Keys View

Hikers know that the very best views aren’t always found by following short, paved trails to official, guardrail-lined park overlooks. Keys View is a case in point. This viewpoint, arguably the best in the national park, offers magnificent vistas by any standard; however, the vistas are even better from adjacent Inspiration Peak.

A wheelchair-accessible path leads to the Keys View overlook, named for Bill Keys, rancher, miner, convicted murderer, and Joshua Tree’s most colorful character. From here, a footpath ascends to Inspiration Peak, where the vistas stretch even farther and wider.

At 5,558 feet, Inspiration Peak rises just high enough to outdo its famous neighbor. It’s taller than Warren Peak, Eureka Peak, and Ryan Mountain, and though it requires a bit of sweat equity to climb, the payoff is pure Trailmaster gold. From the summit you see all the splendor available at Keys View – plus bonus panoramas of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, the distant Sierra Nevada, and, on clear days, even the faint outlines of mountains south of the border in Mexico.

The south-facing view is particularly dramatic. From the crest, the mountains don’t roll gently – they fall away in dizzying fashion, plunging thousands of feet toward the Coachella Valley. Below sprawls Palm Springs and its sunbaked suburbs, with the Salton Sea shimmering at the far end like a misplaced ocean. The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains frame the horizon, with 10,894-foot Mt. San Jacinto presiding like a stone monarch. To the northwest towers Mt. San Gorgonio, tallest peak in Southern California, snow-capped in winter and proud year-round.

And then there’s the San Andreas Fault, laid bare below. Park service displays help point it out, but once you know what you’re looking for, it’s unmistakable: a vast scar cutting the valley from end to end, a reminder that California’s drama isn’t just in its scenery.

On windy days – and there are plenty – hold onto your hat and perhaps your hiking partner. The breezes that buffet Keys View and Inspiration Peak often carry haze away, but sometimes they push smog into the valley. On such days, gazing down at the murky blanket cloaking Palm Springs, I can’t help but wish for a giant celestial fan to blow the air fresh again.