Joshua Tree National Park: California Riding Hiking Trail
The California Riding Hiking Trail is a 61 kilometre (38 mile) footpath across Joshua Tree National Park. It is typically hiked west to east starting from Black Rock Canyon Campground and ending at the trailhead near the Twentynine Palms park entrance. The trail crosses many park roads and while it avoids the popular attractions it travels through remote sections which offer a nice balance with the usual crowds and driving tours that the American National Parks are known for.
There are not any water sources available near the trail so you need to cache water beforehand. The best locations to cache water is at Covington Flats (kilometre 14), Juniper Flats (kilometre 30), or Twin Tanks (kilometre 42). The trail junction at Covington flats involved dirt roads. I was unsure how my little economy rental car would handle anything other than asphalt and for that reason I only cached water at Juniper and Twin Tanks. Animals like ravens, coyotes, and other people have been known to drink water caches so make sure they are labelled and hidden. Also consider protecting them by more than just the thin plastic. I bought cheap plastic containers from walmart and duct taped the bottles inside just in case.
You have to figure out a way to get back to your car. There is not any cell service which makes things more difficult logistically. Apparently some mobile providers can get spotty cell service near Black Rock. Other people have pre scheduled Lyft (costs about 40$) to get between the trailheads, but using park roads between the fee stations may pose difficulty with that option.
I got a ride to Black Rock Canyon Campground and starting hiking Eastbound. After leaving the RVs behind, you weave through low scrubland and past several
side trails to a wide sandy wash.
Here comes the most elevation gain of the entire hike, a whomping 1000 feet of uphill. You read that correct, this hike is relatively flat from a net elevation perspective. The soft sand does slow things down slightly, but I found it comfortable to hike at a relatively fast pace and cover ground easily. From the highpoint at 5130 feet, it is downhill to the Upper Covington Flats trailhead. I met another hiker who had his collapsable water bottle cache destroyed by coyotes but fortunately had found some labelled leftover water from trail runners in October.
Approaching the road junctions near Twin Tanks, there are spectacular views of Pinto Basin. Pinto Basin is a parched zone of sunken rocks that connects the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts.
The next section from Upper Covington Flats
to Keys View Road / Juniper Flats area is the longest and most remote section of the CRHT. It was also my favourite section. The trail was the most overgrown but I was wearing no shorts and didn't have any problems.
Trace a desert plateau before descending into a sunburnt valley. The trail crosses several dry washes in Covington Flats and climbs again to a panoramic ridge just below 5,000 feet with views over Juniper Flats. Drop, cross washes, and climb again. Look north to Quail Mountain, the highest mountain in the park at 5813 feet. Now, descend into Juniper Flats where you'll see groves of bushy armed Joshua Trees. Many unique rock formations dot the topography as the trail turns downhill into Lost Horse Valley to Keys View trailhead.
My campsite in the Juniper Flats area. I woke up to coyotes howling instead of hot morning coffee. Overnight backcountry camping is free in the park. You have to self register at either the ranger stations or backcountry kiosks. The kiosks are at all the major trailheads and road crossings.
Ryan's Campground
I went off trail accidentally at Ryan's Campground. The trail is easy to navigate so I didn't ever feel the need to look at my map and GPS. Then I stumped on these ruins which I knew were not part of the trail and pulled out the map. I apparently took the Ryan Ranch Trail from the campsite which turned out to be a really nice little detour before connecting back south to the CRHT.
On this next section you pass artifacts left by gold miners, including
old building foundations, wagon parts, and a mine shaft just south of Ryan Mountain. Who was this Ryan dude? The trail quickly climbs again and continues
to Geology Tour trailhead.
I took a great nap and ate a delicious avocado in the shade of this kiosk at Geology Tour Road
Pinto Basin Road. From here the trail and the main park road are only a few hundred metres away from each other and run parallel. The town of Twentynine Palms comes into view. This is the only section of trail that heads north-south instead of east west.
The eastern trailhead - wahoo!