The Best Things To Do in Joshua Tree—Your Ultimate Guide
Joshua Tree National Park Is One of the Jewels of the United States. Here’s Drives & Detours Guide on the Best Places To Visit
Visiting Joshua Tree National Park is a bucket-list trip for many travelers. It is full of the most incredible trees, the best hiking, and a dark night sky full of twinkling stars. One of the best ways to see the park is with driving tours, where you can travel at your own pace.
The park is located where two ecosystems meet—the Mojave and Colorado Deserts—and the San Andreas Fault runs to the southwest. These have created the unique landscapes that you will see, and the plants and animals are specially adapted to the conditions.
Discover Joshua Tree National Park with the Drives & Detours mobile app and GPS-triggered audio tours. We’ll take you on a cruise through surreal desert landscapes where you’ll find iconic stops like Skull Rock, Hidden Valley, and the Cholla Cactus Garden—along with hidden gems you might otherwise miss.
The Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree National Park takes its name from the beautiful trees that live throughout its desert — Linhao Zhang / Unsplash
Joshua trees were already iconic before U2 placed one on the front of their album in the eighties. The Yucca brevifolia, its scientific name, is almost exclusively found in the Mojave Desert section of the park, although some strays may be spotted across the region.
The best place to spot the iconic trees is during the drive along Park Boulevard as it passes through the grassland of Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley.
Joshua trees are thought to have been named by Mormon colonists. The story goes that the trees guided them through the Mojave as they journeyed west. The trees’ shape reminded the colonists of Joshua holding his hands in a biblical story. The tale is disputed, but let’s not allow the truth to get in the way of a story.
Hidden Valley
Hidden Valley was the home of cattle rustlers who hid among its nooks and crannies — Pavol Svantner / Unsplash
Hidden Valley is one of Joshua Tree’s most popular camping and hiking spots. You’ll find a trailhead here that starts a level, one-mile loop on hard-packed sand through the rock formations—the most famous is Cow Rock. It has some excellent bouldering and climbing.
You’ll be able to spot some of the park’s amazing wildlife in the area. The valley has its own micro-habitat that is home to the desert tortoise, black-tailed jackrabbits, coyotes, and roadrunners.
The valley was one of the first areas in the park to be protected by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936. Before that, it was the hideout of cattle rustlers who used the nooks and crannies of the rocks to escape the law. Bill Keys is the most famous of the rustlers. He arrived in the desert as an outlaw and soon owned the sprawling Desert Queen Ranch.
Barker Dam
Barker Dam is home to much of Joshua Tree’s wildlife because of its plentiful water — Patrick Mayor / Unsplash
Keys also influenced the construction of Barker Dam, also named Big Horn Dam. This was first raised to nine feet in 1900 by the cattleherders whom Keys would later rob. Fifty years later, Keys and his family increased the depth by six feet after he had been released from prison.
The area around Barket Dam is full of wildlife because of the water it collects. Desert bighorn sheep are a common sight, but it is after rainfall that the dam really comes alive. A variety of lizards and bird species come to drink and hunt from the reservoir.
You might see a Californian or American black bear grabbing a drink if you get very, very lucky. They’re not a fan of the desert but do pop in occasionally during their migration.
Barker Dam has an easy hiking trail that’s just over one mile. You’ll be able to see a lot of the flora and fauna, and San Gorgonio Mountain, if the weather’s good.
You’ll also find a cave full of 2,000-year-old American Indian petroglyphs and pictographs on the trail. These were literally Disneyfied in the 60s, when one of the studio’s film crews painted over the pictures of men and snakes so the colours would pop on film.
Wall Street Mill
It was at Wall Street Mill that Bill Keys shot and killed a man in a dispute — Donna Elliot / Unsplash
This is the only surviving gold ore mill in the region—and home to more of Bill Keys’ exploits. Keys built Wall Street Mill in the forties, and it was here that he killed Worth Bagley in a dispute over access.
