Point of Interest, Joshua Tree National Park

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The west entrance to Joshua Tree National Park is five miles south of the junction of Highway 62 and Park Boulevard at Joshua Tree Village.

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Ryan Mountain is the second-highest peak in Joshua Tree at 5,461 feet, located roughly in the center of the park.

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The home base for William F. Keys and his family, the Keys Desert Queen Ranch is today listed as a National Historic Register Site.

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Right along the main park road is Skull Rock, a popular stop for Joshua Tree visitors.

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The north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park is in Twentynine Palms, three miles south of the junction of Highway 62 and Utah Trail.

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Stirrup Tank, so named because it's a natural depression that can hold water, is one of Joshua Tree National Park's many rock-climbing areas.

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Pinto Basin Road, one of the main access roads in Joshua Tree National Park, passes through Wilson Canyon.

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The Cholla Cactus Garden exists in the unique ecosystem created by the merger of the upper Mojave Desert and the lower Colorado Desert.

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A 30-minute drive from Cottonwood Campground is the Ocotillo Patch, a roadside stand of cacti that put on a dramatic floral display after even a light rainstorm.

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Seven miles from the southern entrance of the park, Cottonwood Spring Oasis offers plentiful day-use activities as well as nearby camping.

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The south entrance to Joshua Tree National Park near Cottonwood Spring is an access point along Interstate 10, 25 miles east of Indio.

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Twentynine Palms Highway (SR 62), the main access road for the northern part of Joshua Tree National Park, runs east-west straight through the town of Twentynine Palms.

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The San Andreas fault bounds the park's south side, and is easily seen from Keys View.

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Keys View is a favorite spot for Joshua Tree visitors seeking panoramic views of the Coachella Valley to the southwest.

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Known both as Mt. San Jacinto and San Jacinto Peak, the highest peak in the San Jacinto Mountains stands at 10,834 feet.

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Also known as Mount San Gorgonio or Old Greyback, San Gorgonio Mountain is the highest peak in Southern California at 11,503 feet.

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Encompassing approximately 7 million acres, California's Colorado Desert is part of the larger Sonoran Desert.

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A short hike from Cottonwood Spring leads through palo verde and desert willow trees to the remains of Moorten's Mill.

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Named by early miners for supposedly resembling a mastodon head, Mastodon Peak stands 3,440 feet over Cottonwood Spring Oasis.

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The ruins of Mastodon Mine are easily accessible via the Mastodon Peak Trail in the Cottonwood Spring Oasis area.

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The Winona Mill site on the west end of Cottonwood Mountains is accessible via the Mastodon Loop Trail.

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Near Cottonwood Spring is Lost Palms Oasis, which holds the highest concentration of native California fan palms in the park.

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The dirt roads in Upper and Lower Covington Flat, in the far northwest corner of the park, offer a peek at some of the park's largest Joshua trees, junipers, and pinyon pines.

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In the Black Rock Canyon region of Joshua Tree, Eureka Peak is the park's fourth tallest mountain at 5,518 feet.

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The most well-known of the gateway cities for Joshua Tree National Park is Palm Springs.

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The western part of Joshua Tree lies within Morongo Basin, which stretches approximately from I-10 in the south to I-40 in the north.

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In the northwest corner of the park, Black Rock Canyon is a popular spot for camping, hiking and spotting wildlife.

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The small town of Yucca Valley sits right on Joshua Tree's northwestern edge.

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Eclectic Joshua Tree village sits right on the western edge of Joshua Tree National Park.

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Keys View, perched on the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, is a popular stop for park visitors.

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The Little San Bernardino Mountains extend for approximately 40 miles southeast through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties to the Salton Sea, and form the southeast border of Joshua Tree.

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The Salton Sea, visible from Keys View within Joshua Tree National Park, lies directly on the San Andreas Fault.

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The Santa Rosa Mountains are a short mountain range within the Peninsular Ranges system, southwest of Joshua Tree National Park.

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Indio, a city of almost 80,000 residents, lies 25 miles east of Palm Springs on I-10 in the Coachella Valley.

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Mount Signal, located in Mexico, is a distant peak visible on a clear day from the Keys View overlook.

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The Coxcomb Mountains are the most rugged and least visited within Joshua Tree.

