Panorama Peak Loop Trail

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

Activity: Day Hike, Peak Bagging

6.5 miles, 5196’ elevation, 1,194’ elevation gain, 3.5 hours duration, rated Moderate (USPS calls it Challenging shouldn’t attempt in heat)

Date: 10-29-20

I did this hike in combination with Warren Peak from Black Rock Canyon Trail which starts in the campground with the same name as the trail. I split this up for the post with the thought that perhaps not everyone wants to do a 9 mile hike. As you look at the map I added Warren Peak if you follow the dotted line, and I also did another smaller trail in the area which provided vantage points to take in not only the peak from different perspectives, but the valley and the distant mountains as well.

This is a really great hike. The views are phenomenal. It has everything you would want in a desert scene, the mystical and magnificent Joshua trees for which the park is named, and a variety of desert foliage, lonely peaks, distant mountain ranges, valley, spectacular rocks, not really a slot- but a section that closes in a bit and is quite interesting.

I was only going to do Warren Peak when I started out, but when I saw the trail sign with the name Panorama Loop, well… Loops are always more interesting then out and back, and the word panorama conjured up sweeping desert vistas and in an direction I had not seen.

It did not disappoint. The terrain in some ways is similar in other ways it is a little different. Panorama Peak doesn’t show on the particular map that I was using. When I approached it I thought to myself that this peak look similar in elevation to the Warren Peak that I had just summited and I though that did not seem right that it is not named. But upon reaching the top I saw a summit sign in book so I happily added my name to it’s pages with the mantra ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’.

Joshua Tree National Park is a special place and this hike is an excellent one and a bonus is it is not crowded like some of the other Park hikes. I would recommend doing what I did and combining Warren Peak with Panorama Loop, which makes for about a 9 mile hike, or if that is too long for you then split them up like I did in the post.

The mystical and magnificent Joshua tree for which the park is named.

“I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name. It felt good to be out of the rain.  In the desert you can remember your name ‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.” – Dewey Bunnell

Panorama Peak Summit Selfie

Thanks for joining me for a desert trek in famed Joshua Tree National Park. This hike is a fun excursion located in one of the less crowded parts of the park, a nice plus, but it is also a beautiful part of the park to be certain with unusual and varied terrain topped off with the splendid mountains off in the distance to perfectly frame the shot. For more you simply need to LIKE, COMMENT, FOLLOW and SHARE. Look to the menu above for other wonderful places to hike besides our stupendous national parks, which can get pretty busy. Go to SHOP APPAREL so that you will be comfortable, and well outfitted for your jaunt to the National Park. It is the desert so you will need more than sunscreen. How a bout a PBTA cap? I even have shirts with UPF 50+ Sun Protection! But what is important is that you find some balance from the mundane and the ordinary and JTNP is such a place to be sure. Get out there and Adventure!

Happy Trails-

Roger Jenkins

Pursuing Balance Through Adventure

Black Rock Canyon Trail to Warren Peak

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

Activity: Day Hike, Peak Bagging

6.3 miles, 5,102’ elevation, 1,110’ elevation gain, 3.5 hour duration, rated Moderate (USPS calls it Challenging shouldn’t attempt in heat)

Date: 10-29-20

Warren Peak is in the Western portion of Joshua Tree National Park. Two deserts come together in JTNP, the cooler higher altitude Mojave and the lower hotter Colorado desert. This diversity adds to the attraction of the park. Warren Peak is in the more quiet, less traveled Western Portion, the Mojave Desert. The park’s name sack, the Joshua Tree is found in the Mojave and can be enjoyed on this hike.

The hike begins at Black Rock Canyon Campground on the edge of Joshua Tree. The nice thing about starting in the Campground is that there are nice bathrooms.  There is parking for a few cars at the end of the campground otherwise there is overflow parking as you first enter the campground. 

The trek to Warren Peak is a slight and steady incline. Sometimes the trail is soft gritty sand sometimes it is hard pack. Near the peak is where the incline steps it up dramatically.  Once on top the views are exquisite. 360 degree wonderful views of the entire area to include hills and gullies, canyons and distant mountains.  I added the Morongo View Trail on to my trip which gave me another angle of Warren Peak and some different views and for that reason I felt it worth the extra half mile.

I will mention that I added the Panorama Loop Trail on to my hike as well, which I feel is the way to do it. That adds both elevation gain as well as make this hike a 9 mile hike. Since not everyone wants to do a 9 mile hike I am breaking it into two different posts: This Warren Peak Hike, and a future post Panorama Loop Trail.

Really nice country and I throughly enjoyed this hike.

Pursuing Balance Through Adventure YouTube Video

The trail has a steady incline until you reach Warren Peak then things dramatically change.

Warren Peak Summit

“Not to have known – as most men have not – either the mountain or the desert is not to have known one’s self. Not to have known one’s self is to have known no one.” – Joespeh Wood Krutch

Thanks for joining me out in the deserts of Joshua Tree National Park as I was climbing Warren Peak while ‘Pursing Balance Through Adventure’. To go out into the solitude of such a place is to discover nature and to discover nature is to discover yourself. This type of self realization can only come about when you have time alone and you are feeling the moment, the type of moment that only nature can bring. For more of these type of moments please LIKE. COMMENT, FOLLOW and SHARE. Our National Parks are but some of the special places that PBTA visits. Checkout the menu for other wonderful locations in the West. Each location is a separate website and thus needs to be FOLLOWED independently. To help support this site, and to look really good doing it please go to SHOP APPAREL.

Happy Trails-

Roger Jenkins

Pursuing Balance Through Adventure