7 Things To Do In Joshua Tree, California | National Park, Museums, Integratron

Joshua Tree is an interesting place that I would say is all about exploration. Most of your activities will be outdoors and more or less just things to see and take in. You won’t find very typical vacation activities here, so my suggestion is to be open minded going into the trip about what you’ll be able to do.

1.Beauty Bubble: A Salon & Museum

61855 Twentynine Palms Highway, Joshua Tree, CA 92252

I had the pleasure of meeting the owner Jeff Hafler, who explained that he loved history, but wanted to become a hair stylist. When he entered cosmetology school, he began collecting any and all retro hair related products and eventually began staging them in the salon as a way to combine both his interests. It’s pretty cool that you can actually get your hair cut and colored in the museum. This is free and open to the public, and as long as he’s there, Jeff loves to have visitors.

2.Art Queen

This is an area right off the main highway 62 in Joshua Tree that consists of six buildings of art including The World Famous Crochet Museum, an exhibition space, and a vintage trailer among others. It’s a place that the creators wanted to keep pretty low key, so there isn’t a lot of hoopla around the area. I imagine there may be slightly more foot traffic on the weekends, but at the day and time I went, there were very few people out there, so it made for the perfect photo opportunity.

3.World Famous Crochet Museum

As I mentioned, this free and open to the public museum is a part of Art Queen. It’s a very small converted photo booth that maybe only three or four people at most can fit into at a time. Shari Elf began and maintains this collection of various crocheted items such as dogs, elephants, flowers, smiley faces and more. It’s always open and you can park anywhere in the area, as it’s not a far walking distance from any spot in town.

4.Integratron

When I booked this experience, there were only two slots left, and I couldn’t be happier that I did. To participate in a public sound bath, which is their signature experience, it’s only $35. It takes place in a dome-like chamber, where quartz crystal bowls are keyed to the chakras of the body and provide a healing experience for the nervous system. That’s the website description. My description is that it’s a strange, ethereal experience that puts you to sleep, which apparently is typical for most people who participate. It’s meditative, so I had the chance to really reflect on some things, and I even felt like I had an extra pep in my step when I left.

5.Cholla Cactus Garden

This is hiking trail is a part of the official Joshua Tree National Park. Although my Airbnb was just 5 minutes from the park entrance, I had to drive about 45 minutes to this exhibit, which gives you an idea of just how big the park is. Typically you’ll pay $30 for 7 day park entrance; however, this ended up being a free excursion for me as well, because no attendant was at the booth- lucky me! The cactus garden is a quarter mile walk, and one of the shortest trails in the entire park. The cholla cacti are also known as teddy bear cacti, and I could see why, because I thought they were very cute. You don’t want to touch them or get too close, as I understand the needles are not pleasant to remove. It’s incredible to me that they choose this spot in nature to gather and reproduce, and it truly makes for a great scene.

6.Walker Canyon

I traveled about two hours to get here, because I wanted to see the poppy super bloom that everyone had been raving about. Unfortunately, the sun was not out and the poppies refused to open any more than a little bit. I was a little disappointed; however, I quickly got over it, because I was proud to have hiked up to the point that I did and because the view was still amazing.

7.Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum

Just like the Art Queen area, this museum is free and open to the public. I was completely blown away at the extensive acreage that holds over 100 installations created by African-American visual artist and sculptor Noah Purifoy. It’s about twenty minutes from the main part of Joshua Tree, but it really is incredible and worth it to see.