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A National Parks Hub Park Guide
Lat 34.1349° N
Long 116.0569° W
Elevation536 – 5,814 ft

California · Park 13 / 63

Joshua Tree

National Park · Established 1994

Two deserts meet here, a hard line drawn across the sand, and a strange spiky tree stands guard on either side.

Area795,156 acres
TrailheadTwentynine Palms, California
Visitors3.2M / yr
Scroll to begin the ascent
Live · Park open 24 hrs International Dark Sky Park · night visits encouraged 1 active alert 88°F · dry desert air Live layer, from the National Park Service
Best windowOct–Apr · summer runs 100°F+ Getting there45 min from Palm Springs · 2.5 hr from Los Angeles Fee$30 / vehicle · 7 days
★★★★★ 4.8 from 17 travelers 3 visitor stories 3.2M annual visitors Grounded in live NPS data
Joshua Tree · Mile 01 · The Story

Two deserts,
one strange tree.

Drive through this park and you cross an invisible line partway: the low, hot Colorado Desert gives way to the higher, cooler Mojave, and the boundary is almost exact. South of it, cholla and ocotillo dominate. North of it, the Joshua tree takes over, a member of the yucca family that can live for centuries and blooms only when a rare hard freeze triggers it.

The rock piles that make this park famous, jumbled towers of monzogranite, formed underground as magma cooled slowly and cracked into blocks, then were exposed as softer surrounding rock eroded away over millions of years. Climbers have been drawn here since the 1950s, and the same boulders that challenge them today shape the landscape into something that looks almost designed.

Come for the surreal rock gardens. Stay for the dark sky, some of the darkest within driving distance of Los Angeles. Read the story, trust the live data above for what is open today, and when you leave, mark it visited.

Joshua Tree National Park framed poster print
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“
The desert is not a wasteland, but a mysterious and lovely place, waiting for people to see it with more than their eyes.
Adapted from Minerva Hoyt, whose advocacy led to the park's 1936 protection as a national monument
Hidden Valley · Rock Country
"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit."
Edward Abbey
Joshua Tree · Mile 02 · The Essentials

Best Things to Do in Joshua Tree

Six ways in, from a boulder scramble at sunset to a night flat on your back under the Milky Way.

See

Keys View at sunset

A short drive to a ridge overlook of the Coachella Valley, the Salton Sea, and on clear days, Mexico's mountains far to the south.

Everyone · 30 min
Do

Scramble Hidden Valley

A rock-ringed bowl that once reportedly hid stolen cattle. Easy walking with endless boulders to climb along the way.

Families · rock scramblers
See

The night sky

An International Dark Sky Park with some of the darkest skies within reach of Los Angeles. New moon nights are best.

Stargazers · after dark
Drive

Park Boulevard

The main road through Hidden Valley, the Wonderland of Rocks, and Skull Rock, with pullouts at every strange formation.

Casual · road-trippers
Camp

Jumbo Rocks Campground

Sites tucked directly among the boulders, some of the best car camping anywhere in the desert Southwest. Reserve ahead in cooler months.

Campers · book early
Explore

Cholla Cactus Garden

A dense field of teddy-bear cholla glowing gold at sunrise and sunset, where the Colorado Desert meets the Mojave.

Everyone · 20 min
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Joshua Tree · Provisions
Gear for this parkvia AvantLink
Wide-brim sun hatREI
4L hydration packOsprey
Climbing chalk & shoesBackcountry
Stay nearbydirect · no commission
Jumbo Rocks Campground · 29 Palms Inn · Twentynine Palms, CAIn-park camping, a historic inn at the park's edge, and the gateway town -- Joshua Tree has no in-park lodge, so this is the honest version.
In-Park CampgroundJumbo Rocks Campground
Check dates →
Cabin Nearby29 Palms Inn, Oasis of Mara
See rooms →
Gateway TownTwentynine Palms, CA
See hotels →
Full lodging guide for Joshua Tree →
Free Joshua Tree checklistdigital · $0
The printable trail and packing checklist in the park-guide style. Take it, join the trail list.
The Trail Map · Real Trails & Boundary

Every Trail In Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park at a Glance
1  Joshua Tree Visitor Center
2  Hidden Valley Trailhead
3  Keys View
4  Cholla Cactus Garden
5  Skull Rock
6  Barker Dam
Stops shown in visit order. Build a plan above and this map updates to your exact stops.
Real trail lines & NPS park boundary © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap · pick a trail to highlight it, tap a pin for the name
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Your adventure, printed
Park-guide posters and the passport book, from our shop.
When the Crowds ComeMonthly visitors · tap a year
Illustrative shape · wires to official NPS visitation stats · summer peaks shown in gold
The Joshua Tree Itself
"The mountains are calling and I must go."
John Muir
Joshua Tree · Mile 03 · Trails & Viewpoints

Best Hikes in Joshua Tree, by Difficulty

Every trail rated honestly, with distance, climb, and a reminder to carry more water than the desert makes you think you need.

Hidden Valley Nature Trail

Easy
1 mi+100 ft~45 min

A loop through a boulder-ringed bowl with interpretive signs on the desert's rock and plant life. No permit.

Barker Dam Loop

Easy
1.3 mi+50 ft~1 hr

Past an old ranchers' dam and petroglyphs to a seasonal pool that reflects the surrounding rock when it holds water. No permit.

Skull Rock Nature Trail

Easy–Mod
1.7 mi+200 ft~1.5 hr

Winds past the famous eroded formation and through classic Joshua Tree boulder country the whole way. No permit.

Ryan Mountain

Moderate
3 mi+1,000 ft~2.5 hr

The best view-per-step in the park, a steady climb to a summit overlooking three of the park's major valleys at once. No permit.

