Family Friendly Things to Do in Joshua Tree
Visiting Joshua Tree National Park is an otherworldly experience: groves of twisted trees and giant boulders create enchanting settings and then unique, you might think you take stepped into a fairy tale—or landed on an alien planet. Approximately a ii-hour drive from Los Angeles and a stone'due south throw from Palm Springs, this park is great for a family camping adventure or just a twenty-four hours hike because it captures everyone'southward imagination. Stroller-friendly trails make it a corking option for fiddling trekkers, as exercise several walks easy enough for young kids (or tired grown-ups) to maneuver. But teens and tweens who never tire won't run out of rocks and boulders to climb over.
Read on to become the latest information on what's open, what to come across, and how to explore this spectacular local national park.
COVID-nineteen Updates at Joshua Tree National Park for Spring 2021
The park is open! Archway stations, roads, bathrooms, and Climber Coffee are all open, as are campgrounds (though camping ground is express to ane household per site). Exhibits are airtight at most nature and visitor centers, only park information and maps are available in front end of the Oasis Company Center, the Joshua Tree Visitor Center, and the Cottonwood Visitor Eye. Bookstores are open at these centers, besides.
Hiking, stone climbing, sightseeing, and more than are all possible. Evening programs, ranger walks, and ranger chats are not currently available. The Keys Ranch Tour (one of our must-dos) is available on a limited basis. Tickets are required and can exist reserved ahead of time.
Delight follow CDC guidelines while in the park, including wearing a mask and social distancing by staying 6-feet from others who don't live with yous.
Become fix to venture where the streets take no name. Photograph by Nicola since 1972/ CC BY 2.0
What To Bring To Explore Joshua Tree National Park
Similar whatever desert trip, Joshua Tree National Park requires preparation, as the weather and the elements tin can exist harsh. Summer months (June through September) are when temperatures tin exist well above 100 degrees during the mean solar day. Whatever other month of the year is usually pleasant by solar day, but nights get pretty cold, particularly at the park's higher altitudes. Bringing layers for variable weather is a must.
At that place are no shops or concessions within the park, and so it's important to pack all the food and water you demand, and and then some. Dry heat can make everyone thirstier than usual, so bring lots of h2o and fluids to keep the whole family hydrated. Hiking, climbing, and jumping make the kids hungrier, too, then information technology'due south a proficient idea to stock upwards on lots of snacks. Sturdy shoes, a change of clothes, hats, sunscreen, wipes, and a first aid kit are essential, even if visiting for only a few hours. Have a baby or toddler? A haversack carrier is mandatory if yous program to go off the browbeaten path for any pregnant hiking.
Bringing an extra phone charger is a smart move, likewise, simply be warned that nearly areas in Joshua Tree have no prison cell telephone or information service, so you'll be out of touch once you're in the park. Program on posting all those pictures when you exit and work out an alternative mode to communicate if your political party splits upwards; walkie-talkies are great.
Hike the Arch Rock Trail. Photo by David Fulmer/ CC Past 2.0
Like the Scouts, Be Prepared
Most importantly, employ an one-time-fashioned map and rely on your Boy or Daughter Scouts skills when navigating within the park. GPS directions oftentimes try to road drivers onto backcountry roads with ruts or soft sand that may be impassable for vehicles.
For happy campers wanting to spend the night, there are several options. Some are get-go-come, first-served, but the most family-friendly campgrounds—Black Rock, Indian Cove, and Cottonwood Springs—exercise take reservations in advance (fee is $20 per night). Black Rock has water, flush toilets, and a dump station, and is a close enough drive to boondocks to choice upwards more than firewood for the barbecue. If camping ground is not your affair, there are enough of Airbnb rentals, B&Bs, and some fun motels and cool resorts near the park, including the Joshua Tree Inn and 29 Palms Inn.
Admission to the park is $thirty per car, is skilful for seven consecutive days, and includes the earth-shaking map. (Y'all tin purchase a vehicle pass online, to minimize contact when inbound the park.) There are three entrances to the park: the west entrance (almost Joshua Tree Village) and the north entrance (in the town of Twentynine Palms) both located on the northern stop of the park and the south entrance nigh Cottonwood Hamlet with the closest access to Highway I-10. If spending simply one day, enter through the west entrance and exit through the south so you can drive the entire length of the park.
Exhibits are airtight, but information is available at the Joshua Tree Visitor Middle. Photo by Alison Taggart-Barone/NPS
The 3 company centers, located just outside the park, accept modernistic toilets, water, and bookstores where yous tin go passes without waiting in line at the kiosks at the park entrance. Here, kids tin pick up a Junior Ranger booklet about Joshua Tree and receive an official Junior Ranger badge upon studying and completing activities at the park. They tin besides get the memorable National Park Passport, which is just similar a real passport but possibly more fun (plus easier to become and it never expires). Your junior rangers can collect counterfoil stamps and commemorative stickers at every US national park they visit for the rest of their lives.
