Festival goers visiting Joshua Tree National Park advised to be cautious

In the midst of Coachella Valley’s music festival season, bountiful blooms will be taking over Joshua Tree National Park, and park rangers are reminding visitors to enjoy the extraordinary floral phenomenon with respect.

“We’ve got quite a musical legacy out here, ever since Gram Parsons was cremated in the park and U2 chose to title one of the best-selling albums of the century after the Joshua Tree Inn … things that have fed into the mystique out here as far as musicians are concerned, Joshua Tree National Park’s public information officer, George Land said.

With Coachella Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach just around the corner, Lands said he expects a bump in attendance by visitors attracted to the park’s musical “mystique,” as well as the superbloom taking place throughout the park. He said the confluence of festival fans and superblooms makes for an exciting time at the park, but also one that could create a bit of a botanical disaster.

“One of the things that people have a tendency to do, is they see these beautiful blooms out in the middle of the field and the first thing they want to do is just run out in the middle of them,” Lands said

“Well, you multiply that by a few hundred people, much less a few thousand people, and all
of a sudden all you have is a bunch of beautiful blooms downtrodden in the dust.”

Lands’ urged visitors trying to admire the flowers to “look and behold them from a distance.”

His advice, however, isn’t just for the safety of the delicate desert buds. People also need to be aware of hidden dangers lurking amongst the flowers.

“Because of the blooms that are out there, there’s a lot of critters out there eating them,” Lands said. “And, there are little critters that eat the little critters.”

Specifically, Lands warned visitors about rattlesnakes in the area. He said three or four people have already had close encounters with the deadly serpents this year from walking in the blooms, although none were bitten.

If bitten, “the best thing to do is to remain calm,” according to Lands. “Don’t get over-agitated, move around too much physically and just go directly to medical attention.”

He said the old adage of sucking venom out through the bite is not advised and could cause further harm to the person bitten, in addition to the unlucky individual nominated to suck out the venom.

Finally, Lands pointed out that weather conditions can be substantially different at the park from those near the Coachella Valley music festivals — taking place 13 feet below sea level. Visitors were advised to check weather reports for Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms or, for those super adventurers, Quail Mountain, which sits at about 5,800 feet above sea level.