Is Joshua Tree National Park Worth Visiting?

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I visited Joshua Tree in late October of 2021 with my parents and I loved it! It’s not like, top five parks for me but if you’ve been wondering if it’s worth visiting, yes!

Joshua Tree National Park is a couple hours from both Death Valley National Park and LA, in the California desert, and it’s home to a lot of, well, Joshua trees!

I will note, this post is about Joshua Tree National Park, not the town of Joshua Tree (though I do mention it below).

National Park Goodies

If you’re planning to visit three or more national parks within a year from your trip, definitely get the America the Beautiful pass. It will save you money in the long run if you’re going to more than three parks in a year. Buy the pass here.
If you’re planning on doing a lot of hiking on your trip, or even at home, check out AllTrails! This is my favorite app to find, keep track of, and track my hiking activity. And it’s FREE! Sign up here.
This Ultimate National Park Planning Bundle is a must-have. You get two ebooks and a planner, saving 50% by getting them as a bundle! If you want all the details, this is the bundle for you. Buy the Ultimate bundle here.
Doing a road trip? Want an adventure? Consider an Escape Campervan Rental! It’s a great way to see the parks and is perfect for couples and small (but close) friend groups. Book a campervan here!
This National Park Planner (one of the ebooks from the bundle above) is perfect if you just want some guidance in your planning. Buy the planner here.
Get yourself a National Park journal for all of the NPS sites (400+!) to keep track of your travels!
Consider reading some of these books set in national parks before your big trip, on your adventure, or once you get home to take you back to the parks until next time.

joshua trees with mountains in the background at Joshua tree national park

Is Joshua Tree worth visiting?

Yes! Joshua Tree National Park is absolutely worth visiting but I would probably skip it in the summer (personal preference) because it’s just way too hot.

Other than that, I would definitely say you should go. I’ve even been trying to plan a trip back this winter, we’ll see!

hidden valley trail at Joshua tree national park

It has unique plants

Obviously the main draw for visiting Joshua Tree National Park is the Joshua trees, a cactus like tree that looks like it came right out of a Dr. Seuss book!

Joshua trees aside, there are nearly 800 plant species in the park with almost half of them being annual species that bloom in the spring, like wildflowers.

So if you’re even sort of a plant person, this is a great park to visit. And even if you’re not, you’ll see tons of cool plants here and, who knows, maybe you’ll become a plant person!

And is great for stargazing

You might not expect it since there are towns right on the edge of the park, but Joshua Tree is actually an International Dark Sky Park!

This means it’s a great park for stargazing thanks to it’s lack of light pollution.

You should be able to enjoy the dark sky even just from pull-outs along the side of the road, but if you can get away from that a bit I think it will be even better!

And if you’re visiting in mid-October you might be able to go to the Night Sky Festival! It is ticketed with limited availability so if you want to go to this and will be there the right days, I would get tickets sooner than later.

And it’s easy to get away from the crowds

Like all parks, the main crowds are going to be in the same places in the park (like Hidden Valley and Skull Rock, among others) but it’s easy peasy to get away from those.

There are 28 trails listed on the park website but a lot more on AllTrails, a lot of which might be different routes to the same things or that combines multiple sights and trails.

The Creosote Trail is a nice little trail that connects to longer trails near the Joshua Tree entrance to the park and it wasn’t busy at all past the parking area.

Get the best Joshua Tree hiking guide here!

It can be enjoyed with just one day

With just one day in Joshua Tree you can definitely see the highlights of the park so even if you’re limited on time, it’s worth visiting.

One day was just enough to see the main sights and not feel super rushed. It’s a good sized park but it’s also not huge so it doesn’t take long to get between things.

We took our time on the drive and did the short Creosote Trail, Hidden Valley Trail, watched people rock climb near the Hidden Valley Campground, and stopped at Skull Rock.

That doesn’t sound like a lot but we stopped at most pull-outs and took our time everywhere. We would have done the Cholla trail, too, but we were leaving that way in the morning and stopped then.

And we aren’t “crack of dawn to dark” people so we didn’t even take full advantage of all the daylight. If you do that, you’ll be good.

Or multiple days

Like I mentioned above, there are a ton of hikes in Joshua Tree where you could easily spend multiple days enjoying the park.

Plus you could make time to explore the town of Joshua Tree and the surrounding area if you want a little break from hiking.

The town of Joshua Tree is fun

Not only is Joshua Tree National Park awesome, but so is the town of Joshua Tree and the surrounding area!

We stayed in Twentynine Palms and really just stopped in Joshua Tree for coffee and the visitor center, but I would love to stay there next time.

Here are some fun things to do in and around Joshua Tree:

Visit the Farmers Market
Check out the tiny Crochet Museum
Enjoy are at Art Queen, the Glass Outhouse Outdoor Gallery, and the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum
Visit the local shops
Enjoy the murals
Visit Pioneertown
Take a day trip to Bombay Beach (I LOVE this place)
Check out Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

It’s great for rock climbers

If you like rock climbing and are experienced at it, this is a great place for you! Not only is it one of the best things to do besides hike in Joshua Tree, but it’s a world class rock climbing destination.

If you’re not experienced, you can learn here, too! There are a few guides allowed to operate in the park (that’s very important!) including Stone Adventures and Mojave Guides.

I haven’t used either of them so I can’t say which is better but I would gladly use either if I was going to learn here.

Even if you don’t want to officially rock climb, there is lots of boulder scrambling to be done here (cautiously) as well, which is always fun.

brown spine prickly pear cactus at hidden valley trail at Joshua tree national park

And has hikes for all skill levels

I’ve mentioned the variety of hikes but, once again, there are tons of them for all skill levels.

Whether you want something short and sweet or something very challenging, Joshua Tree has a hike for you.

You can hike to sprawling mountain views, to historic sites, and even in and among the countless boulder.. piles? Mounds? I’m not sure the best word for them.

Obviously it will all be desert landscape of different but similar varieties, but there are plenty of hikes for you to choose from, no matter the difficulty you want.