Lost Palms: A Great Day Hike in Joshua Tree National Park

Why Lost Palms Oasis Hike

I never turn down an opportunity to explore a desert fan palm oasis. This unique ecosystem defines the Colorado Desert. Plot the location of every naturally occurring desert fan palm oasis and you would have a map outlining the Colorado Desert. As a footnote, some of these oases do occur just beyond the Colorado Desert in Baja California (Mexico) but you get the point.

In an otherwise hot and sparse environment, fan palm oases provide the gift of shade and vegetation. They provide refugia for several bat species, including the western yellow bat, which is rarely found anywhere but in the skirts of fan palms. The palms provide nesting materials and structure for hooded orioles. Multiple other bird species are winter guests, consuming huge quantities of palm fruits. Coyotes and foxes feast on the fruits that the birds miss. Carpenter bees nest in the palms’ dried fruiting stalks. Monarch butterflies often winter in the palms, clinging to the palm skirts. Palm-boring beetles, the largest species of the wood-boring beetle family, are endemic to desert fan palms. Great horned owls roost and nest in fan palm oases. It is truly a biodiversity hotspot.

There are approximately 158 desert fan palm oases in North America and five of them are located in Joshua Tree National Park:

1. Forty-nine Palms Oasis

2. Lost Palms Oasis

3. Cottonwood Spring Oasis

4. Oasis of Mara

5. Hidden Spring Oasis

Among these oases, Lost Palms Oasis is often considered by many to be the most impressive fan palm oasis in Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP). It features the park’s largest collection of native California fan palms and is located in a dramatic setting of rugged canyons and desert scenery. Without a doubt, this moderately strenuous hike is worth the effort and the extra mileage.

Hike distance: 7.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 885 ft elevation gain.

TrailsNH Hiking Difficulty Calculator: 112 - Moderately Strenuous

Several years ago, I began using the TrailsNH Hiking Difficulty Calculator to give me a better sense of the challenge a hike presents. The chart below summarizes the rating scale but if you’d like more information about the calculator, follow this link to their website.

Let's Start Hiking

This great day hike in Joshua Tree trail starts at Cottonwood Spring Oasis aptly named as it’s located at the end of Cottonwood Spring Rd near the southern entrance to the park. The oasis is a short walk down a dirt path from the parking area.

The Cottonwood Springs Oasis is small but it was an important watering stop in the mid-1800's for prospectors, miners and haulers traveling north to the mining districts in and around what’s now the national park.

There was no evidence of flowing or standing water during our visit in October, but water levels in the Cottonwood Spring have fluctuated dramatically over the years. However, abundant plant growth is proof that a reliable supply of water is able to percolate to the surface through rock fractures and faults and nourish this ‘green island’.

A few cottonwood trees were also evident in the oasis and nearby wash. They must look spectacular in the fall with their bright yellow and orange leaves.

In no time we transitioned from the ‘green island’ oasis to the brown 'desert scrub'. The desert scrub ecosystem is a general term that includes several plant communities that occur at elevations below 3,500 feet where summers are hot, winters are mild, and low irregular rainfall prevails.

It was impossible to miss the spindly, spine-covered stems of the ocotillo that towered over Dave’s head. They are one of the dominant plant species in desert scrub ecosystem of the Colorado Desert. For most of the year they look like a large shrub that died - just a cluster of drab, gray cane-like stalks covered in sharp half inch spines with no obvious signs of life. That’s because ocotillo are a drought deciduous species that shed their leaves during dry seasons or droughts to conserve water and energy. These giants have obviously benefitted from recent fall rains.

After a recent soaking rain, these ocotillo are covered with clusters of small narrow oval leaves about 2 inches long. The leaves themselves are rather fragile and don't have the tough succulent texture common in many desert plants. That is because they don't have to ride out the hot and dry times. The leaves remain for weeks or even months until the ground dries up. Depending on rainfall, ocotillo can repeat this leaf growth and drop cycle four or five times in a year. Research, conducted in the Sonora and Chihuahuan Desert, indicate ocotillo are a ‘long-lived’ desert perennial that can survive for upwards of 70 to 100 years and possibly longer.

The path extends through a series of rolling hills and washes. If you're not attentive, a desert hike like this can seem monotonous because of the seemingly unchanging landscape. However, despite appearing barren at first glance, the desert hosts a surprising amount of flora and fauna if you look closely.

Cholla cactus in all sizes and shapes are prevalent along the entire trail. ‘Chollas’ refers to different shrubby cacti with cylindrical stems made up of segmented joints. These stems are modified branches that have small, wart-like projections from which sharp spines—actually modified leaves—grow. The spines of a silver cholla, in the photo below, are covered with white papery sheaths that give the cactus its distinctive silvery glow.

The spiky surface serves multiple purposes. First, the spines act as a deterrent to herbivores, protecting the plant from being eaten. Additionally, the spines provide shade and help to reduce water loss by creating a microclimate around the plant, reducing the impact of harsh desert conditions.

Silver cholla mainly reproduces through vegetative means, with its stem segments easily detaching from the parent plant and rooting to create new plants when moved by animals or wind. This allows them to "jump" to new areas and establish themselves where they fall. Although silver cholla can generate seeds, reproduction predominantly happens through these detached stem segments found near the base of the plant.

