Joshua Tree Giant Rock | SoCal Family Vacation

For our SoCal family vacation we spent a few days in San Diego where we visited our friends and got to meet her newest addition to the family, baby Lukas. After San Diego, we spent the last few days of our trip in the desert where we explored Joshua Tree.

I knew I wanted to make a stop in Twenty Nine Palms and check out Mojave Moon Apothecary and I’m so glad that I did. Their flagship store is so cute and they have all the crystals you need. I got to smell their scented perfumed and incense and even found out that their local store sells herbal tea. You can order some things online but unfortunately most of their stuff is for the locals. I get my sage and palo santo sticks from Mojave Moon Apothecary and while in the shop, I tried their roller ball scented oil and fell in love with Desert Rose. Once I got home I made sure to order their candle. If you’re in the Twenty Nine Palms area in Joshua Tree, this place is a must!

Up next on our road trip was Giant Rock. Our kids love climbing just about everything so I knew seeing these gigantic rocks would be a big hit for the kids. I read online that there were two roads leading to Giant Rock where a blogger suggested Linn Road but it was so bumpy and uneven. The long roads leading to Giant Rock is unpaved and rocky so regardless both ways are bumpy but Linn was the worse for us and we were in a AWD SUV. My poor babies were napping and I had to put pillows up in their carseat to keep their heads from bopping. When we finished exploring we took the opposite route and it was so much easier. Still bumpy but not like a roller coaster. The sands are soft so you have to make sure you stay on the path otherwise you can get stuck if you’re in a regular sedan. The desert is hot y’all. And even though we explore in early April, we still needed ample sunblock.

We enjoyed seeing the massive rocks even though there was nothing else out there lol. The drive is all desert and there isn’t much to see. It might not be too impressive if you’re not into boulders and what not but if you plan to visit Joshua Tree National Park, then you can save yourself an extra trip and just explore the national park. Joshua Tree is so big you would need several days to really explore it. You can drive through and sightsee in maybe an hour tops but if you want to stop and take it all and even hike the trails…you would need a day or two. The great news is that the pass for JTNP is good for seven days. That just lets you know how massive this park is. I wish I had realized that and not save our last day to explore the park.

The kids were super excited to see the odd shape trees and had so many questions as to why the trees were so different from back home. The park gave us junior booklets where the kids could read and see photos of what kind of wildlife to expect. They tried so hard to find tortoises but we didn’t see any kind of wildlife except one lizard. By the time we did our third stop, they were getting tired and losing interest. This is why you need more than one day to explore the park. After having a snack break (you can pack an entire day’s lunch since there’s plenty of picnic tables located at every stop point) the kids said they were tired. Also, after all the climbing and searching through some fallen trees for snakes and other wildlife to no avail, they gave up. So we finished the exploration by car and drove through the rest of the park admiring the fork-like cactus palm trees.

When we finished our exploration, we had a late lunch at Jelly Donut Twenty Nine Palms where we found out it’s owned by Vietnamese folks. We had their soupy ramen and Viet coffee and it was super satisfying. Because it’s called Jelly Donut, you would never guess that they serve food but they do and I also highly recommend the place if you’re looking for some Viet comfort food. Their donuts were good too!!!

During our stay out in Joshua Tree we had the cutest AirBnB in Landers called Moonstone Adobe. I highly recommend the rental so if you’re interested in visiting, check out the property on AirBnb and Instagram. Not only was it the perfect retreat after a long day of exploring, it is also quite aesthetic you’ll want to take plenty of photos. Our kids loved soaking in the hot tub and we enjoyed the outdoor fireplace and seating area.

Joshua Tree has always been on my bucket list even before I had the little ones. It was so much more fun with the kiddos and I loved the memories we made together out there.

For this exploration I shot with the Contax G1 on Fuji 400h Pro. Home developed and scanned.