Feb 24, 2017 — This is definitely a pretty contrived route to try to hit a few of the points of interest in this area of Joshua Tree National Park. We took the flat and fairly boring hike through open desert on the old mining road to Pine City. After a short visit, we decided to take a random backcountry canyon route back. Our second stop was Pine Canyon Spring, where a spicket was collecting water. We continued north through some boulder-filled canyons and got to a large open bowl, where we ascended to get a nice view down the canyon and into Desert Queen Wash. The wash leads back to the car, but we had more abandonded desert things to see. The route got a bit wonky at this point, where we boulder-hopped for a while in attempt to get to Eagle Cliff Cabin. I couldn't tell you our exact route, but that's definitely the most fun part about this section. After eventually finding the cabin, we followed the established trail to the Desert Queen Mine, and then back to the trailhead just as the sun set.
For better photos of the Eagle Cliff Cabin, check out my other hike write-up for Eagle Cliff Cabin from Split Rock.
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