MORONGO BASIN CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION 2025 DESERT-WISE LANDSCAPE TOUR

Morongo Basin, CA – March 25, 2025

The annual Desert-Wise Landscape Tour offered by the Morongo Basin Conservation Association is scheduled for Sunday, April 27, between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The public is invited to visit five creatively landscaped home sites and two public gardens located across the Morongo Basin. A new element of the Tour this year is the Coyote Hole Experience, a separately-ticketed opportunity to walk through the natural and cultural features of Joshua Tree’s Coyote Hole, led by experts from the Native American Land Conservancy and the California Native Plant Society.

Each Tour site provides a unique perspective on desert-wise landscaping that is both creative and water-conscious. Native and drought-tolerant plants are emphasized along with architectural and artistic features.

Among the sites are a newly-built home in Yucca Valley with a carefully developed native landscape where the homeowner will share her home and landscape design process. In downtown Joshua Tree an artist’s “work-in-progress” garden demonstrates creative use of a small space. A long-time family property in Twentynine Palms showcases both large mature plantings and newer expanded areas created from local native plant sales. The outdoor venue Wind Walkers Medicine Wheel in Joshua Tree has been lovingly expanded over a number of years by the owner, and provides meditative features and extensive native plant arrays. A minimalist modern house designed to make the most of naturally-occurring desert plants rounds out the five home sites.

Self-guided and docent-guided tours will also occur throughout the day at the Mojave Desert Discovery Garden at the Mojave Desert Land Trust and at the Demonstration Garden at the Joshua Basin Water District. A special chance to view a “world premiere” video of a unique site in Morongo Valley and also to “Meet MBCA’s Filmmaker” will be held at MDLT at 2:30 PM. Cole Gibson has been working with MBCA creating both tour site and “How-To” videos for five years. Detailed information and directions to all sites will be provided upon registration.

Advance online registration for the Tour is available at the organization’s website, MBConservation.org. Registration for MBCA members is $15, while non-members are $20 each, with options to purchase membership and registration together.  

A digital Tour Guide with descriptions and directions will be provided to online registrants, with printed copies available on the day of the Tour. Late registration on the Tour Day will be available at Mojave Desert Land Trust between 9 AM and Noon only.

Tickets for the Coyote Hole Experience can be separately purchased on the MBCA website for $35 per person. Only 20 spaces are available so early registration is suggested. The proceeds will fund ongoing restoration efforts at Coyote Hole.

The Desert-Wise Landscape Tour is supported by water agencies of the Morongo Basin: Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency, Golden State Water Company, Hi-Desert Water District, Joshua Basin Water District, Twentynine Palms Water District, and the Mojave Water Agency.

Morongo Basin Conservation Association Board of Directors
Steve Bardwell, President
Stacy Doolittle, Vice President 
Laraine Turk, Secretary
Bob Wold, Treasurer
David Fick, Director
Pat Flanagan, Director
Brian Hammer, Director
Janet Johnston, Director
Sarah Kennington, Director
Arch McCulloch, Director