Keys View — Attraction in Indio

Saw the sunset here as well as the moon set. Beautiful and iconic, but not the best place for stargazing. Eastern side after the moon sets is dark, but Western hemisphere has more light pollution from the neighboring city. That said, it was truly magnificent seeing the desert landscape sandwiched between Keyes and the San Jacinto Mountainscape. I'm a huge nerd so I just about cried seeing the milky way and the brilliance of a dark starry night. During sunset it is absolutely packed and there's limited parking. At 1 am in the morning, there are only a couple cars, and at a certain point I was the only one there - kinda spooky! Oh-- and if you go for stargazing, make sure to take a red flashlight. I myself don't have a red one, but I cut out the bottom of a Dixie cup and jerry-rigged it to the light. It makes a huge difference when you have a red light, so you can see where you're walking late at night without disrupting the nocturnal vision that slowly develops...

Easy access to a great view, and that comes with a ton of traffic and crowds so plan accordingly. We popped up here for sunset and after waiting about 10 minutes in a line of traffic we got lucky with someone pulling out as we arrived at the parking lot. We saw the sunset from here and the views were gorgeous, and there are plenty of spots to get views and photos without others standing in your way, even with the crowds. Pro Tip: we arrived 1:40 minutes prior to sunset and hiked to Inspiration Peak, an out-and-back a little less than 2 miles total. Once we were a hundred yards or so from the Keys View parking lot we were on our own and only ran into one other group, it was the quietest hike we went on during our visit. Very enjoyable hike. Almost anywhere along the hike will have amazing views in general but especially...

Starting at 4:30pm, cars get turned back at intersection 5 miles away, afterwards can’t drive, and can’t walk there bc too far, esp for disabled.

JT park officials seem tone deaf, take delight in turning people away an hour before sunset; even when plenty of parking, (and disabled parking) up at Keys. Guy in vest (not ranger) said, “It’s not all that great anyway, you’re not missing much.”

We were like, wait what? This isn’t aligned w NP goal of making land accessible. Will National Parks headquarters take notice and give direction, or alternative solution? Until then … go early.

PS - this area isn’t “out of control w cars parked off the road” as JT officials claimed… that news is prob...