Joshua Tree National Park Sights

Touring the Park

The national park visitor center is located alongside one of Joshua Tree Natinal Park's four palm oases--the Oasis of Mara, also know as Twenty-nine Palms. For many hundreds of years native Americans lived at “the place of little springs and much grass." Get maps, books and the latest in road, trail and weather conditions before beginning your tour.

Oasis Visitor Center is open 8 am to 4:30 pm daily except Christmas. Check here for a schedule of ranger-guided walks and evening interpretive programs.

In addition to the main Oasis Visitor Center at the Twentynine Palms entrance, there is Cottonwood at the south entrance, and Black Rock Canyon, located at the campground southeast of Yucca Valley.

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Highways and Byways

Two paved roads explore the heart of the park. The first loops through the high northwest section, visiting Queen and Lost Horse Valleys, as well as the awesome boulder piles at Jumbo Rocks and Wonderland of Rocks. The second angles northwest-southeast across the park, and crosses both the Mojave Desert Joshua tree woodland and cactus gardens of the Colorado Desert.

From Oasis Visitor Center, drive south to Jumbo Rocks, which is kind of Joshua Tree National Park to the max: a vast array of rock formations, a Joshua tree forest, the yucca-dotted desert open and wide. Check out Skull Rock (one of the many rocks in the area that appear to resemble humans, dinosaurs, monsters, cathedrals and castles) via a 1.5 mile long nature trail that provides an introduction to the park's flora, wildlife and geology.

In Queen Valley, just west of Jumbo Rocks, is the signed beginning of Geology Tour Road, a rough dirt road (four-wheel drive recommended) extending 18 miles into the heart of the park. Motorists get close-up looks at the considerable erosive forces that shaped this land, forming the flattest of desert playas, or dry lake beds, as well as massive heaps of boulders that tower over the valley floor. Some good hikes begin off Geology Tour Road, which delivers a Joshua tree woodland, an historic spring, abandoned mines and some fascinating native petroglyhs.

Farther west of Jumbo Rocks is Indian Cave, typical of the kind of shelter sought by the nomadic Cahuilla and Serrano Indian clans that traveled this desert land. A number of bedrock mortars found in the cave suggest its use as a work site by its aboriginal inhabitants. A four-mile round trip trail climbs through a lunar landscape of rocks and Joshua trees to the top of 5,470-foot Ryan Mountain. Reward for the climb is one of the park's best views.

At Cap Rock Junction, the paved park road swings north toward the Wonderland of Rocks, twelve square miles of massive jumbled granite. This curious maze of stone hides groves of Joshua trees, trackless washes and several small pools of water.

Easiest, and certainly the safest way to explore the Wonderland is to follow the 1.25 mile Barker Dam Loop Trail. The first part of the journey is on a nature trail that interprets botanical highlights; the second part visits some native petroglyphs and a little lake created a century ago by cattle ranchers.

From Cap Rock Junction, dirt Keys Road dead-ends at mile-high Keys View. From the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, enjoy grand desert views that encompass both the highest (Mt. San Gorgonio) and lowest (Salton Sea)points in Southern California.

Pinto Basin Road tours the Colorado Desert side of the park. Cholla Cactus Garden preserves an unusually thick concentration of cholla, often called teddy-bear cactus because of the soft, fluffy appearance of its spines. (Don’t be deceived; the spines stick in the skin with only the lightest touch.)

Pinto Basin is, to say the least, forbidding: a barren lowland surrounded by austere mountains and punctuated by trackless sand dunes. Nevertheless, some two to four thousand years ago, a hardy group of natives managed to live here by forging some specialized tools; so unique were these ancients that anthropologists describe them as “Pinto Man.” Try to imagine how even the most primitive people could have survived in the harsh environs of Pinto Basin as you enjoy a mellow stroll to a group of low sand dunes.

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Additional Joshua Tree Sites Worth Exploring

Hidden Valley. Located in the northern portion of the park, a short trail leads through boulders to an old cattler rustler's hideout.

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Barker Dam. Built in the early 1900's to hold water for cattle and mining use, today the area is a rain-fed reservoir attracting local wildlife.

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Keys View. This overlook, with an elevation of 5,185 feet above sea level, is an extremely popular spot for watching the sunset. On rare clear days the view extends over the Salton Sea to Mexico.

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Geology Tour Road. Four-wheel drive vehicles are recommended (but not always necessary, check with rangers) for this eighteen mile dirt road. Along this route are numerous interesting geologic formations and trails.

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Cholla Cactus Garden. A short walk leads through a thick stand of cholla cactus, noted for its especially prickly exterior.

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Cottonwood Springs. Located near the south entrance of the park, Cottonwood Springs is a desert oasis that offers a respite from the arid lands around it. Willows and birds are found in abundance near this natural spring.

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