Best CA: Joshua Tree

See the latest Joshua Tree Trail Reviews

Joshua Tree National Park is a unique landscape of wide arid desert and striking rock formations, home to the famous Joshua tree among many other desert flora. Though a very popular destination, you can still find your own peace of solitude here. If you're lucky you may even spot desert bighorn sheep, particularly on the cusp of daylight.

Only a couple of hours inland from the Los Angeles Basin along Interstate 10, the park is popular with daytrippers and multi-day backpackers alike. If you're looking for hotels in the area we recommend Palm Springs, which with its modernist architecture is a destination in its own right.

Here are what we think are the best trails of the region, summarized below with links to our trail reviews featuring photography and route maps that you can use on your phone for easy navigation. Did we miss your favorite trail? Let us know and we'll make sure to check it out.

	5★ Wall Street Mill 2 mi · Easy · Gain 100ft The best short trail and is highly representative of the park. Very popular, so arrive early if possible. Shares trailhead with Barker Dam nature trail.
	5★ Lost Horse Mine 4-7 mi · Moderate · Gain 550-1,090ft One of the best preserved mills on National Park property. Excellent views from the top of the hill. The shorter out-and back route is best, but there are joshua trees on the longer looping trail.
	5★ Split Rock Loop 2 mi · Easy · Gain 260ft Sublime two-mile looping tour of otherworldly weathered stone landscape made even better at dawn or dusk. Quieter and possibly better than the neighboring roadside skull rock & jumbo rocks.
	4★ Skull Rock Nature Trail 2 mi · Easy · 140ft Pleasant and mostly flat trail that provides a scenic park overlook as well as a trip to the extremely popular Skull Rock.
	4★ Ryan Mountain 3 mi · Moderate · Gain 1,070ft Hike up one of the most prominent mountains in the park for the excellent view. Especially hard on the knees though.
	4★ Barker Dam Nature Trail 1 mi · Easy · Gain 70ft Easy trail featuring typical joshua tree park landscapes, historic features, great interpretive nature signs and even ancient petroglyphs.
	3★ Hidden Valley 1 mi · Easy · Gain 110ft Sample the best of the park on this shortest of trails in the heart of the park. Encirled by rock on all sides, cattle rustlers used to hide their bovine hoards in here.

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Regional Map

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Tangents:
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Tangents:
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