RV Camping Near Joshua Tree National Park
Back in April (4/13 - 4/20), we wanted to visit Joshua Tree National Park. We decided to first camp at Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground in Joshua Tree, CA which has full hookups. It turns out we had stayed at this RV park before for a music festival so it was immediately recognizable as we pulled in. It’s one of the more unique campgrounds we’ve stayed at and we love it! Planning a trip to Joshua Tree National Park? We recommend camping at Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground which is 35 minutes from hiking trails inside Joshua Tree National Park, and Chiriaco Summit Dry Camp Area for boondocking only about an hour away. Don’t have time to read this now? Pin it for later!
RV Camping Near Joshua Tree National Park
Camping at Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground
The RV spots are nothing special, not very big, made somewhat private by some small hedges, and mostly in the sand with a makeshift firepit and small picnic table. The real draw is from the surrounding lake with ducks to feed and benches you can sit at around the perimeter. Supposedly you can fish in the lake too.
Adjoining the campground is another area you can explore with Burning Man style art installations. You have a great view of the desert sunsets, only 15 miles to the West entrance station of Joshua Tree national park, or 21 miles to the North entrance station via the next-door city Twentynine Palms.
Joshua Tree West Entrance
We spent three days hiking in the national park and tried both the west and north entrances to get in. Both had minimal waits, but it seemed like there were more trails and things to do on the west side via Joshua Tree. The first day we went in via the west entrance and hiked the Hidden Valley loop (Easy, 1 mile) and Ryan Mountain (Strenuous, 3 miles) trails.
The Hidden Valley loop is in a rock surrounded small valley that apparently used to be full of vegetation in the middle of the desert. In the past, cattle rustlers supposedly brought their animals here, and judging by how it looks now, the cows ate most of the vegetation (it was still noticeably greener than the rest of the park). There are plenty of walls in this area for rock climbing and also the primitive Hidden Valley campground (pit toilets, tables, fire grates, no water) which was mostly full of tent/van campers.
The other trail we did that day at Ryan Mountain is a bit more difficult due to the elevation gain, but also popular because at the summit you get to see a panoramic view of the surrounding park area for miles in every direction. There are interesting rock formations and plants everywhere including the ever-present Joshua tree.
Joshua Tree North Entrance
Skull Rock at Joshua Tree National Park. Do you see it?
The next day when we came in the north entrance we went to Split Rock loop (Moderate, .25 mi) to see, you guessed it, Split Rock and also the Skull Rock loop (Easy, 2 miles). Skull Rock is a loop, with lots of boulder piles, desert washes to walk through, and all kinds of interesting rocks that look like skulls. On the final day, we mainly hung out at the park exploring and enjoying time outside at the campsite.
Boondocking at Chiriaco Summit Dry Camp Area
The day we left Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground, we packed up the RV and drove via the north entrance of the park through to the south to exit to the I-10. We stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden (big RV-friendly parking) on our way out and did the quick loop in this area filled with the prickly cactus. Once we were to the I-10, we went a few miles east on the highway, we stopped at a boondocking recommendation at Chiriaco Summit Dry Camp Area in Chiriaco Summit, CA.
This place was a pretty neat find! Chiriaco Summit is a small town if you can even call it that, that just has a big gas station with a convenience store, a couple of restaurants, some boutique/souvenir shops, and the General Patton Memorial Museum (unfortunately closed due to COVID19).
The dry camp area was just down a small road in the middle of this town that leads back into a strip of dry camping spots. The campground host met us at the entrance and helped us get signed up and pick a spot suitable for us. There were only a couple of other vans and RVs there so we had plenty of spots to choose from and no issues fitting in. Just a quick 5-minute walk to the above-mentioned convenience store for ice cream was a nice bonus!
We were able to go back and visit some of the southern trails in Joshua Tree national park like the Bajada Nature Trail (nothing special) and Cottonwood Springs (Easy, .25 miles), and Mastodon Peak (Moderate, 3.0 miles). There was an oasis of palms trees on the Cottonwood Springs trail that we passed on our way to the Mastodon Peak trail. The highlight of this trail was the views at the top of the rock peak, we could see all the way to Salton Sea, and the abandoned old gold mine.
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