Set up now? Catch those passports, pop a sure 80s album in the CD actor, and venture into this spellbinding park. Happy trails!
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End for a picnic before exploring Hidden Valley. Photo past Ken Lund/ CC BY 2.0
The Top 12 Must-Do and Must-Run across Things in Joshua Tree
i) Wander and Picnic at Hidden Valley
Located non far from the w and north entrances, the 1-mile hiking path weaves through and over boulders, offering breathtaking views of Hidden Valley and some climbing fun for kids. Picnic tables near the parking lot are the perfect spot to fuel up for the twenty-four hours.
ii) Spot Sheep and Deer at Barker Dam
This ane.i-mile loop offers a bigger variety of landscapes to detect and takes visitors to one of the only places to see water in Joshua Tree. Proceed your eyes peeled for some desert bighorn sheep and mule deer, which oft come down to the water to potable.
3) Tour the Keys Ranch
The Barker Dam trail leads through some of the old Keys Ranch lands. The ranger-led Keys Ranch Tour (tickets are bachelor at the Oasis Visitor Center, and must exist reserved and purchased in advance) allows visitors to walk up to the outbuildings and peek in the windows of the 19th-century farmhouse. Don't miss the petroglyphs on the rocks at the back terminate of the loop.
Accept in the San Andres Error at Keys View. Photo by Mommy Poppins
iv) Gaze at the San Andreas Fault
From Barker Dam, a 20-minute (i way) scenic detour leads to the highest viewpoint in Joshua Tree. Keys View provides sprawling panoramas of mesas, mountains, and of the actual line of the infamous San Andreas Fault. Get the selfie stick set!
v) Follow the Informative Trail at Cap Rock
On the way back from Keys View Road, stretch your legs at this short, 0.iii-mile loop that winds through Joshua tree woodland and between spectacular rock formations. This crushed stone trail is lined with many informative signs describing the variety of desert plants and shrubs. Enjoy your luncheon at the picnic tables before leaving for the next adventure.
6) Detect the Ryan House and the Lost Equus caballus Well
An easy one-mile out-and-back hike on a apartment trail leads to the remains of Ryan Ranch, which was established past a family unit of settlers in 1896. Explore the old adobe brick buildings and look for the broken windmill and old fencing.
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Scrambling over Skull Rock for the perfect shot. Photo past Hannah Schwalbe/NPS
7) Scramble Over Rocks at Jumbo Rocks and Skull Rock
With boulder piles and a behemothic rock shaped like a skull, Colossal Rocks and Skull Stone are the closest thing to a playground you'll discover here. Kids get a boot out of jumping on them and pretending to exist Jack Sparrow. From here, in that location's an easy 1.seven-mile nature trail worth a visit.
8) Listen to the Chatty Birds at Oasis of Mara
Adjacent to the Haven Visitor Center, this short, paved trail (0.5 miles) meanders through playas dotted with honey mesquite. It'south as well the all-time place to observe wildlife, specially birds. Kids will definitely be fascinated to larn how people have used the fresh water and natural resources nowadays here since time immemorial.
nine) Olfactory property the Flowers at Indian Cove
Covered by Mojave yuccas and colorful shrubs that bloom in the spring, Indian Cove is a charming, secluded surface area only accessible from the Twentynine Palms Highway. While hiking the brusque .half dozen loop nature trail, be on the scout for the elusive desert tortoise and roadrunners. Have dinner at the nearby picnic tables.
The sun sinks low at the Cholla Cactus Garden. Photo by Brad Sutton/NPS
ten) Sentry the Dusk at Cholla Cactus Garden
Located closer to the southern cease of the park, Cholla Cactus Garden features thousands of beautiful cacti that look truly magical thanks to their iridescent glow when sunset sets in. Stick to the path and continue your lilliputian ones close, as the cactus needles are long, precipitous, and cover the basis even when yous don't detect them.
11) Walk Through the Lost Palm Oasis
Earlier exiting the park, if information technology's still light out, head off on the 1-mile hike near the Lost Palm Oasis, one of Joshua Tree'southward well-nigh beautiful spots. Nestled betwixt mountains, the oasis boasts huge native California fan palm trees and sandy washes descending into a coulee.
12) Nerd Out at the Bajada
A short but sturdy footbridge over a creek bed leads to the outset of this half-mile-long loop brindled with exhibits about the area and the variety of Colorado desert plants and wildflowers growing here. After this trail, you'll be an expert in flora. End and relax at ane of the several benches before heading home.
Top photo by Ken Lund/ CC BY 2.0
Source: https://mommypoppins.com/los-angeles-kids/family-travel/joshua-tree-12-things-not-to-miss-with-kids-in-this-desert-national