From Beach, to Snow, to Desert...in One Day

Pristine snow, desert, and ocean are all within reach in California

Welcome to California

Beaches, mountains, and desert are all within a few hour drive from each other in the Golden State. If you wanted to, you could go snowboarding in the morning and then head to the beach for some afternoon sun-tanning. The world is your oyster, in California. Just another reason we live in such a great State.

1927 Paramount Studios Map of Potential Filming Locations in California

With friends we always joke about how you can go from the beach to the snow in just a couple hours. But we don't know anyone that's actually done it, so we decided to test it ourselves. We left our home in Santa Monica one morning and stopped by Big Bear Lake for some sledding and skiing, before heading to Joshua Tree National Park, all in one day! It was one of the most unique adventures we've had in CA and we're happy to be able to share our experience with you.

Our Trip:

• Santa Monica to Big Bear (112 miles, 2.5 hours)

• Big Bear to Joshua Tree (72 miles, 1.5 hours)

• Joshua Tree to Santa Monica (145 miles, 3 hours)

Total miles driven: 329
Total time spent driving: 7 hours
Our trip on Google Maps: Click here

We had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures. Check them out below!

We woke up early one morning

And left our home

In Santa Monica

We hopped on the highway

And headed towards the Mountains

And as we got higher

We started seeing snow

So we decided to stop

And ski a little bit

And sled too

Then, after stopping for some Indian food in Big Bear Village

We got back on the road, and headed down the mountain

And through the desert

To reach our next destination

Joshua Tree!

This place is great

It's a giant natural playground

A place for wanderlusters

Thank you for looking! Here's an awesome bonus pic: Snow in the mountains as seen from Joshua Tree