Skip to main content

Pinto Basin Road and Cottonwood Springs Road; Joshua Tree National Park

By


This past October I traveled through Joshua Tree National Park from Park Boulevard south to Box Canyon Road via Pinto Basin Road and Cottonwood Springs Road.   Pinto Basin Road and Cottonwood Springs Road act as a continuous roadway which connects the Mojave Desert to the Sonoran Desert via a pass through the Cottonwood Mountains to the Sonoran Desert.

Pinto Basin Road is a 29.7 Park Service Road which connects Park Boulevard south through Mojave Desert to the Cottonwood Visitor Center at the foot the Cottonwood Mountains.


Cottonwood Springs Road from the Cottonwood Visitor Center traverses a pass in the Cottonwood Mountains 7.3 miles south to former US Route 60/70 on Box Canyon Road.  Cottonwood Springs Road is the primary access point to Joshua Tree National Park from I-10 which is located just north of Box Canyon Road.



The National Park Service Map of Joshua Tree National Park illustrates that Pinto Basin Road and Cottonwood Springs Road act as a singular 37 mile connecting road.



Part 1; a brief history of Pinto Basin Road and Cottonwood Springs Road

In August of 1936 Joshua Tree National Monument was established over the Little San Bernardino Mountains and surrounding basins that were filled with the namesake Joshua Trees.  By the 1930s the terrain that became Joshua Tree National Monument was mostly known for small scale mining operations.  A primitive roadway along what is now Cottonwood Springs Road and Pinto Basin Road is shown connecting from Box Canyon Road near Shavers Well northeast to Old Dale Road and Black Eagle Mine Road on the 1935 California Division of Highways Map of Riverside County.


A National Automobile Club from 1926 also shows current Cottonwood Springs Road and Pinto Basin Road as part of the connecting route from Shavers Well north to New Dale/Old Dale. Old Dale (simply Dale at the time) was founded in 1884 on the shore of Dale Dry Lake.  Water from Dale Lake was pumped from out of the ground to supply a mining operation which was six miles away.  In 1910 the community of Dale was moved to "New" Dale which was in operation until the 1940s.  Much of Pinto Basin Road and Cottonwood Springs Road likely were constructed to facilitate the mines of Old Dale and New Dale.


At some point between 1935 and the early 1940s most of the park roads of Joshua Tree National Monument were constructed.  Pinto Basin Road is shown connecting all the way to Park Boulevard on a 1944 State Farm Insurance Map of California.


Joshua Tree National Monument was elevated to National Park status by Congress in October of 1994 as part of the California Desert Protection Act.


Part 2; a drive on Pinto Basin Road and Cottonwood Springs Road

My approach to Pinto Basin Road was from eastbound Park Boulevard in the Mojave Desert.  I made a right hand turn onto Pinto Basin Road southbound at an intersection known as Pinto Wye.  Cottonwood Visitor Center is signed as 30 miles away along with I-10 being shown as 36 miles away.



Pinto Basin Road southbound passes by Belle Campground, the Arch Rock Nature Trail, and White Tank Campground before entering Wilson Canyon.








Pinto Basin Road southbound descends through Wilson Canyon and enters the namesake Pinto Basin at the Cholla Cactus Garden.


















Pinto Basin Road crosses Pinto Basin in a generally southeast direction passing by the Ocotillo Patch.  At the intersection of Old Dale Road/Black Eagle Mine Road the route of Pinto Basin Road swings southwest.






















From Old Dale Road/Black Eagle Mine Road the route south on Pinto Basin Road shows Cottonwood Springs 8 miles away along with I-10 13 miles away.


Pinto Basin Road southbound generally follows Smoke Tree Wash to the Cottonwood Visitor Center.










The Cottonwood Visitor is a sparse facility which is located near the Cottonwood Campground.  From Cottonwood Campground the namesake Cottonwood Springs and Lost Palm Oasis can be accessed by trail.


Cottonwood Springs Road begins at the Cottonwood Visitor Center and is signed as 7 miles from I-10.


Cottonwood Springs Road southbound crosses the Cottonwood Mountains out of the Joshua Tree National Park limits to I-10 in the Sonoran Desert.  























Cottonwood Springs Road terminates south of I-10 and merges into Box Canyon Road.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cajon Pass; Cajon Pass Toll Road, National Old Trails Road, US Route 66/91/395 and Interstate 15

By
This past weekend I spent some time in Cajon Pass traversing the many historic road alignments. Cajon Pass is located in San Bernardino County, California along the San Andreas Fault.  Cajon Pass  serves the boundary line between the Mojave Desert, the San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains and San Bernardino Valley.  Cajon Pass is historically one of the most traveled transportation corridors in American California and presently is served by four rail lines, Interstate 15 and California State Route 138. While Cajon Pass is known mostly for carrying US Route 66 it has carried numerous other signed highways that have had a significant impact on regional and national road travel.  While this is my best attempt to compile everything from the best sources I could find into one single transportation history blog regarding road travel in Cajon Pass I suspect as time goes on this article will be frequently updated.  If you have any information that you ...
1 comment
Read more

Pardee Dam Road

By
Pardee Dam is a 358-foot-high concrete structure located near Campo Seco at the Calaveras County and Amador County Line.  Pardee Dam impounds the Mokelumne River which forms the namesake Pardee Reservoir.  Pardee Dam was completed during 1929 and is part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District.  Pardee Dam is accessed by the namesake Pardee Dam Road which crosses the structure via the one-lane road seen as the blog cover photo.   Part 1; the history of Pardee Dam Road The closest community to Pardee Dam is that of Campo Seco on the Calaveras County side of the Mokelumne River.  Campo Seco was founded in 1850 by Mexican Miners who worked placer claims in Oregon Gulch during the height of the California Gold Rush.  Campo Seco would reach a population of about three hundred by 1860 spurred by the numerous mining claims in the area.  Main Street of Campo Seco flowed directly into the Campo Seco Turnpike which had been authorized by the California L...
2 comments
Read more

California State Route 82/Old US Route 101 on the El Camino Real from San Francisco to Interstate 380

By
After completing Interstate 380 I made my way northward into the City Limits of San Francisco to drive the northernmost portion of California State Route 82. CA 82 is 52 mile State Route between I-280 in San Francisco southward to Interstate 880 in San Jose.  CA 82 is significant due to it being part of the historical surface alignment of US Route 101 and the El Camino Real. The "El Camino Real" was a Spanish Highway in Las Californias and Alta California which connected the 21 Catholic Missions along the coast.  Essentially the route of the El Camino Real was plotted out in the late 1700s from two Spanish survey expeditions.  The Missions were plotted approximately 30 miles apart along the 600 mile route so that they would be a single day journey by horse.  The El Camino Real name fell into disuse after the Mexican Revolution of 1821 but was revived by American highway promoters in the 1890s and 1900s.  Today the El Camino Real is mostly associated...
2 comments
Read more