Photographing the Wall Street Mill Trail

The trail to the Wall Street Mill is short and sweet. It is slightly over a mile according to the trail marker and is easy to find as it is right next to the trail head for the Barker Dam. Both are easy to find on a map of the park, which you can get upon entry. Joshua Tree is a National Park and you can get entrance through an annual pass to all the National Parks, or pay the entry fee. As of right now, you can get a 7 day pass into the park for $15, but that may be going up soon. 

Once you drive to the Barker Dam parking lot, there are two trail heads. The Wall Street Mill trail is a tear drop shaped loop that will bring you right back to where you started, so it's difficult to get lost unless you wander into the wilderness off the trail. 

Along the trail are several rusted old vehicles, a rickety windmill, and the gravestone of Worth Bagley. Each of these is a photography subject all it's own. The Mill itself is at the end of the loop. Even though it is fenced off, you can see some cool elements of the mill from outside the fence. The rails for ore carts leading up are still in place and there is a dry well there as well. This is one of the best preserved relics of the mining age still left in the park. 

Beyond this, there is the wealth of the desert itself to photograph. Dry as it is, plants and animals abound in this place and it is one of my favorite spots in Southern California.