This past weekend we decided to have a little adventure and head to Joshua Tree National Park for the day. My husband and I have been there once before, many many years ago without a toddler in tow so we were excited for some full family, covid-friendly fun.

We went on Saturday around 10:30am and were surprised to find a super long line of cars waiting to enter the park. But we have definitely learned that since outdoor activity is one of the safest options available to everyone right now, that even if it looks crowded it oftentimes isn’t as bad as expected especially at a place like Joshua Tree where there is so much room to spread out.

Prior to entering the park I googled “kid-friendly hikes in Joshua Tree” and we settled on the Hidden Valley trail as our first destination after which we’d just wing it. Hidden Valley is described as a one-mile loop that goes through a small valley surrounded by huge boulders. It’s super rocky and a great place for little kids (and adults) to climb around (safely) on some giant rocks. Although the time estimated for this trail is listed as 30 minutes I’d say it’s much safer to assume it’ll take around an hour because of all the stops you’ll make along the way to look at random plants, animals and of course “special treasures” like teeny rocks, dirt, etc. Our daughter also at one point decided, quite randomly, that she needed to make “sand angels” as she sang Christmas songs.

We loved this trail and would definitely do it again! There were a fair number of people out and about but most were masked and you are rarely in tight quarters having to pass people. After tiring out the little one (and ourselves) on this trail we decided to drive further into the park to Keys View to scope out an aerial view of the San Andreas fault line. This was so neat to see but one quick word to the wise: when we visited, it was so windy you couldn’t keep a hat on but it’s a quick five-minute walk to the vista point and back to your parking spot so it’s totally worth the potential wind burn.

After this we were ready to head home but it would be easy stay and explore the dozens of trails or pull over at all the various lookout points and just walk into the desert to explore. Also, thankfully for me and my small bladder, there are restrooms at all the major trailheads and sometimes even in between. They are basically elevated Porta Potties but they were perfectly clean and worked just fine.

Happy hiking to you all!