Lost Horse Mine Loop (Joshua Tree)

Trail: Lost Horse Mine Loop

Miles: 7.5

Type: Loop

My Time: 2.75 Hours

Elevation Gain/Loss: 945 ft.

Difficulty: Moderate

Parking Permit: America The Beautiful Pass or Entrance Fee

Location: Joshua Tree National Park

When it comes to visiting Joshua Tree National Park, there are many different areas you can visit. As well as many different activities; ranging from hiking, boulder hopping, rock climbing and exploring. The couple times I have been to Joshua Tree N.P. have been focused on hiking new areas. So, I want to talk about the Lost Horse Mine Loop trail. To state the obvious, you must enter the National Park to arrive at the trailhead. Be ready to show your Parks Pass or pay the entrance fee.

First of all, this hike can be shortened if you want to go the mine and back. As an out and back to the mine, this will be about 5 miles. But, if you would like to do the loop it is about 7 1/2 miles. This will consist of 945 feet elevation gain. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes to complete. We did the loop clockwise. I recommend doing it this way. First off you’ll end up at the mine within the first 2 1/2 miles. So this gives you the opportunity to check out the mine and take pictures. As it’s less than half way to the mine, it sort of breaks up the hike to make it not seem like a 7 miler. I personally love seeing old ruins. As well as things old pieces and parts from back in the day. I thought it was awesome to see the mine… or at least what was left of it. Unfortunately, it is fenced off. Thus, you’ll have to take your pictures through the fence or over the fence. That is, if you want unobstructed views.

Now as you continue on the loop, past the mine. The trail will start descending down a fairly steep grade. This is another reason I recommend doing it clockwise. Otherwise you will have hiked roughly 5 miles before attacking this steep climb to get to the mine if hiking counter clockwise. Now I must mention we were on New Year’s Day, it was so windy! Right before we dropped down the steep descent it was blowing us left and right. We had to put our hoods on to block the wind chill, as well as cinch our hats on super tight to prevent them from being blown off.

As we continued on the loop about halfway through we found a pleasant surprise. There was an old fireplace with the chimney in perfect condition. Seemed as if it were from some old house or type of ruins from the mining days. Loved seeing more ruins because I didn’t know we were going to see more stuff on this hike. Next to it was an old broken down bed spring and some rusted over, what looked to me as paint cans.

The final stretch of the loop was essentially a flat walk through thousands of Joshua trees. The last 3 miles you only descend 300 feet of elevation, which is extremely unnoticeable. The terrain was sandy/desert type dirt. This section seems like it dragged on forever, because the scenery didn’t really change. You couldn’t tell how far you had gone or how far you had left. All it was, was Joshua tree after Joshua tree.

My recommendation is that you bring plenty of sun protection and water as it is fully exposed to the sun. If you are familiar with these Joshua trees you know they do not offer any shade. If you are unfamiliar, don’t be mistaken when I talk about how many trees. No dogs are allowed on this trail. For more information about Joshua Tree National Park or the trail itself, use the link below.

https://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm

As always pack it in and pack it out!

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