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National Park Travels Next planned trips: Group 11
Group 23
Group 14

Trip: 12

(Scenery unlike any I've seen in my travels before. )

Visited from Jan 17, 2024 to Jan 24, 2024

(Group 25)

I took an advantage of an offer from Hilton Hotels for three free nights in Las Vegas to visit nearby sites before heading southwest to San Diego.

First up was Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. The Desert National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center also serves Tule Springs and offers some trails into the park. We also drove to the southern edge of the park - which butts up against a Vegas subdivision - where a few other trails offer a closeup view of the site.

Next up was a trip to and tour of Hoover Dam, followed by a visit to Lake Mead NRA. The lake looked low from the overlooks where we stopped. Leaving Las Vegas, we headed into California.

Just over the border was Castle Mountains NM, which is an enclave inside Mojave National Preserve. There are no facilities for Castle Mountain, just some views from a dirt road. More dirt roads faced us on entering Mojave from the north - bad dirt roads that slowed us to 5 mph at times. The scenery, though, was worth it and roads were paved south of the visitor center.

Joshua Tree National Park contains an abundance of the trees for which the park takes its name. A very unusual tree only found in this area. The park also feature piles of rocks that looked like they had been intentionally stacked, but they were all natural. The rock piles, the trees, and the natural beauty of the land made this a fascinating park.

We continued on to San Diego where we planned to visit Cabrillo National Monument. Awaking to a steady downpour, the rain got heavier as we left the motel and drove though flooded streets to the park, only to find the visitor center closed due to a leaky roof. The rain did end while we were there, allowing us a little time to visit the ocean, but then we had to head back to Las Vegas.

The final stop was a day-trip over to Death Valley National Park. Well known for being below sea level (the visitor center was well over 100 feet below), I was surprised when the park road to the southern end of the park climbed to nearly 5,000 feet above sea level. Several high ridges pass through the park offering grand vistas and snow-capped peaks.

After a morning trip to Red Rock National Conservation Area (part of BLM, not NPS) near Las Vegas, it was time to head home.

Park units visited during this trip

Click on any of the parks listed below to see the page specific to that park.

The park page will have my comments about the site, photos and links to both the NPS official page and my blog entry for the park.

The interactive map in the top right of this page shows the location of each unit. You can zoom in and move around on the map. The rectangle icon in the top right will expand the map to full screen. Clicking on any unit in the map will open a small information window. The map and icons on it are based on the same information found in the Google Earth KML files, which you can create and download from the Home page.

Other parks visited during this trip

The places listed below are not part of the National Park Service's official 431 sites, but were visited during this trip.
Click on a line to see more information about that park along with a link to the park's official web page.

Group Photo
(Lake Mead at Hoover Dam, Lake Mead NRA)

©2023 SKM All text and photos not otherwise credited