42 Best Sights in Joshua Tree National Park, California

Many areas that fall under the auspices of the National Park Service are on what was Native American land and encompass spots of sacred, archaeological, historical, and cultural importance to indigenous tribes. This beautiful new 4,100-square-foot visitor center—which opened in 2022 in Freedom Plaza right in downtown Twentynine Palms—is indicative of a commitment by the park service in recent years to tell this side of park history. Displays and programs focus on the Maara’yam (Serrano), Nüwüwü (Chemehuevi), Kawiya (Cahuilla), and Aha Macave (Mojave) peoples whose traditional homelands or use areas fall within today's park borders.

The four original cultures who lived, farmed, worshipped, or hunted in this region have descendants in 15 modern-day bands, tribes, and nations, which worked in partnership with the park service, City of Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree National Park Association, and Bureau of Land Management to create the permanent exhibition. The center also has an information desk, a bookstore, a gift shop, and restrooms with flush toilets.

This 150-acre 1910 ranch, which once belonged to William and Frances Keys and is now on the National Historic Register, illustrates one of the area's most successful attempts at homesteading. The couple raised five children under extreme desert conditions. Most of the original buildings, including the house, school, store, and workshop, have been restored to the way they were when William died in 1969. It's only open via ranger-guided, 90-minute, half-mile walking tours offered from October to May. Reservations are required.

At 5,185 feet, this point affords a sweeping view of the Coachella Valley, the San Andreas Fault, the peak of 11,500-foot Mt. San Gorgonio, the shimmering surface of the Salton Sea, and—on a very clear day—Signal Mountain in Mexico. Sunrise and sunset are magical times to head to the wheelchair-accessible crest lookout as the light throws rocks and trees into high relief before bathing the hills in fiery shades of red, orange, and gold.

Learn all about what plants do to survive in the Colorado Desert on this ¼-mile loop. Easy.

Built around 1900 by ranchers and miners to hold water for cattle and mining operations, the dam now collects rainwater and is a good place to spot wildlife such as the elusive bighorn sheep.

Set among Joshua trees, pinyon pines, and junipers, this popular picnic area has barbecue grills and drinking water. It's one of the few with flush toilets.

The one-way 8-mile trail, suitable for backpackers and experienced hikers, extends from Indian Cove to Park Boulevard and takes roughly six hours to complete. It goes deep into the Wonderland of Rocks area (where you're likely to see climbers on the outcroppings), passing through a forest of Joshua trees, past granite towers, and around willow-lined pools. Vehicle shuttle is strongly recommended. Difficult.

You'll need a backcountry camping pass, two or three days, and tons of stamina to traverse this 36.6-mile route through a variety of Mojave Desert landscapes between Black Rock Canyon and the park's north entrance. You can access the trail for a short or long hike at several points. The visitor centers have trail maps. Also popular with equestrians. Difficult.

This ½-mile, wheelchair-accessible loop—named after a boulder that sits atop a huge rock formation like a cap—winds through other fascinating rock formations and has signs that explain the geology of the Mojave Desert. Easy.

This stand of thousands of teddy-bear cholla (sometimes called jumping cholla because its hooked spines seem to jump at you) is best seen and photographed in the late afternoon, when the backlit spiky stalks stand out against a colorful sky, and in spring when they're most likely to bloom. Stay on the ¼-mile boardwalk, as the minuscule barbs easily detach and latch on, and they are very painful to remove.

This area was home to the indigenous Cahuilla people for centuries, and its spring provided them, as well as travelers and early prospectors, with water. It still supports a large stand of fan palms and cottonwood trees and is one of the best spots in the park for bird-watching. There are some remains, including concrete pillars, of several gold mines that were located here. Numerous hikes begin here as well.

Shady trees make this a pleasant place to picnic. It has drinking water and restrooms with flush toilets.

The south entrance is the closest to I–10, the east–west highway from Los Angeles to Phoenix. Exhibits in this small center, staffed by rangers and volunteers, illustrate the region's natural history. The center also has a small bookstore, a water-filling station, and restrooms with flush toilets.

A short drive off Highway 62, this site is a bit of a preview of what the park's interior has to offer: a fan palm oasis, barrel cacti, interesting petroglyphs, and evidence of fires built by early Native Americans. Because animals frequent this area, you may spot a coyote, bobcat, or roadrunner.

