the pinto basin

What a view on the road to Cottonwood descending through Wilson Canyon!The expanse of desert between mountain ranges is a wonderful sight.Leaving Joshua Tree through Cottonwood Visitors' Centre is only 27 miles from Indio.

We entered Joshua Tree in Yucca Valley and exited on Pinto Canyon Rd. Very good choice --- pleasant 1/2 hr desert drive / road in very good condition / very relaxing drive, with Cactus Garden offering a good spot to stretch your legs. Recommend!

The Pinto Basin was boring compared to the West end of the park. The flora and formations are few and far between, but if you keep an open mind, it contains it's own beauty. It's here in the basin, that one appears to drive out of one desert into another.

I drove through, stopped a few places but pretty barren, worth a look but I would turn around after a while.

Joshua Tree NP straddles two different desert environments, the higher, cooler, wetter Mojave Desert and the lower, hotter, drier Colorado Desert, a subdivision of the Sonoran Desert; the large Pinto Basin is the Colorado Desert portion of the National Park. The Joshua Trees and boulder piles that Joshua Tree NP is known for are found in the Mojave Desert and will not be found in the Colorado Desert environment and geology of the Pinto Basin. In fact, the Pinto Basin’s Colorado Desert is even drier than the rest of the Sonoran Desert and cannot support the Saguaros that are normally associated with the Sonoran. With the indefinite closing of the very worthwhile trails to Cottonwood Springs, Mastodon Peak and Lost Palm Oasis near the Cottonwood Visitor Center in the southern portion of the Pinto Basin due to heavy metal contamination from an old mine (the alternate trails being promoted by the NPS are disappointing alternatives), about the only worthwhile destination left is the Pinto Basin is the Cholla Cactus Garden located along Pinto Basin Road in the northwest portion of the Pinto Basin closest to Park Blvd which is the direction most visitors will come from. If one has several days to visit Joshua Tree, driving the length of Pinto Basin Road is worth doing once to see the Colorado Desert environment of the Pinto Basin. However, if time is short, one could skip the Pinto Basin, other than to see the Cholla Cactus Garden, especially with the possibility of delays south of the Garden due to road work although we found them to be short and generally only during normal working hours.

We almost skipped this area of Joshua Tree National Park. Very glad we took the time to come here. It is a vast, open space. We seldom saw another person or vehicle but it did not feel lonely. It felt good! Sometimes you just need to get refreshed in this way. Beautiful, changing views as you drive along Pinto Basin Road.

This Park is about 2 Hours east of Los Angeles and very easy to get to. The park has a small per car fee upon entrance but well worth the cost. If you are and avid hiker or even photographer this is an awsome and goregous place to get the perfect landscape shots. Numerous Parking areas for the Hiking as well as many small picnic type areas. If you are afraid of rodents, snakes and bugs, this is not the place for you..Trying to find the spot where U2 made ther Joshua Tree album cover is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Beautiful, Beautiful Park

Not much out there. The Cholla Garden is a great place to stop and ask yourself if you really want to go out into the low desert. Great view but not much once you're in it.

Since we went last weekend during the low season, it was very quiet with no car ahead nor after us. The Pinto Basin is massive and nice; most people tend to concentrate in the northwest side of the National Park where there are more attractions. However, I encourage you to drive through the Park by enter and exit from different entrances in order to drive through the Pinto Basin and see all the incredible rocks and plants! Different plants grow in clusters so each mile offers different scenary. Very unique.

Das Pinto Basin durchquert man auf der Fahrt in den südlichen Teil des Parks. Immer wieder findet man am Straßenrand Hinweise auf stillgelegte Minen und bekommt so einen Eindruck davon, wie hart das Leben für die Menschen gewesen sein muss. Auch wenn es dort meistens staubtrocken aussieht, erkennt man die Spuren von Wasserläufen, die bei entfernten Regenfällen schnell zu gefährlichen Überflutungen führen können. In den letzten drei Jahren ist die Straße zweimal weggespült worden. Im November haben wir auf der Straße Taranteln gesehen, für die die Paarungszeit gerade begonnen hatte.

La ruta estaba nueva, impecable, sin un pozo, al menos a esta fecha vaya sin temor que desde cottonwood visitor center hasta el west entrance fuimos manejando en un camino en perfecto estado.