Every Trail Tells a Story
Fortynine Palms
A true desert paradox: lush oasis tucked into barren canyon.
Sweeping ridge views of city and mountain before the big reveal.
Palms, pools, and the chance to spot wildlife in the shade.
Fortynine Palms Oasis celebrates life. Native California fan palm cluster near handsome boulder-lined pools. Fuzzy cattails, ferns, and grasses sway in the breeze. An oasis like this one gives you a chance to view the desert in terms that are the exact opposite of its stereotypical dry hostility. If the desert is the land God forgot, then the Creator must have had a sudden afterthought and decided to sprinkle this parched land with oases, reminders of His lush handiwork.
Fortynine Palms Oasis has retained a wonderful air of remoteness. An old trail climbs a steep ridge and offers the hiker expansive views of the Sheephole and Bullion mountain ranges. On the exposed ridge, barrel cacti, creosote, yucca, and brittlebush brave the heat. As the trail winds up and over a rocky crest, the restful green of the oasis comes into view.
At the oasis, nature’s personality abruptly changes, and the dry, sunbaked ridges give way to dripping springs, pools, and the blessed shade of palms and cottonwoods. Unlike those oases strung out for miles along a stream, Fortynine Palms Oasis is a close-knit palm family centered on a generous supply of surface water. Seeps and springs fill numerous basins set among the rocks at different levels. Mesquite and willow thrive alongside the palms. Singing house finches and croaking frogs provide a musical interlude.
Perched on a steep canyon wall, Fortynine Palms Oasis overlooks the town of Twentynine Palms, but its untouched beauty makes it seem a lot farther removed from civilization. The irony, of course, is that while the cities of Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms keep expanding – gas stations, chain stores, and subdivisions creeping outward – the palms here remain rooted, patient, timeless. Developers may dream of fountains in front of desert condos, but nature’s fountains still flow here, tucked away in this canyon.
And so the oasis becomes more than just a place for shade and water. It’s a reminder that in a rapidly changing desert, not every change is man-made. Some are miraculous, enduring, and stubbornly beautiful.
From Highway 62 about 5.5 miles west of Twentynine Palms and 11 miles east of the town of Joshua Tree, turn south on Fortynine Palms Canyon Road and follow it 2 miles to its end at a National Park Service parking area and the trailhead.
The trail rises through a Spartan rockscape dotted with cacti and jojoba. After a brisk climb, catch your breath atop a ridgetop and enjoy the view of Twentynine Palms and the surrounding desert. Lichen-painted rocks add splashes of color and, depending on the season, barrel cactus and brittlebush provide their own accents.
From the ridge, the path descends past mesquite and yucca. Soon the oasis comes into view, a surprising pocket of green where palms, willows, and mesquite gather around springs and shaded pools. Watch for bighorn sheep on the slopes or birds flitting among the fronds. Fire-scarred trunks are reminders that even oases must endure the desert’s cycles of destruction and renewal.