Allow three hours for this moderately strenuous, 3-mile trek. There's no shade, and the trail climbs 300 steep feet in both directions, eventually dropping down into a canyon where you'll find an oasis lined with fan palms, which can only be viewed from boulders above. Look closely to see evidence of Native Americans in this area, from traces of cooking fires to rocks carved with petroglyphs. Moderate.

Some of the park's most fascinating landscapes can be observed from this 18-mile dirt road. Parts of the journey are rough; a 4X4 vehicle is required after mile marker 9. Sights to see include a 100-year-old stone dam called Squaw Tank, defunct mines, and a large plain with an abundance of Joshua trees. Allow about two hours to complete the round-trip drive and explore all 16 stops. There are a few hiking trails and climbing routes that can be accessed from here as well.

Lore claims that this 1-mile trail loops through a big-boulder valley often used by cattle rustlers as a hideout. Kids love to scramble on and around the rocks before sitting down for sammies at shaded picnic tables.

Set among huge rock formations, with picnic tables shaded by dense trees, this is one of the most pleasant places in the park to stop to eat.

Crawl through the rocks surrounding Hidden Valley to see where cattle rustlers supposedly hid out on a 1-mile loop. Easy.

Nestled in between campsites 20 and 21 in the Black Rock Canyon Campground, this 1.4-mile loop climbs up a steep ridge to score views of nearby Mt. San Gorgonio (snowcapped in winter). You can pick up a pamphlet describing the vegetation you'll see along the way at any visitor center. It is 2.1 miles if you start at the Black Rock Nature Center. Moderate.

The view from here is of rock formations that draw thousands of climbers to the park each year. This isolated area is reached via Twentynine Palms Highway and Indian Cove Road. You'll find a campground, picnic area, and an easy nature trail in the area.

Look for lizards and roadrunners along this ½-mile loop that follows a desert wash. A walk along this well-signed trail reveals signs of Native American habitation, animals, and flora such as desert willow and yucca. Easy.

This visitor center, the most frequented of the park's four, has maps and interesting exhibits illustrating park geology, cultural and historic sites, and hiking and rock-climbing activities. There's also a small bookstore, café, restrooms with flush toilets, and rangers available to give advice.

This picnic area tucked in the middle of interesting rock formations is near a stand of Joshua trees.

The mine, one of about 300 developed within the current park boundaries, was among Southern California's most productive, generating 10,000 ounces of gold and 16,000 ounces of silver between 1894 and 1931. The 10-stamp mill is one of the best preserved of its type in the park system. The site is accessed via a moderately strenuous 4-mile hike. Mind the signs, and note that parking, which is at end of the dirt access road, is limited.

This somewhat strenuous 4-mile round-trip hike follows a former mining road to a well-preserved mill site used in the 1890s to crush gold-encrusted rock mined from the nearby mountain. The operation was one of the area's most successful. The cyanide settling tanks and stone buildings are the area's best-preserved structures. From the mill area, a short but steep 10-minute side trip takes you to the top of a 5,278-foot peak with great views of the valley. This route can be combined with the Lost Horse Loop to create a more challenging walkabout. Moderate.

Reachable by a challenging 7½-mile, round-trip hike, this oasis has more than 100 fan palms, the largest grouping of the exotic plants found in the park, and a spring that bubbles from between the rocks only to disappear into the sandy, boulder-strewn canyon. Visits are not recommended during the summer months. Parking is down the road from Cottonwood Visitor Center at Cottonwood Spring.

Allow five to six hours to complete this challenging 7.5-mile round-trip trail, which runs past sandy washes and rolling terrain to the most impressive oasis in the park. It's uphill on the way out of the canyon. You'll find more than 100 fan palms and an abundance of wildflowers here. Difficult.

Boulder scrambling is optional on this 3-mile hike that loops past a gold mine and up to the 3,371-foot Mastodon Peak where you can get a glimpse of the Salton Sea in the distance. The peak draws its name from a large rock formation that early miners believed looked like the head of a prehistoric beast. Moderate.

A stroll along this ½-mile wheelchair-accessible trail in Twentynine Palms reveals how early area residents took advantage of this verdant oasis, which was first settled by the Serrano tribe. (Mara means "place of little springs and much grass" in their language.) The Serrano, who farmed the oasis until the mid-1850s, planted one palm tree for each male baby born during the first year of the settlement. Easy.