Blooms, Birdsong, and Blue Waters—A Springtime Road Trip through the Southwest

By Oana Harrison

PUBLISHED in ROVA Magazine, March/April 2025 issue

The desert: dust, death, and desolation. Or at least that’s how I used to think about it before our springtime road trip to the Southwest. Eight months into a full-time RV year that my husband, David, and I had embarked upon, we headed west through Texas to New Mexico, Arizona, the California coast and back. Along the way, we discovered unique places in the Chihuahua, Sonora, Mojave, and Colorado Deserts. The Southwest offered incredible natural nuances, from shifting sand dunes to endless canyons, to lush oases and blue lakes. This landscape I’d once viewed as dead and quiet, the desert was teeming with life. And nothing prepared me for the intense orange-purple sunsets or the Technicolor desert in bloom.

NEW MEXICO, Chihuahua Desert

White Sands National Park

Less than one hour from Las Cruces on US-70 we found White Sands National Park, a seeming winter wonderland in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert! Dynamic dunes stretch for more than 200 miles and form the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Born in the ice age, the dunes keep growing and shifting northeast at a rate of up to 30 feet per year.

The dunes appear barren, except for gnarly fourwing saltbushes dotting the landscape. To my surprise, there are many creepy crawlies living in the dunes (almost 100 families of insects, 600 different species of invertebrates, and a good number of snakes—eek!). Additionally, the park is home to forty-four species of mammals and six species of amphibians. Many critters here are exclusive to the area and have adapted to the environment by becoming white or light-colored to better camouflage in the sand. I wonder how many I looked past or stepped right over while I was walking around! Again: Eek!

The park offers hiking trails over the dunes, as well as guided tours at sunset, when the dunes are especially magical. We had our two elderly doggies with us, so we didn’t venture too far, but we did enjoy the expansive views, the delight of children and adults alike sliding down the hills, and the quiet hiss of the wind working diligently on shaping the dunes.

Truth or Consequences

Riding south of Albuquerque on I-25, we spotted a blue oasis: Elephant Butte State Park. The reservoir in the park collects water from Rio Grande and provides irrigation water to the area, as well as a fun playground for locals and visitors.

Nearby, the quirky town of Truth or Consequences piqued my curiosity. Originally named Hot Springs after its geothermal waters, the town changed its name on a dare set forth by 1950s radio show personality Ralph Edwards. Edwards promised free publicity in exchange for naming the town after his show, and Hot Springs took him up on it. Each year after the renaming, for the rest of his lifetime, Edwards joined the locals for a celebratory fiesta complete with pageants, parades, rodeos, and rubber duck races.

The small town is big on art and charm: murals, metalwork, and art installations are omnipresent—and the local shops are just as fun and colorful. Our doggies made friends with the staff at the Passion Pie Cafe, scoring some homemade doggie biscuits.

We chatted with the friendly staff at the Geronimo Springs Museum, which features Native American art and history, prehistoric fossils, old windmills, wagons and tools. Farther down the road, the town’s Hot Springs Bathhouse and Commercial Historic District, a 56-acre area listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, is not to be missed.

ARIZONA, Sonoran Desert

Saguaro National Park

As we crossed from New Mexico to Arizona, the landscape changed ever so slightly. Roadside signs warned of dust storms, while the roadside land was flooded. A rainstorm rumbled away and left behind a cheerful rainbow as a welcome sign to our campsite, which was our base for exploring Saguaro National Park.

There is nothing quite as impressive as a sea of saguaro cacti poking up at the sky for as far as the eye can see… well, for about 143 miles, to be more precise. Saguaro National Park offers hiking trails through its eastern portion and amazing views of a dense saguaro “forest” on its western side. We took our time and visited both sides—well worth it!

Saguaros are as impressive as they are unique. Native to the Sonoran Desert, these mighty plants are slow to grow but they grow tall, most standing at 40 to 60 feet, and can live up to 200 years. The tallest saguaro reached 78 feet before a storm brought it down! These desert sentries are both strong and delicate; shifts in temperatures or rainfall can impact them greatly. They usually prefer daytime temperatures between 70 and 100 degrees, and 50 degrees at night, while freezing temperatures can cause some serious damage—maybe I’m related to saguaros? Their superpower is being able to store up to 200 gallons of water, but also impressive is their internal strength—they develop a woody skeleton, sturdy enough to be used in building tools, fences, and furniture.

Each spring, the saguaro’s creamy-white blooms (rightfully Arizona’s state flower) beautify the prickly plants, while providing sweet nutrition to bats, moths, and birds. The seemingly unwelcoming branches provide housing for many an avian visitor, while in the summer, the Tohono O’odham tribe of the local region harvests the cactus’s red fruit and extracts its sweet and tart juice for wine and jam.