Although this looks like just another cholla, it is in fact a chuckwalla cholla which is classified as a rare plant species. Within JTNP, this cylindric-stemmed cholla is limited to just four locations in the Eagle and Cottonwood Mountains.

Chuckwalla cactus are heavily branched, typically broader than they are tall, and sometimes grow almost like a mat on the ground. This cholla is often mistaken for a silver cholla due to its strong resemblance. However, the chuckwalla is more densely segmented, more compact, and its spines appear whiter than those of a silver cholla. The most noticeable difference is in the flower color. Chuckwalla flowers range from dark red-purple to orange and yellow, while silver cholla flowers are green-yellow. This plant faces significant threats from large-scale renewable energy development and off-road vehicles.

This cholla primarily populates the region of the Chuckwalla Mountains, extending to the northern side of the Chocolate Mountains and the eastern base of the Orocopia Mountains, with additional satellite populations in the Cottonwood and Eagle Mountains within Joshua Tree National Park. The rough estimate for the total number of plants in these isolated areas is 8,000 individual plants.

Source: Baker and Cloud-Hughes: A New Cylindropuntia from California 2014

Much more common than the chuckwalla cholla but just as interesting is the pencil cholla. This plant is named for the thickness of its round joints, approximately one-fourth inch, similar to the diameter of a pencil. In California, no other cholla has joints this narrow. It is also characterized by long spines that can grow nearly two inches long.

Naturally included in the plant inventory along this trail is the California barrel cactus. These cacti contain a nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots, enabling them to thrive in rock crevices by supplying a nitrogen source. Additionally, the bacteria can release chemicals that aid in breaking down the rock, thereby releasing minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, which the cactus can absorb.

As the trail slowly gains elevation, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains appear on the distant horizon.

Nearing another sandy wash in this endless landscape of rolling hills.

After following the wash, the trail crosses a series of shallow canyons with monzogranite walls that are common in JTNP.

As exiting the canyon, our attention shifts to the hike's high elevation point.

Upon reaching the high point, the trail proceeds to a small plateau before descending into a rocky canyon.

As we emerged from the canyon ...

... we caught our first sight of Lost Palm Oasis.

Of course we planned on hiking to the Lost Palm Oasis!

From the viewpoint, Dike Spring Oasis is visible, tucked into the rocky mountain slope just beneath the ridge. Unfortunately, we hadn't anticipated this side trip, which requires an 800-foot rock climb from the canyon floor to the palms.

A narrow and challenging use-trail allows you to scramble down to the oasis. When hiking in JTNP, we always bring rubberized gloves for added grip in these situations.

In less than 10 minutes, Dave had already reached the canyon floor, but I stayed on the trail to capture additional shots of the desert fan palms.

No matter how many fan palm oasis we visit, I am always in awe of this unique ecosystem. In an otherwise hot and sparse environment, palm oases are a luxuriant gift of shade and solace. These palms require a constant supply of water that's possible because of the faults which exist throughout this region. Water reaches the surface along fault lines because fractures created by the fault act as natural pathways for groundwater to flow upwards, essentially creating a 'plumbing system' where water can travel through the fractured rock and emerge as springs at the surface.

The desert fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, is the only palm native to the western United States and is the country's largest native palm. Towering up to 75 feet, the desert fan palm is among the tallest of North American palms. It is definitely the heaviest; a mature desert fan palm can weigh as much as three tons. Its distinctive leaves are shaped like a fan and folded like an accordion. They measure up to six feet in length and are nearly as wide. Looking much like a skirt, the fan palm's dead leaves remain attached to its trunk until removed by fire, wind, or flood. The desert fan palms have a life expectancy of 80-90 years.

Although Washingtonia filifera resembles a tree it is in fact a monocots or grasses. They are a keystone species helps define this entire palm oasis ecosystem. Without these palms, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether.

Although fire is all too common in palm oases, there were no signs of recent fires in Lost Palms Oasis. Fire rarely kills an adult fan palm. Vascular bundles, tubes that transport water and nutrients, are scattered throughout the trunk. This arrangement provides insulation from the heat of a fire. By contrast, trees such as oaks have all their vascular tissue in a ring just beneath the bark. Fire does kill young palms, but it also removes competitors and opens up space for palm seeds to germinate. In fact, desert fan palms increase seed production immediately after fires. A healthy palm can produce as many as 350,000 seeds.

After exploring, it was time to have lunch before starting our hike back to the trailhead. A common side-blotched lizard joined us for lunch.

Despite encountering the 'endless rolling hills and washes' on our return to the trailhead, the experience at the palm oasis justified the effort.

We managed to spot and photograph a zebra-tailed lizard. These small lizards have long, slender legs and rather flat black and white striped tails. They are built for speed, and are incredibly capable of reaching speeds of 28 miles an hour in short sprints. They run semi-erect on only their back legs with their tails curled forward, racing so fast that they are almost impossible for the eye to see. Their protective coloring often hides them from view until they suddenly leap forward and dash away for a hundred feet or so before slamming on the brakes and disappearing against the ground or under a convenient bush.

It was a long day in hot weather but JTNP is always an impressive place for hiking and exploring.