Pudgy Buffalo

1. Hidden Valley Nature Trail

Highlights:

• 1 mile (1.6 km) / moderately easy
• Cattle rustler’s hideaway
• Nature trail with interpretive signs
• Picnic area

Overview:

Rustle up a good time on the Hidden Valley Nature Trail! This moderately easy 1-mile (1.6 km) loop trail slips through a secret passageway between rocks to explore a fascinating valley once used as a hideaway by thieves and bandits to stash stolen livestock. Interpretive signs along the trail showcase the area’s cool flora and fauna, and Joshua Tree National Park’s famous monzogranite formations provide excellent challenges for rock climbers and boulderers. With plenty of interesting things to discover, Hidden Valley Nature Trail is a visitor favorite.

2. Discovery Trail

Highlights:

• .7 miles (1.1 km) / easy
• Nature trail for young explorers
• Skull Rock views
• Slot canyons
• Viewing binoculars

Overview:

Discovery Trail is a fun and easy .7-mile (1.1 km) loop hike designed especially for young explorers. Discovery Trail loops around the boulder fields opposite Skull Rock, sharing easy-to-understand details along the way about Joshua Tree’s unique and unusual features. Great for families, the trail was developed by local kids from the Morongo Unified School District under guidance from park rangers in 2012, and built by high school students from the Youth Conservation Corps in 2013. Discovery Trail gives visitors of all ages an opportunity to stretch their legs, have fun exploring, and learn about Joshua Tree’s best highlights.

3. Arch Rock Trail

Highlights:

• 1.4 miles (2.3 km) / easy
• Arch Rock formation
• Nature trail with interpretive signs

Overview:

Let your imagination run wild as your eyes feast upon a smorgasbord of boulders of all shapes and sizes on this hike to Arch Rock! Arch Rock Trail is an easy 1.4-mile (2.3 km) out-and-back hike with a small lollipop loop at the end which leads to famous Arch Rock. The relatively flat trail ambles down a sandy path and then loops up in a scramble over rocks to the arching 30-foot (9 m) rock. Along the way, educational placards spotlight the area’s unique geology. This trail is great for casual explorers, adventurous families, photo bugs, night owls, and anyone who wants to see a really cool desert landscape.

4. Barker Dam Loop

Highlights:

• 1.1 miles (1.8 km) / moderately easy
• National Register of Historic Places site
• Nature trail with interpretive signs
• Petroglyphs

Overview:

Discover an old-timey dam flowing with western history, a birding paradise, a major bighorn sheep habitat, ancient petroglyphs, and Hollywood movie-making gone awry on this moderately easy 1.1-mile (1.8 km) loop hike to National Register of Historic Places standout Barker Dam. Although this popular trail has minimal elevation gain, it puts adventurers up close and personal with boulders as it scrambles through the Mojave Desert to the turn-of-the-century dam. Along the way, informative placards spotlight the area’s fascinating history, ecosystem, and inhabitants.

5. Split Rock Loop Trail

Highlights:

• 2 miles (3.2 km) to 2.5 miles (4 km) / moderate
• Split Rock, Face Rock, crazy rock shapes
• Indigenous shelter
• Interpretive signs along trail
• Picnic area

Come face-to-face with some of the coolest, spookiest, funniest, cutest, and craziest rock formations in Joshua Tree on this moderate 2-mile (3.2 km) to 2.5-mile (4 km) hike around Split Rock Loop Trail! Along the way, visit an ancient alcove used by Indigenous people, check out the split that named Split Rock, navigate classic granite terrain, and visit a monolith with a distinctly human look. Informative signs along the trail highlight the notable features of this superlative slice of the Mojave famous for its rock “faces.”