On our way out of the park, we hiked the Javelina Rocks, a layer-cake-looking rock formation named after a pig-like mammal who takes comfort in the rocks’ shade. While we didn’t see any javelinas, we did learn that cactus thorns are very fine, and will stubbornly fight against being removed. As I walked with my fleece jacked wrapped around my waist, the jacket brushed by cacti, collecting some poignant desert mementos. I felt stings for days but couldn’t locate the little pricks. Eventually, after many layers of lint remover tape and a few washes, the painful reminders of desert flora disappeared. A word to the wise!

The western side of Saguaro National Park provided expansive vistas that started at the Red Hill Visitor Center. From the Gates Pass Trailhead, we could see all the way into Old Tucson and Brown Mountain on the horizon. On our way out, we visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Covering 98 acres, the museum offers a fun fusion experience: zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, natural history museum, and aquarium. I enjoyed learning about the 13 types of hummingbirds that buzz through Arizona each year.

Lake Havasu

In the middle of the desert, we found ourselves strolling along the lakeshore, listening to palm trees swaying in the gentle spring breeze, and watching boats and ducks bobbing on the water. Lake Havasu sits below the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, on the border of Arizona and California. It offers 400 miles of coastline, plenty of fishing and boating opportunities, and it is home to the London Bridge!

What was that last part? Indeed, a part of British history made its way into the middle of a US desert. In the late 1960s, an American magnate, Robert P. McCulloch, saw an opportunity not only to preserve a crumbling piece of history, but also to create a major tourist attraction in the middle of nowhere. He had the bridge moved from its original site over the River Thames in London, and rebuilt to connect Lake Havasu City to an island on the Colorado River. In the process, he created a lovely and lively lakeside destination, the second-largest tourist draw in the state after the Grand Canyon.

Kelso Dunes

Kelso Dunes form the largest field of aeolian sand deposits in the Mojave Desert and are known to “sing”; perhaps their register is bass, as they produce a “boom” sound. The rumbling sound is only achieved when sand grains are very fine, round, and dry, and it occurs when the hot sand moves over cooler sand. The best way to hear the booming is to have a big group of people on the crest at the same time shove off as much sand as possible—but be mindful of the hikers below…

We set up to hike the dunes, but as I approached the base, I felt my feet grow heavier and heavier. I looked down: the fine sand had seeped through the mesh top of my hiking shoes and got stuck inside, giving me a case of leaden feet. Burdened by the heat of the sun and the extra weight in my shoes, I decided to forgo the hike and retreated to the car. While David pressed onward and upward, I beat the sand out of my shoes. His hike up took a while, but the descent was considerably faster, as he slid straight downhill. I watched another hiker sand-surf her way down, which, according to her, looked cooler than it felt.

CALIFORNIA, Mojave Desert, Colorado Desert

Joshua Tree National Park

Not to reveal my age, but my first knowledge of Joshua Tree came from U2’s best-selling album of that name, which was released in 1987. Now, finally, I got to see the OG: Joshua Tree National Park. As we followed the twisting road through the park, spiky giants watched us. Joshua trees are slow growing (two to three inches per year), so it takes 50 to 60 years for them to achieve full height. The tallest known Joshua tree is estimated to be 960 years old. The area is also known for its rich geologic diversity, which creates a rock-climbing mecca.

In the desert, like in all nature, things are intertwined and interdependent. This is especially true for the Joshua tree and the yucca moth—the tree’s only pollinator. This symbiosis has been going on for millions of years, and the moth’s existence depends exclusively on the tree’s seeds.  In spring, the Joshua tree flowers are one of the only sources of wet food available for insects, ravens, and ground squirrels.

It’s amazing just how nurturing the desert can be! The scraggly Joshua trees are the home of many birds, including the Scott’s oriole and the ladder-backed woodpecker, while the loggerhead shrike (a small grey-and-black bird) skewers its prey on the tree’s sharp needles! Ouch! Wood rats, spotted night snakes, and lizards all find the prickly trees useful for things like cover and food, as well.

Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs

As we reached California’s desert, spring sprung in full force all around us: cacti bloomed in a Technicolor explosion, while the delicate smell of citrus trees and date palms filled the air. Trumpet vines, lantanas, and purple scillas added variety and brightness to the scene. At our campsite, we biked and walked in the warm sunshine, while black swans, white egrets, and ducks floated on the man-made lake. We sampled juicy Medjool dates and honey from local producers—what a treat!

From our base in Desert Hot Springs, we visited Palm Springs, a destination that is popular for vacationing California celebrities—with good reason. I loved the city’s laid-back vibe and deeply artsy feel. Mid-century modern architecture provided a clean structural background for brightly colored landscaping. We found Frank Sinatra’s former house, and had a chuckle at a nearby quirky yard display of colorful robots—a sci-fi interpretation of religious holiday themes.

Our springtime trip through the desert offered a great variety of attractions, each more amazing than the last, and my mind is forever changed about how I see the desert. I now agree with Joy Harjo, the first Native American United States Poet Laureate, who said:

“I don’t see the desert as barren at all; I see it as full and ripe. It doesn’t need to be flattered with rain. It certainly needs rain, but it does with what it has and creates amazing beauty.”