Joshua Tree Visit

Any suggestions or pointers for the visit, i looked over the park site, dont see anything about boondocking camping is it even allowed? anything to see and so on, never been there before but going to be in that area after mojave visit and want to stop by.


would greatly appreciate feedback.

 

Last time I was in the Mojave, I thought I had to go to a dedicated park but the ranger said you're pretty much good to camp on any of the dirt roads, they're all over the place. Just be careful not to get stuck in any soft sand, you'll have a hard time getting help if you're far off the main road

 

No i was asking about Joshua Tree Park, Mojave i have that planned out.

 

I don't think there's any dispersed camping inside the National Park (only defined campgrounds), but it's surrounded by BLM land where you can basically do what you want.

 

gotcha, is it even worth visiting it? i see they have some offroad stuff but nothing major, i am thinking of swinging by it, so just curious from others experiences.

 

It sounds like it may not be with your messages. If you want off-roading, don't bother. It's a National Park, not an OHV park.

 

Im stationed out here in 29 palms, JT is a nice place to see. Nothing extreme but many places to see within. As far as boondocking part i dont know. Me and my wife went to some place there and saw some bihorn sheep up close and some like indian drawings on rocks and shit.

 

JTNP is campground only unless you're a mile away from a road.

 

If you want to "boondock" camp in the Joshua Tree area you have to do it outside of the boundaries of the national park area...there are miles and miles of BLM land around Joshua Tree that you can camp on without paying park permits or making reservations. But within the boundaries of the park I believe you have to have a permit and be in a campground area.

 

Beat me to it. we camp on the BLM land and hit the trails and mines all over. A ton of it is on the BLM side but it goes into JT plenty. Head out for a day and head back to your spot in BLM. Keep it clean is all we ask. Have not been down there in awhile, heard it was getty pretty packed with people not cleaning up after which sucks.

 

yeah, unfortunately the 'secret' is out and a lot of people have realized they can camp near JT without going through the park and getting a permit by going to the BLM land...and they are leaving their mark in a bad way.

 

yah at least we got to hit it up before the shit show came steaming through..... Still a nice place but the "good" spots can get a bit crowded.

 

If you are looking for a true off-road trail adventure, generally speaking, ANY National Park is not going to be the place to go. The closest I can think out would be the Mojave road (tho not a NP) or maybe the road out to Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, but even those are non-technical and a Civic could do them in most conditions (except the water crossing, lol). They're just dirt roads.

Go for the views. Take the back roads and avoid the crowds.

 

There are plenty of trails in DV that a civic would not have a good time on.

 

I was mostly just being facetious... but the road out to Racetrack a civic could totally do. You don't need 4wd and 33's for a washboard road. How good of a time you have just depends on how fast you go, lol....

 

https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/2017/11/18/germantouristindeathvalley

 

To be fair, they weren't even on a trail really.

 

I remember reading that story before...crazy. Why the hell they decided to venture into Death Valley in the middle of summer and off the highway is beyond me, you'd have to be suicidal. Death Valley is a beautiful place to explore in the winter time, but summer...no effing way

 

LOL yes that i would agree, however highly doubt it would be able to pull off leppicott trail from race track to seline valley

 

Not exactly on topic, but I literally rattled my RTT off my truck in DV. I pulled into camp at the end of the day and was like, "why is my tent sideways?" Three of four screws had vibrated loose. AND THIS CERTAINLY has nothing to do with the fact that the area surrounding Death Valley has miles of pitted, rutted roads (the kind that are perfect to, say, I dunno, test out your new suspension at high speed).