Joshua Tree National Park is not only famous
for the Johua trees but also for its rock formations. Skull
Rock is one of those weird looking rock formations which looks
losely like a human skull. The rock sits very close to the
park main road, so in order to see it you just need to cross
the road from the parking lot. But if you want to see other
weird looking rock formations you can turn it into a 1.5 miles
hike along a loop that winds to the south and north of the park
road. The south part of the trail has interpretative signs that
point out the desert flora. The path turns north at the Jumbo
Rocks campground and you'll have to follow the campground
entrace road and cross the park road to get to the second part
of the trail which completes the loop. Here you'll pass among
giant, rounded rock formations and you'll be tempted to forget
the trail and try to climb the big boulders. Finally, the trail
brings you back to the Skull Rock parking area. There's almost
no elevation gain on this trail so it's an easy one.
