Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree National Park

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Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree National Park

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 1.0 miles / 1.6 km
Duration: 1 hour or less

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Overview: If time or the fierce sun means you only have the chance for one short hike at Joshua Tree National Park, then Hidden Valley is a great choice.

Encircled on all sides by the familiar golden rock outcroppings of the Joshua Tree park, Hidden Valley certainly lives up to is name. In addition to being a great sheltered location, this place is also rumored to have been well known to 19th century cattle rustlers who would hide their bovine hoards in here.

The nature trail takes you on a circuitous route around some of the most prominent features of the park, including interpretive guides to the area’s diversity, plantlife and geology.

Elevation gain:
• Approx 140ft (from 4,180 - 4,270ft)

Tips: • It's wise to remember the sunscreen, protective clothing and water. Thankfully however this is only a short and well marked trail so your dangers to exposure are reduced.
• Some folk like to deviate from the trail and explore deeper into the rocks. Please respect and protect the nature around you if you choose to do so also.
• Seasons: Daytime temperatures vary significantly from 60°F (15°C) at winter to over 100°F (38°C) in the summer months. Spring and fall are great times to visit, though average daytime temperatures still average around 85°F (29°C).
• Contact: Park rangers are available at (760) 367-5500.

Points of Interest

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Hidden Valley Trailhead

Begin the hike at the Hidden Valley trailhead located just south of the main park road, near Intersection rock, where you’ll commonly find rock climbers doing what comes naturally to them.

This short guide begins at the parking lot, marked out by a roped entrance. Follow the trail into the valley with a brief gentle climb up across rocks and down onto the level valley floor.

Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree National Park Photo

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Junction

Though the signs don’t recommend a direction at this point, everybody we observed on this popular trail took a clockwise route, and we’re happy to believe in the wisdom of crowds.

The majority of this hike is along the sandy valley floor, making for an easy and comfortable experience.

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Joshua Trees

We may call them trees, they may look like trees, but they’re really not trees at all. These iconic are actually yucca plants - just really big ones! They grow fast, relative to other desert plants, at around 1½ inches each year - growing up to 50 feet tall and living for hundreds and occasionally even thousands of years.

If you’re curious about why we call them joshua trees - aside from the fact that it’s a much catchier name than yucca brevifolia - it stems from a group of 19th century Mormon settlers who were reminded of biblical accounts of Joshua, thrusting his hands into the air in prayer.

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Park Geology

The distinctive rock formations of Joshua Tree National Park are comprised of a granite material which originally formed from molten lava underground. Over a million years of erosion - mostly occurring before this region became a desert environment - washed away the surface material and weathered away at the fractured granite seams, leaving behind these impressive stacks of rocks.

Keep your eyes peeled for dykes - including one called out by an interpretive sign in the northeast side of the valley. Dykes are signs of a more recent geological process, where another type of molten rock was forced into the cracks in the granite, forming a hard quartz seam.