Joshua Tree in 36 hours
My favorite word to describe Joshua Tree National Park is “magical”. If you make the trip out there, you’ll soon see why too. Here is your guide for 36 hours in Joshua Tree itinerary.
If you don’t already have a National Park Pass, you can purchase a 7 day pass before entering - it is $30 for a private vehicle. If you are planning on coming back later in the year, it’s worth it to get the annual pass at $55. This will save you time when you enter the park, so make sure to do this the night before and have it ready on your phone. If you arrive early enough, you won’t have to show it at the entrance, but will have to show it on the way out.
My biggest tip is to stay near the park (we got an airbnb 10 minutes away) and get up early for sunrise. Get to the park a solid 30 minutes before sunrise to be able to enjoy the changing sky. You’ll also want to come back for sunset. It gets hot in the middle of the day, so take that time to grab lunch or nap from your early morning.
If you get to the park early, there will be plenty of times you have the roads to yourselves. There are also obvious paved places to pull off so you don’t hold up traffic when you want to cartwheel in front of your favorite Joshua Tree.
Pro tip: Plan out your route and download it before getting into the park. Your phone most likely will not work inside Joshua Tree, but there are signs and not a ton of alternative roads, so you should be okay.
Begin your day at Cholla Cactus Garden to get a golden glow around the cacti. It’s most likely the furthest stop away from the main Northern entrance, so it logistically makes sense to drive out the farthest, then make your way back out of the park. The garden is off of Pinto Basin Road. The Cactus Garden is 45 minutes from the Joshua Tree Visitor Center without traffic, so it’s an early morning, but I promise its worth it.
Next, head to Arch Rock Nature Trail parking lot (its a 12 minute drive/8 miles on Pinto Basin Road). Walk out of the parking lot and go across the road to a vaguely marked path - it’s a fairly straight, flat and short walk towards the large boulders. Arch Rock is a bit around the corner on the right, so you won’t be able to totally spot it as you’re walking on the trail.
Give yourself some time to explore these incredible rock formations - it isn’t just a single archway. The area is fun to wander as you walk around, through, above and under some wind sculpted formations.
Your next potential stop is Skull Rock, an 8 minute, 5 mile drive. You should see a sign, but take a left onto Park Blvd from Pinto Basin Road (you’re heading back the way you first came towards the Cactus Gardens). Honestly, Skull Rock was not worth the hype, but I was happy to see it from the car window. It was already packed, so I didn’t want to pull over.
Instead, we stopped at the nearby Jumbo Rocks and wandered around to get another rock fix.
The next stop is 16 minutes (10 miles) away at Hidden Valley Nature Trail. This is a popular spot with ample parking. It’s a short 1 mile round trip loop through what used to be a cattle rustlers’ hideout. There are signs along the trail so you can read them and learn about the history and plants that currently reside in the valley.
Bonus: there are restrooms here and picnic tables, so if you pack your lunch this would be a great place to stop. The Barker Dam, another popular 1.5 mile hike, is nearby, but ask the park rangers if there is any water in the Dam. Apparently this site is much cooler when there is water, so we did not visit it. If you have time for another hike, I’ve heard great things!
The scenery quickly changes around the park, but for me, along Queens Valley was my favorite stretch of Joshua Trees with boulders in the background. Give yourself plenty of time because you will want to pull over and enjoy your surroundings - especially the jungle of Joshua Trees.
Another sunrise or sunset spot is Keys View. If you go for sunset, get there 45 minutes early because the parking lot fills up. We went right after sunrise and didn’t have a problem getting a spot. This is the highest peak in the park and a beautiful view, regardless of the time of day. Be warned, it can get a little windy, so bring some layers.
A note on sunrises or sunsets: because we spent 2 nights near Joshua Tree, we were able to see 2 sunrises and 1 sunset in the park. We had grand plans for the sunrise/sunset locations, but kept on changing at the last minute because the open road was so beautiful.
We pulled the car over when the sky was a pink and orange gradient, and got some pictures with the open road and Joshua Trees nearby. It wasn’t anywhere special, but any spot along the road is going to be pure magic, I promise.