CACTUS FLATS
Cactus Flats begins with a turnout on California Highway 18 northeast of Big Bear Lake. Roughly half way between Lucerne Valley down in the Mojave Desert and the high alpine country of the San Bernardino Mountains, the plateau features Joshua Trees, sandstone boulders, yucca and chaparral and sweeping views of this transition terrain along with panoramas to the east of the vast California deserts. It’s my favorite place in Southern California to explore and photograph. From the turnout a dirt road leads southeast across flat ground with plenty of places to park and explore. There aren’t any marked trails but I’m familiar with the territory so I head towards a slope of rock and juniper with only my camera and hiking poles. At six thousand feet the sky is deep blue with patches of puffy white clouds rolling across the sky. The Flats gets few hikers and I’ve only seen a few further south along the dirt road. This edge of the plateau is lightly traveled and I’m alone on t...