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Prospectors and miners came to the area known as the Dale Mining District, 15 miles southeast of Twentynine Palms, as early as 1881.

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The 200-square-mile Pinto Basin is a large, open swath of the Sonoran Desert within Joshua Tree National Park.

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The Eagle Mountains lie partially within the southeastern corner of Joshua Tree, reaching an elevation of 5,351 feet inside the park.

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The Cottonwood Mountains are closest to the park's southern entrance.

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The Hexie Mountains lie within the higher northern Mojave Desert area of the park, and feature numerous washes and a mixture of low and high desert flora and fauna.

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Located in the Joshua Tree backcountry east of Barker Dam, the Queen Valley is home to the park's largest Joshua Tree.

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Constructed by early cattlemen in 1900, Barker Dam was raised in 1949 by rancher William F. Keys.

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The easiest way to access Cap Rock -- thus named because a boulder sits on top of the huge rock formation like a cap -- is via Cap Rock Nature Trail.

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Squaw Tank, a natural depression off Geology Tour Road, was dammed to hold water for cattle by 19th century ranchers.

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While perhaps not as big a draw as the arches in Arches National Park, Arch Rock is nonetheless a pretty spot.

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Cathedral City, part of the metropolitan Palm Springs area, is between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage along Interstate 10, southwest of Joshua Tree National Park.

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This resort town is east of Palm Springs along I-10, southwest of Joshua Tree National Park.

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Just east of Palm Springs, Palm Desert sits in the geographic center of the Coachella Valley, right along I-10 to the southwest of Joshua Tree.

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Desert Hot Springs is a small city in the Coachella Valley to the southwest of Joshua Tree.

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This 39,000-acre wilderness area is 20 miles north of Joshua Tree National Park.

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Cattle rustlers used Cow Camp as a hiding place in the 1880s.

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To access Face Rock, which many believe resembles George Washington, visitors must take the Split Rock Loop Trail.

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Visitors wishing to see the remains of Gold Rose Well, in the north-central part of the park, can take Twentynine Palms Highway east to Gold Crown Road and then head south.

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Within Joshua Tree, "tank" is a general term referring to a natural depression from which a reservoir has been created, usually by cattle ranchers.

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This giant, domelike slab of stone rising about 85 feet from the desert is one of the most popular climbing spots in the park.

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Lost Horse Mine produced more than 10,000 ounces of gold and 16,000 ounces of silver between 1894 and 1931.

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The Wall Street Mill was a gold-ore crushing mill.

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Not true dunes, the Pinto Basin Sand Dunes in the north-central part of the park are a modest layer of fine sand covering an elevated ridge along a fracture.

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There are six mountain ranges in Joshua Tree National Park, among them the Pinto Mountains.

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Queen Mountain, along Joshua Tree's northern border, is in one of park's most remote areas.

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Worth exploring in its own right, the narrow, granite Rattlesnake Canyon offers quick access to the Wonderland of Rocks.

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About three-quarters of a mile south of Pinto Basin Road is the Silver Bell Mine, which operated between 1934 and 1962.

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Narrow Smith Water Canyon gets its name because unusual for Joshua Tree National Park, it has running water in the springtime.

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This easily recognizable rock, with a pronounced vertical split at its base, is at the north end of Split Rock parking area.

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Joshua Tree is well known for rock climbing opportunities, and these rock piles just off the Geology Tour Road make for a good stop if you're up for a scramble.

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In the north-central area of the park is the famed Wonderland of Rocks, a 12-square-mile backcountry maze of monzogranite boulder piles.

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The 25,000-square-mile Mojave Desert covers ground in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, although it is the smallest of the North American deserts, as well as the driest.

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Fancy a desert hike among the Joshua Trees (and junipers, of course)? Check out the trails in the Juniper Flats area.

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The 186,673-acre Sheephole Valley Wilderness is a unit of the Bureau of Land Management on the northeast border of Joshua Tree National Park.

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Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is a critical wildlife corridor inhabited by mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mule deer, and other animals.

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The Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge helps protect the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard and its habitat.

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The Serrano named the oasis "Mara," meaning "the place of little springs and much grass," and used the local spring water to raise corn, beans, pumpkins, and squash.