Riverside County, California

Eighth in my quest to visit all of the 58 counties of my home state of California is Riverside County. The county seat is the city of Riverside. Riverside County was established in 1893 from parts of San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The population is estimated at 2,073,531 in an area of 7,208 square miles.







Riverside is mostly desert, stretching across the state from Orange County to the Colorado River. We entered the county from Arizona and spent the night in the border town Blythe, at the junction of I 10 and US 95. Amazingly this was my second overnight, having stayed a few years ago on a road trip. I swore never to return, not finding any aspect of the outpost appealing. Never say never. Blythe was named after Thomas Blythe, a gold prospector who established primary water rights to the Colorado River in the region in 1877. Water being as valuable as gold in these parts.

Most of Joshua Tree National Park is within Riverside County, as are the famous resorts of the Coachella Valley such Palm Springs. Indio is known for dates and home of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival every April.

After a less than noteworthy Mexican dinner and night in Blythe we departed early in the morning to position ourselves at the Joshua Tree’s Cottonwood Visitor Center at opening. Deeming a fuel stop wise before entering the park we swung of I 10 at Chiriaco Summit and were amazed to find a field of tanks surrounding the General Patton Memorial Museum. The doors were not yet open for the day so we snapped a few photos (can one still say “snapped photos” in the digital age” and continued on our way. The museum appears to be a worthwhile stop for those interested in military history and also features a relief map of the development of Southern California’s water system.

Beloved by rock climbers and birdwatchers, Joshua Tree National Park straddles two ecosystems: the Colorado Desert and Mojave Desert. I was amazing at the distinct differences as we changed elevation. Armed with a map and a list of destinations prioritized by the ranger at the visitor center we ventured forth to explore. At our first stop I discovered that my soothing honey body wash wasn’t quite so soothing for the local bee population. My soft, silky skin was of great interest much to my dismay. I wonder what they thought I was: A gigantic alien from planet Bumblebee? Lunch? A long lost cousin? Multiple layers of sunscreen diminished my attraction throughout the day.

Despite the amorous insect population, I loved Joshua Tree! We took numerous short hikes and were enchanted by the diversity of flora and rocks. I would definitely be interesting in a longer backpacking trek through the region. Most of the park is wilderness. The “attack” Cholla Cactus’s thorns can be extremely painful if you brush up against them but we heeded warnings and stood clear and that was as wild as we got. Lingering spring wildflowers peppered the trails but we saw no scorpions or bighorn sheep. Aside from bees, we did encounter one snake, one coyote and a passel of various lizards.