The Perseid meteor shower has the hi-desert bracing for a repeat of last year’s wild night that saw thousands of visitors crawl like tortoises toward the national park to spot some dark skies.
Joshua Tree National Park is nearly 800,000 acres of pristine desert wilderness set aside for humans like you and me to ramble around on, getting up close and personal with plants and animals that can only be seen in this exact spot on earth.
While there are borders to the National Park, the flora and fauna certainly pay no mind to the made up lines on a map and they extend well into the residential areas that surround the park, meaning that on your way into JTNP you will almost certainly see charismatic critters like jackrabbits, kangaroo rats, and coyotes darting amongst the Yucca brevifolia and creosote bush.
On Saturday, the moon will be a waxing crescent and won’t be as dark as 2023’s meteor shower.
Photo: Robert Haydon
The hi-desert’s night sky is no different – we have a pretty good view of it just about anywhere in the Morongo Basin. While the appeal of even less ambient light in the National Park draws stargazers from all around the world- last year’s Perseid meteor shower brought way more visitors than our area could safely accommodate.
The National Park made record-breaking money that night, but it also saw people driving off road and building illegal campfires, and deadlocking the entrances and exits for miles as cars filled the roads and flooded the dark night skies with miles of headlights.
There are lots of alternatives to heading into the park this weekend as the Perseids are peaking. While light pollution is stronger near more-populated areas, it doesn’t take too many minutes of driving to find a dark spot to kick back and view the sky. Just make sure you are parking safely off the road and not on someone’s private property – driveways can look like dirt roads, especially at night.
While the promise of meteors lighting up the sky will keep the nighttime busy – there are plenty of daytime events for visitors along with an event that celebrates tourists of an extra-terrestrial origin.
Area 29 Galactic Gathering in Twentynine Palms
The Area 29 Galactic Gathering began on Thursday this week and will continue over the weekend through Tuesday August 13th. This hi-desert UFO and sky watching festival features a ton of eclectic space-themed events happening at various Twentynine Palms businesses, including Saturday’s UFO literature presentations at Corner 62 and UFO Pool Party at Luckie Park with after parties at Back Alley and Out There Bar.
Sunday will feature Sketchbook Church and Alien Caricature Drawing by Walker Mettling and Spacey Sound Bath at Corner 62, Make Your Own Alien Artifact with stray ceramics at Grnd Sqrl, and tons more.
For full schedule and list of tips and local rules to help keep us the desert clean, dark, and safe this weekend, you can visit rediscover29.com.
While it isn’t expected to draw the numbers it did last year – no one wants to be surprised by the crowd that the Perseids can pull into the Morongo basin. Prepare yourself and any visitors with some alternative plans, just in case.
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