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Map of Joshua Tree National Park in California. The park is roughly trapezoidal in shape and is shaded tan with a green border, and it stretches nearly the full width of the map. Surrounding land is shown in lighter beige, roads are represented by orange lines, and trails are shown with dashed black lines.

Extended Description

Joshua Tree stretches diagonally across the upper right half map. Geographically, the park is located north of the Indio Hills, the San Andreas Fault, and Coachella Valley, and its southern boundary runs parallel to Interstate 10. The Little San Bernardino Mountains partially run through the southern border of the park on the left, and the boundary almost entirely encloses around the Cottonwood Mountains on the right. The Pinto Basin is in the upper right area of the park, and the Hexie Mountains run directly through its center. A linear buffer of brown dots forms the approximate boundary between the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, which skirts around the Pinto Basin’s western edge and divides the easternmost quarter of the park (within the Colorado Desert) from the rest of the park (in the Mojave Desert).

There are three visitor centers. The first is the Cottonwood Visitor Center near the southeast corner of the park, which has a ranger station, drinking water, and emergency phone. It sits along Pinto Basin Road off Interstate 10 near the community of Chiriaco Summit. Just east of the Visitor Center is Cottonwood, which has a campground, group campground, self-guided trail, picnic area, and drinking water; and Cottonwood Spring, which is a backcountry trailhead. The Mastodon Peak Trail begins at Cottonwood Spring and heads southeast to Lost Palms Oasis. Finally, to the south of the visitor center, the Bajada Nature Trail can be accessed via Pinto Basin Road, just north of the park boundary.

From the Cottonwood Visitor Center, Pinto Basin Road winds north through the park, then begins to head toward the northwest where the other two visitor centers are located. On the way, it passes the Porcupine Wash and Turkey Flats backcountry trailheads in Pinto Basin; Ocotillo Patch; and Cholla Cactus Garden, which has a self-guiding trail, before making its way through Wilson Canyon.

From Wilson Canyon, Pinto Basin Road travels due north to its terminus at Park Boulevard, which in turn continues north to the upper boundary of the park. Along the way, this route passes the White Tank campground (no day-use parking); Twin Tanks backcountry trailhead that provides access to nearby Arch Rock and Heart Rock; Belle campground; the North Entrance backcountry trailhead; the North Entrance Station; and a small, detached segment of park land containing the Park Headquarters, which has drinking water, and the Oasis of Mara self-guided trail.  Just west of this along State Route 62 is the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, which is in the city of Twentynine Palms and has a ranger station, drinking water, and electric vehicle charging station

Further west of this Visitor Center along State Highway 62 is the similarly named Joshua Tree Visitor Center, found in the community of Joshua Tree, which also has a medical facility. Between the two Visitor Centers, State Route 62 passes Canyon Road, which provides access to a park trail leading south to Fortynine Palms Oasis; and Indian Cove Road, which heads south to Indian Cove Ranger Station, with an emergency telephone, ranger station, and drinking water, at the park boundary. Further south from here, the road passes the Boy Scout Trail North backcountry trailhead, then reaches the Indian Cove area, which has multiple side roads branching out to a picnic area at four o’clock; a campground at six o’clock; Indian Cove Nature Trail, which is self-guiding, at eight o’clock; and a group campground (reservations required) at nine o’clock.

Back at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center in the west, Park Boulevard heads south and then east to the West Entrance Station, which has drinking water; and from here then heads southeast toward the center of the park. Most of the park landmarks and trails are clustered here. The North View, Panorama, and Bigfoot Trails all branch off Park Boulevard just after the West Entrance Station.

Beyond here, Park Boulevard enters the locus of park infrastructure and amenities. These include Quail Springs, with a picnic area; Boy Scout Trail backcountry trailhead; Willow Hole (no camping, which can only be accessed via the Boy Scout Trail; Hidden Valley, with a self-guided trail and picnic area; an emergency telephone; and a side road leading to a campground, the Echo T trailhead, Keys Ranch (accessible by ranger-guided program only), the Barker Dam self-guided trail, and another trail leading to Wall Street Mill. South of this side road are the Minerva Hoyt trailhead; another side road heading due south past Juniper Flats backcountry trail and ending at Keys View in the Little San Bernardino Mountains; and Cap Rock, with a self-guided trail and picnic area.

Now heading east, Park Boulevard passes Ryan campground; Ryan Ranch; Ryan Mountain; and Sheep Pass group campground (reservation required). The California Riding and Hiking Trail and Big Trees Trail are also in the area and all begin from the Ryan campground. The Big Trees Trail heads south and forms a loop that provides access to Lost Horse Mine. The California Riding and Hiking Trail heads to the west and then northwest and passes the backcountry trailhead at Covington about halfway along its length before reaching the Black Rock backcountry trailhead at the northwestern park boundary. Also at its western terminus is the Black Rock Nature Center and Campground, which also has a ranger station, drinking water, and picnic area, as well as access to several other shorter loop trails.

Back at Sheep Pass, Park Boulevard continues east to another cluster of landmarks. First is a road intersection that leads to three backcountry trailheads: Pine City, accessed via the short, unpaved Queen Valley Road to the north; Geology Tour, located about one-quarter of the way down the unpaved Geology Tour Road to the south; and Pleasant Valley, which is situated along a loop of one-way, high-clearance roads found at the end of Geology Tour Road.

Beyond these trails, Park Boulevard passes Discovery Trail; Jumbo Rocks, which has a campground; Skull Rocks, which has a self-guiding trail; Split Rock, which has a picnic area and self-guiding trail; and Live Oak, which also has a picnic area. Finally, Park Boulevard reaches its intersection with Pinto Basin Road, at which point it heads north to the park boundary and Twentynine Palms.

Outside the park, several other sites and areas are denoted. Following State Route 62 in a counterclockwise direction from the northwest corner of the park, these include the city of Yucca Valley; the community of Morongo Valley; and Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. West of the park, State Route 62 ends at Interstate 10, which in turn continues southeast past the cities of Desert Hot Springs; Palm Springs, which has a medical facility; Cathedral City; Rancho Mirage, which has a medical facility; Indio, which also has a medical facility; and Coachella.

Legend

In the upper left corner of the map is a scale that measures 1 and 5 kilometers and 1 and 5 miles.

Below the scale, red text reads, “Off-road driving is prohibited. No pets on trails.”

The legend reads as follows:

Red line for paved road,

Gray line for Unpaved road,

White line with dashed black casing for 4-wheel-drive road, high-clearance vehicles only,

Black dashed line for Hiking trail,

Brown shading for Developed land

Red line with purple number “15” and triangle for Mile marker, Park Boulevard,

Red line with red number “10” and triangle for Mile Marker, Pinto Basin Road,

Black triangle with distance readings for Distance indicator, and

Letter B in blue circle for Backcountry trailhead (permit required from www.recreation.gov).

To the right of the legend are nine symbols that represent Ranger station, Picnic area, Self-guiding trail, Drinking water, Emergency telephone, Campground, Group campground (reservations required), Medical facility, and Electric vehicle charging station.