlights LOL
I only got to hang out for a couple hours too, but definitely wanna go back sometime! Glad you didn’t get into any of the cacti!!
The scenery is soooooo different there than on the East Coast. I would love to visit!
It definitely is! I hope you get to check it out sometime! :]
I’m always amazed at how the National Park sin California have vastly different landscapes. I’d love to get to Joshua Tree in the next couple of years, it looks so unique and beautiful from your pictures.
I hope you get to sometime! I think I’ve (finally) been to all of them now, but there are a few I haven’t seen in ages upon ages, so I’d love to go back! :P
Joshua Tree National Park is high up on my USA bucket list. I love desert landscapes, and JT is so unique. Thanks for this inspo, I think the Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail would be a great one to do when I can finally visit! Just need the Canada/USA border to reopen.
For sure! I hope you get to go sometime! There are a lottt of places I’d love to check out in Canada but will have to wait on those for now as well!
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
I have always wanted to visit Joshua Tree. Hoping I will be able to this year. Such a great guide to visiting the Cactus Garden. Pinning so I have this when I do make it there.
I hope you get to this year! :D It’s such a cool place to visit/explore!
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
You have sold Joshua Tree to me! It looks beautiful and I’d love to explore. Thanks for the tip about not hugging the teddybear cholla. I would have been tempted and they do look painful if you had to remove them!
hahaha, definitely. :[ They’re deceivingly cute!
Looking like an unusual landscape… an interesting place!
I’m hoping I can go back sometime + spend more time there! *-*
I love day hikes so would love to check out all the cactus/cacti on this Joshua Tree National Park trail. So beautiful!
Agreed! :D I hope you get to visit sometime! I wanna go back!
Those cacti with the fluffy-looking spikes almost looks like fire-weed in autumn! It must be cool to see them up close (to see they are in fact spikey, not fluffy!)
The skull rock is pretty amazing too!
Josy A recently posted…Rohr Lake – Pemberton Hikes
hahaha, from a distance they really do like kinda fluffy! (So deceiving. :( )
It’s apparently an awesome place for climbing so I really wanna go back sometime for that! *-*
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
I can’t believe I have never made it to Joshua Tree having lived in CA for so long! Hopefully this is my motivation!
It took me a few decades to finally get over there so don’t feel too bad! :D…
Gorgeous pictures. I’m saving this post…hope to visit someday! Skull rock is really neat looking.
Yay! I hope you get to go sometime! :]
Farrah recently posted…Wildlife Tour to Anacapa Island
Wow, this one is kind of unique! I need to add Natural parks on my itinerary when I go to California.
It’s such a cool park! I hope to go back sometime so I can spend more time there! :]
Farrah recently posted…Wildlife Tour to Anacapa Island
Though I too live in desert but never saw such type of cactus. Cholla cactus looks very unique and worth visiting in Joshua tree national park. Thanks for all tips as they are useful for first timers.
It’s cool how there are so many varieties of cacti out there! :] I’d love to get to spend more time there someday!
Farrah recently posted…Grant Tree and General Sherman Tree Trails
Seems like an amazing place we went to Joshua tree national park it was fantastic!
Yay! Glad you got to go as well! I’d love to go back sometime to explore more!
Farrah recently posted…McCorkle to Indian Joe Creek to Cave Rocks Road Loop