Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Winter campers California dreaming

At Joshua Tree and other great state and national parks, this is the perfect time to hit the trail.

By SOLVEJ SCHOU The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - In spring and fall, desert camping attracts thousands of tourists to Southern California. Joshua trees curve up out of the dry ground like spiky sculptures, and Mojave rattlesnakes sunbathe on rocks. Temperatures can peak into the triple digits.

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Visitors at Sin Nimbre in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Calif.

The Associated Press

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TRIP TIPS

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK: www.nps.gov/jotr or (760) 367-5500.

BLACK ROCK CANYON CAMPGROUND AT JOSHUA TREE: www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/blackrock.htm. Reserve online: www.recreation.gov or (877) 444-6777.

HIDDEN VALLEY CAMPGROUND AT JOSHUA TREE: www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/camping.htm.

ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK:

www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=638

or (760) 767-5311. Reserve online:

www.reserveamerica.com

.

In the winter, though, as temperatures drop down to freezing at night, travelers can find great beauty in desert campgrounds, from Joshua Tree National Park, 140 miles east of Los Angeles, to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, about 90 miles northeast of San Diego.

Wildflowers start blooming in late February in Anza-Borrego, and snow touches down in Joshua Tree. The air remains crisp, the sky blue. Campgrounds tend to be much less crowded. Bring down sleeping bags to ward off the chill. Winter desert camping can be cold at night.

In Joshua Tree National Park, stretching a massive 800,000 acres of high and low desert east of Palm Springs, couched between Interstate 10 and Highway 62, nine campgrounds are available.

"In daytime, in winter, it averages 60 degrees. That's perfect weather for hiking and rock climbing," said Cynthia LaSala, who oversees the park's campgrounds as a supervisory visitor use assistant. "Tent campers prepare for that cold weather at night so they can experience the beautiful days. Part of people wanting to be here during the winter is that there are no crowds. Through December and January, there's hardly anyone here. You can get your choice of a campsite."

One winter as a teenager, tent camping with my family at the Black Rock Canyon campground, in the hilly northwest corner of the park, we attended a ranger's talk around a camp fire, when snow began to accumulate in small drifts. By the time we settled in our tents, squished ourselves deep into our sleeping bags and woke up the next day, snow was everywhere, a vivid rug of white on the tan desert floor, made colder by high gusty winds. It was gorgeous.

"At Black Rock, it will snow three or four times a winter, but it doesn't last. We get flurries that don't stick. The sun comes up the next day and it melts," added LaSala.

Long considered a family friendly campground, Black Rock includes picnic tables, fire rings, and bathrooms, but no showers, and accommodates both tents and RVs. Hiking includes the Eureka Peak and Panorama Loop trails. Smaller, yet active, grips of animals scurry around, even in winter, from jackrabbits and coyotes to kangaroo rats and roadrunners. Snakes, tortoises and lizards stay in and hibernate. The campground requires a reservation in advance, made by phone or online, from October through May. The Black Rock Nature Center is open as well, in addition to three other visitor centers in the park.

Hidden Valley campground, with its close proximity to rock climbing and the Joshua tree-lined one-mile Hidden Valley Nature Trail, is the most popular campground in the park, said Sue Spearing, an interpretive ranger who leads walks and works at the park's several visitor centers. Hidden Valley books up on a first-come, first-serve basis year-round.

As for prepping for desert camping during winter, "we tell people to have adequate sleeping gear, and pads underneath them, so they're not next to the ground," said Spearing. "With people hiking, wear multiple layers. It's easy to take off layers, versus having to put layers back on and not have them. You don't want to run the risk of getting hypothermia."

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the largest state park in California, spread out over 600,000 acres surrounding Borrego Springs, Calif., has several campgrounds. The park's most frequented one, Borrego Palm Canyon, located toward the center of Anza-Borrego, is near the popular 3-mile round-trip Borrego Palm Canyon Trail. The trail slopes into a shady, beautiful palm grove with water. In the afternoon, it's pristine. Each campsite has a fire ring and a table, and amenities include restrooms and coin operated showers. Reservations by phone or online are recommended.

"Lately people have been seeing bighorn sheep. We also get lizards that are out in winter since we're lower elevation, and warmer, than Joshua Tree," said Sally Theriault, Anza-Borrego's visitor center manager, and also a state park interpreter.