View from Queen Mountain
On December 26 we awoke to the coldest morning of our trip. It was in the mid 20s and the wind, though it had died down from theprevious night, was still gusting pretty good. After packing up camp and sucking down some hot coffee, we headed towards our target of the day, Queen Mountain.
Queen Mountain is one of the highest points in the park and offers great views towards the Wonderland of Rocks below, as well as towards the higher peaks of San Jacinto and San Gorgonio in the distance. After several days of clouds that had cancelled other peak plans, I was happy to awake to a clear sky, even if it was super cold and windy. I was determined to do at least one cross country desert summit, and based on our location and time frame Queen Mountain was the target.
The hike is not a hard one for seasoned desert hikers and peak baggers. Only 3.5 miles round trip with 1500 feet of elevation gain, it’s a nice hike. The route is simple and straightforward, though steep and scrambly for part of it. It goes up a gully which protected us from the wind and kept us warm, and it was a lot of fun hopping around the rocks on the climb. About half way up we found a use trail running along the western wall of the gully – once on this trail our progress sped up since there was far less boulder hopping. We followed this use trail back as well.
The summit is a fun little scramble, or at least we made it so. There was some snow obstructing the actual trail, so our approach wasn’t the traditional approach. Combined with some ice on the smooth rock slabs, the final stretch to the summit was a bit trickier than I anticiapted. Fortunately, on the way down we found the correct route and it was a quick exit from there.
Queen Mountain has two peaks that are a mere 10 feet in elevation difference. Every source and map I found said that the western bump was the highest of the two, except for my National Geographic Topo software which stated the eastern bump was the higher one. I went with the books and headed for the western summit – it was a more impressive rock pile, plus it had the better view down into the Wonderland of Rocks. It also had a summit register. So I consider this one done!
Style:
Out and back
Cross-Country
Distance:
3.5 mi round trip
Elevation Gain:
+/- 1200 ft
Trailhead and Permit Notes:
National Park fee required when in Joshua Tree. When we did this hike in 2008 we drove an old mining road and left our car at the beginning of the hike on the map below. Old roads can easily become impassible or be closed by the park. Check with rangers for access conditions.
Camping Tips:
There are several campgrounds in Joshua Tree National Park. Since it’s a desert environment, be prepared for extremes – on my first camping trip to the park we got 1/2 an inch of freezing rain!