Mastodon Peak

Moderate
3 mi+400 ft~2 hr

A loop past an old gold mine to a rock-pile summit with views over the Cottonwood Spring oasis and the Eagle Mountains. No permit.

Lost Palms Oasis

Strenuous
7.2 mi+500 ft4–5 hr

A long, exposed desert walk to the park's largest native fan-palm oasis, hidden in a canyon that looks nothing like the rest of the trail. No permit.

Free backcountry permits at trailhead boards for overnight camping · no permit for day hikes

Joshua Tree · Mile 04 · Two Deserts, One Park

Wildlife in Joshua Tree: Animals You Might See

Tap any animal to learn its story. Soon, the app will let you log what you spot and keep a life list for every park.

Small, scattered populations work the rugged terrain near the Wonderland of Rocks and the Little San Bernardino Mountains, rarely seen but present.

The desert's most adaptable predator, working campgrounds and washes alike. Never feed one; it shortens their lives and changes their behavior fast.

Spends up to 95 percent of its life underground avoiding the heat. A federally threatened species; if you see one, do not touch or move it.

A large, flat-bodied lizard that wedges itself into rock cracks and inflates its body to lodge in place when threatened.

A real bird, not just a cartoon: sprints across the desert floor at up to 20 mph chasing lizards and snakes.

Uses its oversized ears as a radiator to dump body heat in the desert night, common along nearly every road at dusk.

Moves in a distinctive sideways motion adapted to loose desert sand, leaving a signature S-shaped track. Give any snake a wide berth.

Plant Life in Joshua Tree: What Grows Here

A giant yucca that can live for centuries, blooming only after a rare hard winter freeze. Found mainly on the Mojave, higher side of the park.

The golden, fuzzy-looking cactus filling the Cholla Cactus Garden. The spines detach at the lightest touch; look, never pet.

A cluster of thorny wands that stay bare most of the year, then leaf out and bloom bright red within days of a good rain.

A rare pink, bell-shaped bloom that appears after wet winters, one of the park's most photographed spring wildflowers.

The state's only native palm, found exclusively at desert oases fed by fault-line springs, like Lost Palms and the Oasis of Mara.

Shorter and sharper-leaved than the Joshua tree, with a single flowering stalk that once supplied fiber and food to desert peoples.

Fun Facts About Joshua Tree

Fact 01

The park straddles two distinct deserts, the Mojave and the Colorado, meeting along an almost visible boundary line.

Fact 02

The famous granite boulders are monzogranite, cooled underground and exposed over millions of years as softer rock eroded away.

Fact 03

Joshua trees are pollinated almost exclusively by the yucca moth, a relationship so specific that neither species can easily survive without the other.

Fact 04

The park is an International Dark Sky Park, and on a clear new-moon night the Milky Way is visible without any equipment at all.

Joshua Tree · Before You Go

Joshua Tree National Park FAQ

The questions people actually ask, answered from the park’s own current guidance. Fees and permit rules change every year, so each answer links back to the National Park Service page it came from.

A private vehicle pass is $30 for 7 days, a motorcycle is $25, and a person on foot or bike pays $15. An annual park pass is $55, and kids under 16 walking or biking in don't need a pass. Source: NPS.gov

There's no snow-driven road closure season here, but summer, roughly June through September, brings high temperatures and long, hot days, and NPS specifically tells visitors to plan ahead for a safe visit during that stretch. Heat, not weather closures, is the main seasonal issue at this park. Source: NPS.gov

Yes, it's an International Dark Sky Park, and NPS calls out its dark night skies, some of the darkest in Southern California, as one of the park's defining features. Get away from the parking areas and campgrounds for the best views. Source: NPS.gov

The West Entrance, near the town of Joshua Tree, is the park's busiest and often has long lines. NPS suggests using the North Entrance near Twentynine Palms instead, which typically has little to no wait. Source: NPS.gov

Joshua Tree · Mile 05 · From the Field Journal

Go Deeper on Joshua Tree

Stories, guides, and hard-won tips from the trail. The full Joshua Tree deep dive lives on the blog.

Park History

The Tree That Isn't a Tree

Read the guide →
Road Trip

The Order Problem: A Road Trip Guide to the National Parks You Can Actually Drive To

Read the guide →
By the Numbers

What the National Parks Are Actually Worth

Read the guide →
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Offline maps and your passport. Join the app waitlist.
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Free Joshua Tree checklist
The printable trail and packing list, in the park-guide style.
Joshua Tree first-visit badge, National Parks Hub
Your passport

One visit,
one story.

Log the visit, keep your story, and watch the map of all sixty-three fill in behind you. Every visit has a keepsake worth holding.

Joshua Tree · Mile 06 · Where to Next

Keep the Journey Going

Next park

Arches

East across the desert Southwest: from granite boulders to sandstone doorways.

Open Park 08 → The collection

All 63 Parks

See the full map and track every park you have visited.

View the map → Plan

Build a Trip

Turn Joshua Tree into a road trip with a custom, day-by-day itinerary.

Start planning → Go deeper

The Tree That Isn't a Tree

A murder pardoned by a mystery novelist, a fault line rearranging the view, and rock shaped by an underground ice cube trick.

Read it →
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Fifty parks remain
"The parks do not belong to one state or to one section... they belong as much to the man of Massachusetts, of Michigan, of Florida, as they do to the people of California, of Wyoming, and of Arizona."
Stephen Mather · first director of the National Park Service
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Field Notes

The parks do not perform for anyone. They stood here before the road, and they will stand here after it.

Sixty-three parks. One park guide system. Every mile grounded in what is actually there.