Keys handed himself in and was sent to jail for murder in a miscarriage of justice. Local landowners saw his trial as an opportunity to settle their many disputes with Keys. However, Bagley had attempted to ambush Keys, came at him with a gun, and opened fire. Keys spent five years in San Quentin before being released and later pardoned.
Wall Street Mill is a moderate hike from Barker Dam, with a length of two miles there and back. This is part of the park with little shade or cell phone service, so take plenty of water and make sure someone knows you’re going. We’d also like to remind you to leave no trace while you’re in Joshua Tree to minimize your impact on the park.
Hall of Horrors
Hall of Horrors is one of the national park’s hidden gems — Alan Rodriguez / Unsplash
Hall of Horrors is a very cool name, but we have no idea why it’s called that. It’s one of Joshua Tree’s hidden gems and has a short and easy trail to take in the incredible views. This winds through the rock formations that provide some excellent climbing and bouldering.
The star of the show can be found within these formations—there are a number of slot canyons that are waiting to be explored. These aren’t easy to find from the trail and should only be attempted by people with experience.
The slot canyons narrow to a nerve-wracking six inches, so they are a challenge to pass through. However, one leads to stunning views over a meadow of Joshua trees. Both canyons require some scrambling over boulders. You should only take this on if you feel confident you can return.
Skull Rock
Skull Rock is easy to see from the road that winds its way through Joshua Tree — Phil Even Photos / Pexels
This rock formation looks exactly how its name suggests—a huge skull sunk into the earth. Skull Rock is a granite boulder that has eroded in such a way that two eye sockets and a nose seem to appear under a forehead. It’s like something out of The Goonies.
Skull Rock happens to be right beside the road. The Drives and Detours app will let you know as you approach, and you can hop out for pictures. Sunset is a particularly beautiful time for photos—the sky will turn a pastel red.
You’ll find another relatively easy 1.7-mile trail at the car park that will take you to Face Rock. This formation has weathered similarly, but is a bit less spooky. As always, remember that there is always a chance of extreme heat in the park—take plenty of water and tell people where you're going.
Cholla Cactus Garden
The cholla cacti look cute enough to cuddle, but you’ll find one attached to you if you try — Dillon T / Unsplash
The Cholla Cactus Garden is found in the Pinto Basin and is one of the best places to see the plants of the national park that aren’t Joshua trees. The garden is full of pink hedgehog cacti, desert lavender, and narrow-leaf forget-me-not, among many more.
The garden takes its name from the teddybear cholla, which looks cute enough to cuddle. Don’t cuddle one. The stems break off easily, and the spines dig into your skin. These are very painful to remove. Many of the other flowers look pretty enough to take home—but don’t pick them. The desert ecosystem is delicate and needs to be protected.
An easy boardwalk trail runs through the garden that allows you to get close to the teddybear cholla and the other plants and flowers. It loops for about a quarter of a mile, and the garden stretches almost as far as the eye can see into the Colorado Desert.
Grocery Stores Near Joshua Tree National Park
Drives and Detours has already put together a list of grocery stores near Joshua Tree National Park. These range from the Aldi and Stater Bros. Supermarket in Yucca Valley to the Joshua Tree Farmers Market and Sam's Market in the town itself.
Download Drives & Detours’ Joshua Tree Self-Guided Driving Tour
Drives and Detours’ Journey Into Joshua Tree Audio Tour lets you explore the park at your own speed, while giving you a flexible, informative, and offline-friendly way to explore.
Book your tour online and take it anytime you want, or download the app and purchase your trip when you’re ready. Your adventure through one of the United States' favorite national parks begins in Palm Springs or Twentynine Palms.
Our self-guided tours tell you the full stories and cultural history behind all of this, as well as take you to other sights, such as Keys View, the Ryan Ranch Homestead Site, and Ryan Mountain. We also know all the hidden gems Joshua Tree National Park has to offer.
