Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook - 1.5.2026
We parked at the Boy Scout Trailhead in Joshua Tree National Park... a large parking lot located off of Park Blvd.
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We started hiking north on the Boy Scout Trail... and noticed that a lot of the joshua trees have blooms on them.
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Hiking north on the Boy Scout Trail... with the Ellsmere Island climbing area out there in the distance. You can find the rock climbs on the 'Mountain Project' website.
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After hiking 1.25 miles from the parking lot we will leave the Boy Scout Trail and begin hiking on the Willow Hole Trail.
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Hiking NE on the Willow Hole Trail and getting closer to the 'Outer Mongolia' climbing area... look at the 'Mountain Project' website to find all of the rock climbing routes on it.
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After hiking on the Willow Hole Trail for a quarter-mile we left the trail and started exploring the rock formations that border along the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Exploring the rock formations that border the Wonderland of Rocks... we can see the 'Outer Mongolia' rock climbing area out there on the horizon in the middle of the photo.
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After exploring the Wonderland of Rocks for three-quarters of a mile we have rejoined the Willow Hole Trail and continuing to hike NE.
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We have left the Willow Hole Trail after hiking on it for a quarter-mile... very interesting rock in the foreground.
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We will be off trail for awhile as we head for a Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook.
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There was a little bit of scrambling involved with getting to our Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook.
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The terrain opened up a bit as we continue toward the Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook... located out there at the low point on the horizon.
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Getting closer to the Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook.
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So close to the Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook... we will do a little rock scrambling out there on the right.
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Getting close to the Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook... the town of Twentynine Palms is way out there in the distance.
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After hiking a total of 3.3 miles we have reached the Rattlesnake Canyon Overlook... the easiest way to get into Rattlesnake Canyon is from the Indian Cove entrance to the park... in my opinion, this is a dead-end.
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Denali Girl is coming over to join me at the canyon overlook.
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Denali Girl and I are returning from the canyon overlook.
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Kind of tracing our steps back to the car... we did take a look at the low point in the left-center of the photo to see if we do a shortcut over to the Willow Hole... but the answer was no to making the shortcut.
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Impressive rock formations as we trace our steps back to the car.
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Off trail and tracing our steps back to the car... with the 'Outer Mongolia' climbing area out there on the horizon in the right-center of the photo.
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After tracing our steps a mile back from the canyon overlook we have rejoined the Willow Hole Trail... and will follow it back to rejoin the Boy Scout Trail.
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Almost back to the Boy Scout Trail... with the 'Ellsmere Island' climbing area in the foreground on the far left.
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After hiking a total of 5.5 miles we have rejoined the Boy Scout Trail... the high point in the park is Quail Mountain at 5,813 feet... and it is located on the horizon in the dead-center of the photo.
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We are a stone's throw from the parking lot... the total hike was 6.8 miles, gaining 312 feet of elevation.
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