Starbuck's Exploring

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Sample Trips

Here are some sample trips. This site is reader-supported. A lot of work goes into this site. Please help me keep it sustainable, interesting, and ad-free by becoming a subscriber. Thanks for your help!

10 posts

Keys Ranch

Keys Ranch

While not as well-known as many of the other visitor attractions in Joshua Tree National Park, Keys Ranch is one of the true gems of the park. To protect the ranch from theft and vandalism, the Park Service only allows access via a ranger-guided tour. The tour requires advance reservations

Fried Liver Wash

Fried Liver Wash

Fried Liver Wash could be one of the most boring hikes I've ever done in Joshua Tree. The canyon really is non-descript. It is just another desert canyon. And to make matters worse, it is a lengthy hike. I do like lengthy hikes, but they need to have

Ryan Mountain

Ryan Mountain

Ryan Mountain is one of the best and most popular hikes in all of Joshua Tree National Park. It is a signature hike. The mountain rises above the boulder-strewn plains of Lost Horse and Queen Valleys and has fantastic panoramic views only available elsewhere in the park by long, cross-country

Fortynine Palms Oasis

Fortynine Palms Oasis

The Fortynine Palms Oasis is a popular and well-traveled hike to a shady palm oasis just outside of Twentynine Palms. The trail was once part of an old Indian trail. The Serrano and Chemehuevi Indians knew this oasis well, ate fruit from the palms, and used the fronds in their

Barker Dam

Barker Dam

It goes without saying that water is vital in the desert, and that is no different in Joshua Tree. A rancher by the name of C.O. Barker built the dam around 1902 to improve the natural tank here for his cattle. Along with the nearby Cow Camp reservoir, the

Boy Scout Trail

Boy Scout Trail

This is a shuttle hike that goes along the edge of the maze that is the Wonderland of Rocks and then drops down into Indian Cove. It's not a backcountry hike to an old mine or anything, but I am including it for completeness of Joshua Tree hikes

Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley

Reportedly, Bill Keys dynamited a few boulders to allow cattle to gain entrance in 1921. I’m unsure if that story is true, but Hidden Valley certainly would make for a great corral. A sign along the nature trail says it happened in 1936, so sources vary. The sign at