Entrance Is Free On Public Land's Day

Date: September 22, 2006

On Saturday, September 30, The National Park Service will join other Department of the Interior bureaus and U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service units in waiving entrance fees on National Public Lands Day.

Although entrance stations and visitor centers will be open, Joshua Tree National Park will not collect entrance fees on September 30. The free admission will be good for the duration of that day only. Joshua Tree is one of 390 units of the National Park Service system. Created as a National Monument in 1936, Joshua Tree became a National Park in 1994 with the passage of the Desert Protection Act. The park preserves and protects a superlative example of the Colorado and Mojave deserts, and includes outstanding natural and cultural resources.

Visitors to the park may engage in a variety of outdoor recreation activities including hiking, picnicking, photography, and rock climbing. The park provides nine campgrounds and reservations may be made at Black Rock and Indian Cove by calling 1-800-365-2267 or online.

Joshua Tree National Park lies 140 miles east of Los Angeles, 175 miles northeast of San Diego, and 215 miles southwest of Las Vegas. You can approach it from Interstate 10 and Hwy 62 (Twentynine Palms Highway). The closest airport is in Palm Springs. Public transportation to the park is not available.

There are three park entrance stations:

• The west entrance is located five miles south of the junction of Highway 62 and Park Boulevard at Joshua Tree Village.
• The north entrance is in Twentynine Palms, three miles south of the junction of Highway 62 and Utah Trail.
• The south entrance at Cottonwood Spring, which lies 25 miles east of Indio, can be approached from the east or west, also via Interstate 10.

For more information, you may call 760-367-5500.