Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Joshua Tree National Park

In December 2020, we took a road trip to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. Palm Springs is about a 2 hour drive from our home in San Diego. We spent three nights at the Margaritaville Resort in Palm Springs and took day trips to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert and Joshua Tree National Park. If you're in the area, I highly recommend visiting these places. Scroll to the bottom for photo gallery.

The Living Desert and Gardens

I highly recommend this garden and zoo in Palm Desert. It was our second time there and we were delighted to see the new open Australian exhibit where you can stroll amongst the wallabies. They are such sweet, friendly, incredible and happy creatures. There are a lot of animals to see at Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, including giraffes (whom you can feed when there's not a pandemic going on), several type of cats, zebras, camels, and more. They also have beautiful gardens to stroll through, as well as an impressive model railroad town.

Joshua Tree National Park

This was our first time at Joshua Tree National Park and honestly, I didn't know what to expect. It was beautiful and tranquil. From its giant boulders to its Joshua Trees, it's paradise for nature lovers. My husband brought his rock climbing gear and scaled a few giant boulders there. We also went on a couple hikes with our one year old in tow. We did the Cap Rock loop which was pretty short and the Barker Dam trail which was around 2.5 miles round trip. There was no water at the dam in December. As we were finishing up our dam hike, we got to witness a beautiful full moon rising over the desert landscape. It was a magical sight.

Have you been to Joshua Tree National Park? If so, let me know what activities you enjoy doing there the most. Enjoy the photos!