Starbuck's Exploring

Sign in Subscribe

Sample Trips

Here are some sample trips. This site is reader-supported. A lot of work goes into this site. Please help me keep it sustainable, interesting, and ad-free by becoming a subscriber. Thanks for your help!

13 posts

Barker Dam

Barker Dam

It goes without saying that water is vital in the desert, and Joshua Tree is no different. A rancher named C.O. Barker built the dam around 1902 to improve the natural tank for his cattle. Along with the nearby Cow Camp reservoir, the tank was an important watering hole

Boy Scout Trail

Boy Scout Trail

This is a shuttle hike that goes along the edge of the maze that is the Wonderland of Rocks, and then drops down into Indian Cove. It's not a backcountry hike to an old mine or anything, but I am including it for the completeness of Joshua Tree

Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley has a hidden secret: its outlaw past. The history of this area dates back to the mid-1870s when ranchers discovered it had good spring grazing and winter feed for their sheep and cattle. Around this time, a group known as the "McHaney Gang" began utilizing certain

Wall Street Mill

Wall Street Mill

The Wall Street Mill is Joshua Tree National Park’s most intact remaining historic gold stamp mill. Finding a stamp mill like this is rare these days. I’m grateful the NPS has preserved it for future generations to enjoy. Once owned and operated by renowned prospector and rancher Bill

Empire Mine State Historic Park

Empire Mine State Historic Park

Back in 2003, we took a trip up to the Sierra Nevada, and our group gained special permission from the California State Park service to explore a small underground portion of the massive Empire Mine inside the appropriately named Empire Mine State Historic Park in beautiful Grass Valley, California. Doug

Surprise Tank Petroglyphs

Surprise Tank Petroglyphs

We first visited the Surprise Tank Petroglyphs out in the Mojave Desert in 1998. We’ve stopped by a few times since then but didn’t really photograph the site again until 2009. We re-visited the site in 2013, 2018, and 2020. I wanted to get a few more photos