A new blanket for the National Park Series

What better way to celebrate the upcoming National Park Week than with a new national park series blanket!

Say hello to the Joshua Tree National Park blanket. California’s Joshua Tree National Park is named for its signature forest of Yucca brevifolia, or Joshua Trees, the tall, tree-shaped cacti that raise spiny branches to the skies.

The blanket is made in the USA of pure virgin wool, and available in twin, full, and queen size.

Stripe: Against the tawny desert, day comes to Joshua Tree National Park. Stripes show dark blue night giving way to the sun as it warms the Joshua Trees, and lights the blue desert skies.

Label: Dawn lights the branches of a Joshua Tree, a spiky desert wonder.

The Inspiration

Joshua Tree is situated so that it contains parts of two American deserts; the Sonoran and the Mojave. Each arid ecosystem has its own distinct climate, so a trip to Joshua Tree lets you enjoy both the high and the low desert. According to National Geographic:

The Colorado, the western reach of the vast Sonoran Desert, thrives below 3,000 feet on the park’s gently declining eastern flank, where temperatures are usually higher. Considered “low desert," compared to the loftier, wetter, and more vegetated Mojave “high desert," the Colorado seems sparse and forbidding. It begins at the park’s midsection, sweeping east across empty basins stubbled with creosote bushes. Occasionally decorated by “gardens" of flowering ocotillo and cholla cactus, it runs across arid Pinto Basin into a parched wilderness of broken rock in the Eagle and Coxcomb Mountains.

Joshua Tree was established on October 31, 1994. Its 794,000 acres include 430,000 acres of protected wilderness. Besides being drivable, it contains hiking, biking, horseback riding and rock-climbing opportunities. Add its proximity to major California metro areas, and you’ll find a busy park that attracts over 2.8 million visitors a year.

Visitors are welcomed by four visitor centers: Joshua Tree, Oasis, Cottonwood, and Black Rock. The Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center in Twentynine Palms is the newest of the four, with exhibits highlighting Joshua Tree’s Traditionally Associated Native American Communities. People of the Pinto culture were the earliest residents of the area, identified by tools and other artifacts left behind when they left the area approximately 4000 years ago for climate reasons. The Serrano, the Cahuilla, and Chemehuevi peoples came later, with Mojaves traveling the area as they moved between the Colorado River and the Pacific coast. Today, small numbers of all four peoples live near the park.

Supporting the Parks

Since 2006, Pendleton and its partners have donated almost $1,600,000 to support the National Park Foundation’s mission to preserve and protect our national parks for future generations. Thank you to everyone who has helped us in that mission. We are currently contributing to the development and support of the Desert View Inter-Tribal Cultural Heritage Site at Grand Canyon National Park. This includes the Desert View Watchtower, designed by architect Mary Colter.

Learn about our newest Parks project partnership here:

Pendleton’s partnership has supported two other landmark park preservation projects. Our first project was in Glacier National Park, at the beautiful Many Glacier Hotel. Restoration of the historic lobby included rebuilding the iconic helical staircase, which had been displaced by a gift shop.

Read more here: Helical Stairs

Our next project was restoration and preservation of the historic Grand Canyon Train Depot in Grand Canyon National Park. The historic station is a landmark. Its restoration is currently ongoing, with a special focus on enhancing the accessibility so all guests can enjoy the train.

Read more here: Grand Canyon Depot

For more information on the blanket: Joshua Tree National Park Blanket