Lost Palms Oasis

Hiked: 1/16/2022
Distance: 8.6 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 3130' (at the oasis)
Elevation Gain: 1200'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.9
Round trip time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: $30 National Parks Fee (one car for one week)
Difficulty: Moderate

Leisa and I camped at Cottonwood Springs in the southern part of Joshua Tree. It was suprising cold, even for January, and we burned more wood for the fire than planned. We accidentally left some food out over night and the coyotes took advantage. We heard loud yipping at 4 AM and the food was gone in the morning, packaging dragged 25' from the site. There was a spur trail in the campground that connected to the rest of the trail system. We had arrived the day before and did a warm up hike to Mastodon Peak. Since it only adds about a mile, Mastodon is often combined with the Oasis hike. The trail was sandy and smooth. It passed by dozens of giant boulder piles and Eagle Mountain was visible to the north. With cool temperatures, we didn't see anything in the way of desert wildlife other than an occasional lizard. The trail seemed flat, but there were numerous small bumps as we moved in and out of washes and adjoining ridges. At the end of the official trail was a sign with a warning about descending into the canyon to reach the oasis. You can't see much of the oasis from the sign, so you have to either partially descend or continue past it to look down on the palms. It was about 100' down to the oasis, and there were a couple of use trails, one much better than the others. I didn't find the best way down at first. Much of the descent path was covered in tiny pebble scree, making footing a concern. Leisa was unsure it was worth descending into the canyon at first, but followed a couple just behind us who did find the best way down. My own scramble down was class 2 and I met up with her at the bottom. The oasis was filled with dozens of beautiful palms and we followed the canyon another thousand feet to some comfortable rocks. We rested for a while as other parties began heading back up. We were able to follow the best use trail on the way back and footing was less of a concern going up. It was quite a popular trail on this MLK holiday weekend.