Joshua Tree is a fantastic national park located in the desert of Southern California. It is home to some of the state’s most beautiful hiking trails and sunset viewpoints. First time visitors often drive through the park and see it as a desolate landscape missing the awe inspiring views you will find in parks like Yosemite. However, Joshua Tree National Park has a unique beauty, and you simply have to get off the park’s main road and onto one of its trails to find it. I have visited the park over a dozen times and wanted to write this post to help you experience the park as best as possible with the time you have. Hopefully, this post answers all your questions on Joshua Tree National Park, but let me know if you have another question about the park in the comments.

What makes Joshua Tree National Park Special?

The park is larger than the state of Rhode Island, with over 795,000 acres. Half of those acres are designated to remain wilderness, and much of the park has no designated roads and is only accessible via hiking. The park includes the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert, with thousands of feet of elevation change throughout the park, changing its unique topography. The park also has centuries of history, first with Native American tribes using the land and later with settlers hoping to strike it rich by mining many of the hillsides. Both are still on display throughout the park. The park is named after the Joshua Tree, which dots the landscape of the park’s interior. It is a strange looking plant, and hundreds of thousands are in the park. The park is also extremely popular for rock climbers who see the massive rocks as a natural playground. If you are into rock climbing, it is a place you will not want to miss.

How to get to Joshua Tree National Park?

Joshua Tree National Park is about 2.5 hours from Los Angeles, the closest big city you can fly into. You can also drive to the park from Las Vegas, which is about 3.5 hours, and San Diego, which is 3.5 hours as well. Palm Springs also has an airport that you can fly into, and it is only about 45 minutes from Palm Springs to the Joshua Tree National Park entrance. The park is a driving park, so you really need a car to experience it, and there is no shuttle system to get around it.

How much does it cost to visit Joshua Tree National Park?

The park costs $35 per car to enter. If you are visiting multiple parks, the best way is to get a national parks annual pass, which is only $80 and works for all parks in the USA for a year (residents of the USA). The non-resident annual pass is currently $250.

Where can I stay when I visit Joshua Tree National Park?

Camping

Joshua Tree National Park has no hotels inside the park, but there are multiple campgrounds. The campgrounds often sell out well in advance on busy weekends and holidays, but there are first come, first served options if you want to get there early and hope for a spot. My two favorite campgrounds are White Tank and Jumbo Rocks.

Jumbo Rocks is the main campground, and it is centrally located in the middle of the park. It can get busy and is often rowdier. That being said, it is a stunning place to visit with a great landscape to explore and rocks to climb on right near the campground.

White Tank is a small first come, first served campground with only 15 spots. The spots are nestled beneath big rocks, and they feel much more remote, which I love. All campground reservations can be made on Recreation.gov.

Hotels

If you want to stay in a hotel, the towns of 29 Palms and Joshua Tree are the best options. Joshua Tree has more boutique hotels, short term rentals, and a quirky downtown area. 29 Palms is a large city with many chain hotels and all of the typical shops you would expect in a city like this. It is right next to the eastern entrance to the park as well. Lastly, you can stay in Palm Springs if you want to drive a little further. Palm Springs has many hotel and restaurant options but will add about an hour onto the drive.

Where can I eat in Joshua Tree National Park?

Joshua Tree National Park has no food spots inside of the park boundaries. You will have to bring anything you want from outside the park. The best options are either Joshua Tree city or 29 Palms. I love the food at Crossroads Cafe in Joshua Tree city, and you can find many of the typical chain restaurants in 29 Palms. There are also visitor centers near two of the three entrances, which have some snacks you can purchase, but your best bet is to bring everything you need in. Also, be sure to bring water, the park gets very hot, and you want to be prepared with water.

When is the best time to visit Joshua Tree National Park?

Joshua Tree is a year round park with people visiting every day of the year. That being said, I would highly recommend skipping the park in the summer. It is scorching during that time of year, and that is when visitation is high. If you go in the summer, I would recommend starting early and leaving the park for lunch in the middle of the day. I love visiting the park in the spring and the fall. In the spring, you often see some desert wildflowers, and in the fall, the temperatures are much cooler with fewer crowds. The winter is also great as the weather is cold, which can be nice for hiking. It is rare, but it can snow in the winter in Joshua Tree. If that happens, the park gets packed with people wanting to experience this rare sight.

Summer

Winter

Special Events in Joshua Tree National Park

Night Sky Festival

Generally at the end of September, there is a Night Sky Festival at the Sky’s the Limit Nature Center and Observatory, which is right outside the park. Joshua Tree is a fantastic place for viewing the night sky, and this ticketed event has telescopes to see the sky with and lots of intelligent people telling you what you are looking at. It is a blast to attend if you like this type of thing.

Top 5 Places to Visit in Joshua Tree National Park

Keys View

Keys Views is a viewpoint in the southwest portion of the park that you can drive all the way up to. The view looks out over the Coachella Valley and over towards Mt San Jacinto. It is a stunning spot and an easily accessible sunset viewpoint.

Arch Rock

Arch Rock is a large stone arch that is in the eastern portion of the park and that is popular for photography. The arch is basically just a rock that has fallen over to create it but it is very cool to see in the wonderland of rocks that is Joshua Tree National Park. 

Cholla Cactus Garden

Cholla Cactus Garden is near Arch Rock and it is a short trail that winds it way through thousands of Cholla Cactus. These cactus stand about 4-5 feet tall and are very pokey. It is unique in that the cactus don’t show up in this concentration in other areas of the park. 

Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley is a 1 mile trail that head up into a natural canyon surrounded by large rocks. The area was supposedly used by cattle rustlers back in the day and there are stories that it was completely closed in at one point before the entrance was blown open. 

Barker Dam

Barker Dam is one of the best places in the park to see water. The dam was built in 1900 and then raised higher in 1949. The dam provides water to many of the parks wildlife and is a beautiful area to see that is accessed via a short 1 mile round trip trail. It is the most popular trail in the park.

Video

Here is a video I made on all of my favorite spots in the park as well. I hope it helps you find some new spots!

Do you have any other questions about Joshua Tree National Park? Let me know in the comments.