Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree sits in the high desert east of the Coachella Valley, at the seam where two very different deserts come together. The western half is high enough and cool enough for the Mojave Desert, where the Joshua trees grow in scattered forests among the rock. Drop east and south and the land falls into the lower, hotter Colorado Desert, a country of creosote, ocotillo, and the dense Cholla Cactus Garden. Because that seam runs right through the park, a single drive can carry you from tree forests and boulder piles to open cactus flats.

The park's signature rock is a pale granite called monzogranite, molten rock that cooled slowly deep underground long ago. As it rose toward the surface it cracked into a grid, groundwater rounded the corners of the blocks while they were still buried, and erosion later stripped the softer material away to leave the smooth, stacked boulders standing on the surface. The result is a natural climbing gym on a giant scale, and Joshua Tree is one of the most famous rock-climbing and bouldering destinations in the world, with thousands of routes. Even for people who never touch a rope, the boulder piles are irresistible to scramble and explore.

There is more here than trees and rock. Where faults bring water close to the surface, tall fan palms cluster in green oases, startling patches of shade and birdsong in the dry country. High points like Keys View, the top of the park's paved roads, look out over the Coachella Valley far below and trace the line of the San Andreas Fault across the floor of the valley. And because the park is large, high, and far from city lights, its nights are famously dark. It is an International Dark Sky Park, a place set aside for the quality of its night sky, and on a clear, moonless night the Milky Way pours across the sky above the boulders.

• West Entrance, off Park Boulevard from CA-62 near the town of Joshua Tree, is open year-round and is the busiest way in. It leads to Hidden Valley, the boulder country, and Keys View.
• North Entrance, off Utah Trail from CA-62 near Twentynine Palms, is open year-round and reaches the Oasis of Mara and the park's main visitor center.
• South Entrance at Cottonwood, off Interstate 10 near Chiriaco Summit, is open year-round and is the quiet back door from the freeway, closest to the Cholla Cactus Garden and the Colorado Desert side of the park.
• From Los Angeles, most people follow Interstate 10 east and then CA-62 up into the high desert towns of Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and Twentynine Palms, about two and a half hours in normal traffic. Coming from Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, Interstate 10 east leads straight to the south entrance at Cottonwood.

• Skull Rock Nature Trail is a 1.7-mile loop that winds past huge granite boulders, including the skull-shaped rock that gives the trail its name, right beside the main park road.
• Keys View is the highest point on a paved road in the park, at 5,185 feet, with wide views over the Coachella Valley and, on clear days, all the way to the Salton Sea.
• The Cholla Cactus Garden is a quarter-mile loop through a dense stand of teddy-bear cholla, a surreal photograph at sunrise or sunset when the spines catch the light. Look but do not touch, as the spines break off and cling.
• Hidden Valley is a one-mile loop through a ring of granite boulders that legend says cattle rustlers used as a hideout in the 1880s, and today a favorite of climbers and picnickers.

This desert is the ancestral homeland of Native peoples including the Serrano, Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, and Mojave, who lived with a landscape most newcomers found forbidding. They knew where the scarce water surfaced, gathered pinyon nuts and mesquite, and carried on trade routes across the dry country for thousands of years. Their long presence is written into the oases, the grinding stones worn into the rock, and the rock art that survives in the park. These are living cultures whose ties to this land continue today, and their story is the oldest chapter of the place.

In the 1800s prospectors and cattle ranchers arrived, chasing gold and grass. They left behind old mines and homesteads, the best preserved of which is the Keys Ranch, where the Keys family scratched out a living for decades and which the park service now protects and shows on guided walks. Much of the human history here is a story of people learning, slowly and sometimes hard, how to live in a place with almost no water.

By the early 1900s the Joshua trees and desert plants were being dug up and hauled off to city gardens, and cactus was being stripped from the flats. A Pasadena activist named Minerva Hoyt was alarmed by the damage and spent years campaigning to protect the desert, founding a society for its preservation and lobbying all the way to Washington. Her effort paid off in 1936, when the land was set aside as Joshua Tree National Monument.

For most of the twentieth century it stayed a monument. Then, in 1994, Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act, which enlarged the boundaries and raised Joshua Tree to full national park status. Today the park draws climbers, artists, musicians, and stargazers from around the world, many of them staying in the desert towns that grew up along its edges.

