Joshua Tree

[dandt]

Has anyone pulled thier rig thru Joshua TreeNP in either direction Hwy 10 to 62....(Twentynine palms. Thanks

[Art-n-Marge]

Been there but not with my rig and followed someone else with theirs! A few miles after getting onto hwy 62 from I-10 there is a long steep climb but with passing lanes, it's good, but did I mention it's steep?! After that it's very flat and there's two lane roads each way on much of it.

Other than going nice and slow on the steep part in either direction it's a good road. Do expect to be in the slow lane with the big trucks since they supply the areas every day and trying to pass them will slow down the smaller cars who like to go much faster than you do.

Facilities on the road and places to park while you use them (groceries, stores, restaurants) are plentiful all along the route since there are many small towns all the way to 29 palms. You do not have to go all the way to 29 Palms to get to the Joshua tree campgrounds and but if you use the Northwestern entrance to JT in Yucca Valley then the road is slow and winds but it's mostly flat and watch for slow moving tortoises! It will be some distance before getting to their only suitable campground trailer campground (Blackrock). If you drive all the way to the town of 29 Palms there will be some serious backtracking.

As for JT campgrounds, there are no hookups at the sites and I believe the ONLY campground with water (probably not at the sites) and a dump station is called Black Rock. All other campgrounds have no services and will barely fit your rig. This will be testing your boondocking capabilities very well. I hope you aren't there after May because it's wicked HOT.

It is a beautiful place!!! Lots of easy rock climbing, and hiking and you'll want to drive to some of the attraction areas.

[8.1al]

I believe you are asking about driving your rig through the park. If so we have done it. It's been a while so my memories a little rusty but the road wasn't bad and I didn't find myself wishing I had gone a different way. If you are planning to sightsee on the way finding a place to park may be a problem

[bncinwv]

Okay guys, time to re-educate me. A few years ago we were in Las Vegas and we left town and headed west towards California and came across a fairly straight road that went through some Joshua Trees that was just past the California border if my memory is not failing. I remember it plainly because I had heard that this area and Israel were the only places where Joshua Trees grow. Is this the same area that is being discussed, and is it true what I heard about where the Joshua Trees grow?
Bingo

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Bingo, If you left Las Vegas and went into California, were you perhaps on 160 going into Pahrump?? I saw quite a few along there.

Also saw some (read that MANY) on 93 between Wickenburg Arizona and Kingman Arizona, I did no photos there, as there was no way to safely pull off, but, the collection went for miles!

I too was delighted to find Joshua Trees somewhere else other than the National Park. I know, why didn't I think that they would grow other places?? One of my brilliant moments I suppose! LOL

[sreigle]

DandT, we left Twentynine Palms a little over a week ago after spending two months there. We drove ALL the paved park roads several times, along with several unpaved and almost unmarked ones.

You will have no problems at all on any of those paved roads. We didn't happen to tow on them but would not hesitate to do so. There is construction going on north of Cottonwood, in the southern part of the park. You could end up sitting still for up to 30 minutes waiting on guide car. We sat 5 mintues one time, 25 minutes another time, and inbetween those two other times.

There are numerous good hikes and nature trails in the park. I hope you have some time to enjoy it.

[sreigle]

By the way, the steep hill Art talked about is between I-10 and Yucca Valley, about 30 miles west of Twentynine Palms. It is a climb from west to east (our actually south to north curving to the east) but we towed it with no problems at all. We spent very little time in the slow lane because we were maintaining our 55 mph speed limit and the slow trucks in that slow lane were causing us problems (passing a lot of them). If you are going west/south, it's downhill.

[Art-n-Marge]

This is slightly offtopic but does relate to Joshua Tree.

Steve Reigle, since you were recently there, last week our local news has been reporting there are some serious plans to close down much of Joshua Tree NP due to vandalism (people using spray cans on many of the rock formations at the popular trails. While you were there, did you hear much about this? JTNP is so large it seems like the media is trying to create some panic. There were a couple of days of this rhetoric, and now nothing, so I'm guessing the media was just trying to create a stir and might have been overexagerrating.

Did you notice anything? I love the place but we're now at the time of the year where I stop going since there's too much chance it's too hot and I'm not a big fan of extreme heat.

[sreigle]

Art, we did not hear anything about that nor did we see any kind of defacing of any of the rocks. And those rocks are fabulous, especially on some of the nature trails and hikes. I have to admit this park was far more than either of us anticipated. We originally planned a month there but extended to a second month.

Dave and Teresa, if you are just passing through Joshua Tree National Park, coming from the south, there is a choice of roads when you get into the northern part of the park. The one to the left, towards the town of Joshua Tree is by far the prettiest, the most fabulous rock formations. The other choice is to continue north to the town of Twentynine Palms. That is a nice drive, too, but the other route is far better. And there are a few places where you could pull in with the rig for a picnic lunch. Check at the Cottonwood Visitors Center near the southern entrance to the park.

[Art-n-Marge]

That's great news. Thanks for the info Steve. It seemed blown out of proportion. I love Joshua Tree as well. Watch out for slow moving tortoises.

[sreigle]

We were hoping to see at least one of the tortoises but no luck. We also happened up a designated and fenced "tortoise relocation area" outside Twentynine Palms but saw nothing there, either.