THE BEST 3 PHOTO SPOTS IN JOSHUA TREE, CALIFORNIA

Wearing Faithfull the Brand jumpsuit from Anthropologie, Soludos sandals (another color combination), and Baggu clutch.

One of my favorite places to visit is the desert, especially Joshua Tree. I’ve been to Joshua Tree 3x this year and love it more with every visit. There’s so much to see, so many different hikes, and the landscape around you from every corner is beautiful. What I love most though are the pockets of interesting land filled with plants or history that you can’t find elsewhere. My last trip to Joshua Tree was short, only 2-days, but very productive. Josh and I hiked the 49 palms oasis hike and after had about an hour left of sunlight. To optimize our time we rushed home to change, I fixed my hair and makeup in the car while Josh drove to our next destination, Ryan Ranch and we literally ran half a mile to make it to the adobe structure to take these photos. If you’re thinking about traveling to Joshua Tree and want to optimize your time for photos, below are 3 of my favorite places to take photos that don’t require a long hike and that have interesting/different backgrounds.

3 Great and Easy Photos Spots in Joshua Tree, California: 

1. Ryan Ranch: where these photos were taken. The old adobe structures make a great backdrop and you can walk through the ruins of the existing adobe walls which is super cool. It’s also only a 1.2-mile hike (round-trip) and the pathway to Ryan Ranch is filled with joshua trees and cacti making the entire hike beautiful and enjoyable.
2.  Jumbo Rocks Campground: filled with massive boulders and miniature canyons that you can climb. It feels like nature’s playpen for adults. The cool thing about jumbo rocks is you can camp here too. There’s also parking so you don’t have to walk far to capture some cool photos near the boulders. More photos here.
3. Cholla Cactus Garden: previous blog post here. One of the most interesting and fascinating hikes since its full of different cacti including desert lavender, teddybear cholla, and hairy milkweed (don’t you just love these names). If you’re into flower or nature photography this is the hike for you. The great thing too is that it’s completely flat and has a built-in pathway making it very safe.