Spring into Joshua Tree 🌸🌞🏜️
Blooming trees, starry skies, and National Park mystery thrills.
Hello, desert dreamers, stargazers, and mystery seekers,
It’s spring in Joshua Tree. The desert awakens under the warm sun and rests under the dark, starlit skies. It’s the perfect time to visit: not too hot, not too crowded, and bursting with life.
And if you’re lucky—very lucky—you might experience something rare: Joshua Trees in bloom.
Did you know that they bloom only a few times in their first hundred years of life?
That means the blossoms you see rising from their spiky crowns may have been waiting since the 1920s to bloom, long before Route 66, before this land became a National Park, and long before I began crafting mystery thrillers inspired by the desert.
Each desert flower, cactus, and Joshua Tree bloom is like a time traveler, silently waiting to bloom.
Map Your Joshua Journey 🗺️ 🧗♂️📸
Let’s follow the blooms, the stars, and the stories where ancient trees, desert trails, and mysteries await.
Joshua trees grow between 2,800 and 5,800 feet. Enter Joshua Tree and follow the scenic Park Boulevard through the heart of the park.
Blooms are rare. Rain and a hard freeze trigger them. Cold snaps damage branch tips, sparking new growth. The flowers are waxy, pale, and smell like coconut. They bloom for the yucca moth, which lays its eggs as it pollinates. Life begins as one feeds the other.
You’ll find plenty of places to stop, snap a photo, and soak in panoramic views of Joshua trees set against a backdrop of rugged rock formations. Even better, park at a designated area and take a short hike.
I recommend camping overnight at Hidden Valley, nestled among towering boulders. It’s a sheltered space with an easy 1-mile loop trail that winds through a landscape dotted with Joshua trees, offering intimate encounters with these desert dwellers. The surrounding rock formations add to the visual magic and whisper stories of the valley’s storied past.
📍 Map from my new book Do Not Die Today
A National Park Mystery Thriller Set in Joshua Tree National Park
Desert Nights & Starry Delights 🌕🔭🎶
I love the desert most after dark. There’s something incredible about the way stars scatter across the dark sky, bright, scattered, endless.
Bring a blanket. Stay awhile. Let the silence settle. Let the stories begin.
As the night deepens, let’s gather ‘round the campground. Some come for the music and the moonlight. Let’s tell stories, the kind you whisper when the wind picks up and shadows stretch long. Talk of things lost in the desert. Bones half-buried in the sand. Screams in the night. Friends who came for fun and found danger instead.
From Hidden Valley to the Hall of Horrors, Barker Dam to the trail up Ryan Mountain, every corner of the park holds secrets. Some are just stories. Some are not.
So pass the flashlight. Pour the hot cocoa. Watch the dark. In Joshua Tree, night isn’t just night, it’s where the desert breathes and danger waits.
And if you're here this weekend, you're in luck. The Full Moon and Festival at Sky’s the Limit Observatory (April 11–12) promises moon walks, telescope tours, live music, and stargazing just outside the park.
Thrills, chills, and a sky full of stars. What more could a mystery-thriller lover want?
🎬 Watch the Video Trailer for Do Not Die Today 💀📽️
Share Your Journey 🌙🎒💀
Visit your favorite National Park for free on April 19th.
Mark your calendars: April 19th, 2025. National Park Week kicks off with Free Entrance Day! Enjoy the beauty of your favorite National Park without paying the entrance fee. This nine-day celebration (April 19-27) includes a variety of park events and activities.
Have you witnessed the magic of a Joshua Tree bloom?
Stood under a desert sky at a stargazing festival?
Told a scary campground story?
Share your story.