Exploring Long Canyon Trail Leading to Joshua Tree National Park

Contrary to most of our hiking blogs, this Long Canyon post showcases only the photos we captured on our initial hike in the canyon, which connects Desert Hot Springs to Joshua Tree National Park.

Hike Distance: 8.12 miles

Elevation Gain: 1,068 feet

TrailsNH Hiking Difficulty Calculator: 132 – Moderately Strenuous

Click here to navigate to the TrailsNH website for a description of the hiking difficulty calculator

Lets Start Hiking

The weather is perfect for early morning hiking in March.

Plants were in bloom along the trail

We decided to veer off to the right toward a side canyon when we reached the parked car. The geological features in the side canyon seemed more interesting to us than continuing to follow Long Canyon.

The perfect lunch spot.

The side canyon dead-ended at a spectacular rock wall.

We decided to more closely examine a small cave near the top of the rock wall, At this point we turned back to the trailhead.