• The Joshua tree is not a tree. It is a giant species of yucca, a spiky desert plant, and it grows only in the Mojave Desert. It cannot make seeds without one particular partner, the yucca moth, which pollinates its flowers and lays eggs inside them.
• Joshua trees grow very slowly, often just an inch or two a year, so a tall one may be well over a century old. That is why the park asks visitors never to climb or lean on them.
• The park protects the meeting place of two deserts, the higher, cooler Mojave and the lower, hotter Colorado, which is a big reason it holds such a wide range of plants and animals for a desert.
• Joshua Tree is an International Dark Sky Park, an honor given for the quality of its night sky, and it is one of the darkest places you can reach within a few hours of Los Angeles.
• From Keys View you can look straight down onto the San Andreas Fault, the great crack in the earth where two of the planet's plates grind past each other across the floor of the Coachella Valley.
• The pale, rounded boulders that climbers love are made of monzogranite, and they got their smooth shapes from groundwater rounding their edges while they were still buried underground, long before erosion uncovered them.
• The Oasis of Mara near the north entrance is a natural fan-palm oasis, once tended by the Serrano people, who according to tradition planted a palm for each baby born in a good year.
• The park has no gas stations, no lodges, and almost no water inside its boundaries, which is part of why it feels so wild and why visitors have to come prepared.

• An entrance fee applies, charged per vehicle and good for seven days, and interagency annual passes are accepted. Check the park website for the current rate.
• The West Entrance via Joshua Tree Village off CA-62 is the main way in, reaching Hidden Valley, the boulder country, Keys View, and most of the developed areas.
• Jumbo Rocks Campground is the most popular place to camp inside the park, set right among the boulders; some sites are first-come, first-served, so arrive early in busy seasons.
• The towns of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, and Twentynine Palms just outside the entrances have full services, including fuel, food, and lodging. Fill up your gas tank and your water bottles before you drive in, because there is none of either inside.

Joshua Tree is a desert national park in southern California where two deserts meet, the higher, cooler Mojave and the lower, hotter Colorado. The Mojave side grows the park's namesake Joshua trees, which are actually a giant kind of yucca, a spiky desert plant, while the Colorado side spreads out into creosote flats and cactus. Add in mountains of golden granite boulders and some of the darkest skies near a big city, and you have one of California's most beloved parks. It was first protected in 1936 and became a full national park in 1994.

Bring far more water than you think you need, and bring all of it with you, because there is almost no water available inside the park. A common guideline is at least one gallon per person per day, and more in warm weather or on a hike. Fill every bottle and jug before you drive in. There is no reliable water source once you are past the entrance, so plan to be completely self-sufficient.

Heat is the biggest danger here. From late spring through early fall, daytime temperatures can climb high enough to be genuinely dangerous, so many visitors do their hiking early in the morning and rest in the shade during the hottest hours. Wear a hat and sunscreen, carry plenty of water and drink it steadily, and turn back before you feel worn out rather than after. Cell service is spotty, so tell someone your plans, and know your own limits. The cooler months from fall through spring are the most comfortable and safest time to be active outdoors.

Yes, Joshua Tree charges a per-vehicle entrance fee that is good for seven days, and interagency annual passes are accepted. Check the National Park Service website for the current rate. The park does not normally require a timed-entry reservation to drive in, though that can change, so it is worth checking the park website before a busy holiday weekend. Camping inside the park often does require a reservation in the popular months.

Excellent. Joshua Tree is an International Dark Sky Park, an honor given for the quality of its night sky, and it is one of the darkest places within a few hours of Los Angeles. On a clear, moonless night the Milky Way is easy to see with the naked eye above the boulders. For the best view, come on a night near the new moon when the moon is not up, let your eyes adjust in the dark for twenty minutes or so, and bring warm layers, because desert nights get cold even after hot days.

Yes, and it is world-famous for it. The park's rounded granite boulders and cliffs hold thousands of climbing and bouldering routes for every level, and climbers travel from around the globe to try them, especially in the cool months. If you are new to it, guiding companies based in the gateway towns offer lessons and gear. Even if you never rope up, the boulder piles are wonderful to scramble, and many are easy enough for kids with a careful eye from a grown-up.

The cooler months from fall through spring are the most comfortable and popular time, with pleasant days for hiking and climbing and cold, clear nights for stargazing. Spring is especially lovely, because a wet winter can set off a wildflower bloom, though the timing varies a lot from year to year. Winter is quiet and cool, sometimes with a dusting of snow on the boulders. Summer brings extreme, dangerous heat, so it is the season most visitors avoid for anything strenuous.

No. There are no gas stations, no restaurants, and no lodges inside Joshua Tree, and cell service is unreliable. Fill up your gas tank and stock up on food and water in the gateway towns of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, or Twentynine Palms before you drive in. Those towns, and Palm Springs down the hill to the southwest, have plenty of hotels, motels, and vacation rentals. Inside the park itself the only overnight option is camping.

Yes. The park has several campgrounds set among the boulders and Joshua trees, and camping under the dark sky is one of the best ways to experience the place. Some sites can be reserved in advance and some are first-come, first-served, so check the park website and book early for the busy cool-season weekends. There are no hotels or lodges inside the park, so if you want to sleep indoors you will stay in one of the nearby towns.

Pets are allowed in developed areas, campgrounds, parking lots, and along roads, but not on the trails or in the backcountry, so they cannot join you on most hikes. Keep them leashed, never leave a pet in a parked vehicle in the desert heat, and carry water for them just as you would for yourself. Check the park website for the current pet rules before you go.