Exploring Joshua Tree with One Eleven Watches

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of One Eleven for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

This post is the second in my series where I test out the new One Eleven Watch. You can read the first in this series, where I do some beach hiking, here. For this post, I drove out for a full day of hiking/exploring in Joshua Tree National Park to test out the durability and solar-powered features on some of my favorite hikes in the park. Here is the itinerary for a full day in the park if you want to do the same thing.

Arch Rock

For my first hike, I headed over to Arch Rock, which is a personal favorite of mine due to how short the hike is and how impressive the arch is.

Like most areas in Joshua Tree National Park though, the best part is climbing on the various rocks and seeing things from different angles. The watch did great during the bouldering, never getting in the way and resting well on my wrist as I climbed to new heights.

After exploring the arch and the surrounding rocks, I headed to the next destination in the park.

Skull Rock

This is a short .1 mile hike to a rock that looks like a skull. It is one of the park’s popular locations because it is easy to get to, but there is not much to do here other than take a few photos.

Geology Tour Road

From Skull Rock I headed to Geology Tour Road, which is an 18 mile 4×4 drive in the middle of the park.

This road is a great way to get a good understanding of what the park looked like before all the roads and people changed it. It not a very difficult 4×4, so it is a great way to test your skills if you are not very familiar with driving in these conditions.

I was a little pressed for time as I had to make it back to Keys Ranch and still had a few more stops. It was great to take the remote drive though and to trust that the watch would not run out of battery since it was solar powered and there is always a lot of sun in the desert. Heading back to the park’s main road, I continued on the 15-minute drive to Barker Dam.

Barker Dam

Barker Dam is the most popular hike in the park, and it is one that I have done many times. The half-mile trail ends at an old dam created by settlers, and there was a surprising amount of water still present this late in the season.

Key’s Ranch

I rushed through the hike so I could make it in time for the 2 PM tour of Key’s Ranch. There is only one tour a day, so it is essential to get your tickets early and to be on time.

The tour leads you back to the remains of Key’s Ranch, a well-maintained homestead in the park. It was impressive to see how well it has been kept up and to be able to explore it during the hour and a half tour.

Hidden Valley

For my last stop of the day, I headed over to Hidden Valley and did the 1-mile loop through the natural valley.

This is also an excellent location for sunset, and since the sun was going down, I figured I would just find a rock to sit on and watch it fade into the sky.

Spending the day exploring Joshua Tree with One Eleven Watches was a blast. I loved being able to test out the adventure watch on some of my favorite trails in the park. The solar power makes it easy to never think about batteries and the clean aesthetic, which resembles map directions, makes the watch a stylish entry into the normally bland outdoor watch market. Check out the watches and be sure to explore Joshua Tree National Park when you get the chance as well.