Sadly the view is often diminished by air pollution from Los Angeles. Although an excellent view is to be had from the parking lot, the short climb to the upper vantage point is well worth the effort. Various weird eroded rock formations such as Jumbo Rocks can be seen from the road or explored closer up via trails. The desert vegetation is always interesting, especially the Joshua Trees after which the park is named. The trees derive their name from the way their branches resemble Joshua with his arms upstretched, as described in the Bible.
Winters are very cold here.
Some Ideas for Places to Stay Twentynine Palms, on California State Highway 62 north of the park. This is a small, very pleasant town. There are several medium sized towns on I-10 south of the park. However, these tend to be very much more expensive and less pleasant than Twentynine Palms. In particular, avoid Indio at the weekend unless you have a motel reservation, as its casinos attract numerous visitors so the motels are often full up or charging very high rates.