Travel tips, trail guides, and everything you need for your Joshua Tree adventure.
Two of the park's most rewarding short hikes sit minutes apart along Park Boulevard. Hidden Valley loops through a boulder-rimmed bowl once used by cattle rustlers, while Barker Dam leads to a historic water tank and Native American petroglyphs. Here's how to do both in a morning.
Read More →From the 5,185-foot Keys View overlook you can see the Coachella Valley, the Salton Sea, and the San Andreas Fault before the sun drops. Then, as an International Dark Sky Park, Joshua Tree delivers some of Southern California's best Milky Way viewing. Here's how to time the light and the stars.
Read More →You don't need a long, hot trek to take in Joshua Tree's strange beauty. These short, low-stress trails deliver boulder mazes, oddly carved rock formations, and Joshua tree forests with minimal effort. Distances, difficulty, and tips for hiking with kids.
Read More →Drive from the Joshua tree forests of the high Mojave down into the lower, hotter Colorado Desert, where cholla cactus, ocotillo, and creosote take over. The short loop through the Cholla Cactus Garden glows at golden hour. Here's what to stop for along the Pinto Basin Road.
Read More →Joshua Tree is one of the world's great climbing destinations, with thousands of routes up its grippy monzogranite boulders and domes. Here's how first-timers can get started — from hiring a local guide and finding beginner-friendly crags to staying safe in the desert heat.
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