Have you ever been to Joshua Tree National Monument? My son and I camped there four or five times while he was growing up, which would have been in the 1970s. At that time, there was nothing - and usually nobody - there. Commonly, we could spend two or three days there and not see more than a few other people, and, because there were so few people, no one camped near anyone else, so it was a lot like a private playground. It was very hot, and there were no services whatsoever there. When we needed anything other than what we brought, such as ice or cold drinks, we'd have to drive to 29 Palms. I haven't been there since the late 1970s, but it seems as if bodies are showing up there on a fairly regular basis these days. Perhaps that was the case then but I didn't know about it because we didn't have YouTube videos.
We went there about two years ago. I remember it as very desolate. It's an interesting place though, I love the Joshua trees. It was actually one of my favorite vacation pictures. We did a road trip across the US, from NC to CA. I believe it was at Rancho Cucamonga(?) that we turned around and came home, though we could have been lost. That happened a lot. I believe we saw Joshua tree on our way back.
Never been there, but would like to visit 4 Corners monument. It would be cool to be in 4 States at the same time.