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Joshua Tree National Park beavertail cactus
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Joshua Tree National Park
Keys View
 
This popular destination, perched on the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, provides panoramic views of the Coachella Valley and is well worth the 20-minute drive from Park Boulevard down Keys View Road.

Wheelchair Accessible
The lookout is wheelchair accessible, or take the .2-mile-loop trail up the ridge for especially nice views. Look for the shining surface of the Salton Sea, which is 230 feet below sea level, on the far left. Looking to the right, the Santa Rosa Mountains are behind Indio and, along with 10,800-foot San Jacinto Peak behind Palm Springs, form the high points of the Peninsular Ranges. Further right, the usually snow-covered peak of 11,500-foot San Gorgonio Mountain is clearly visable.

San Andreas Fault
The southwest side of the ridge drops nearly a mile in elevation into the Coachella Valley. The infamous San Andreas Fault, stretching 700 miles from the Gulf of California to the Mendocino Coast north of San Francisco, runs through the valley and can be seen below.

Mexico
On a really clear day, you might be able to see Signal Mountain in Mexico, although that has become somewhat rare due to the poor air quality of recent years.

Link to park map
Park Map
View a park map with shaded relief (636k PDF)
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Link to hiking trail
Lost Horse Trail
Hike to the site of a ten-stamp mill.
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Mojave Mound Cactus Bloom

Did You Know?
With 813 species of vascular plants, Joshua Tree is renowned for its plant diversity. No wonder that when the area was first proposed for preservation in the early 1930s, the name suggested was Desert Plants National Park.
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Last Updated: December 21, 2010 at 14:53 MST