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California, USA · North America · northern hemisphere
Joshua Tree is at its best for hiking in March to April and November. Good but not prime in February, October and December. Crowds peak in March and bottom out in July.
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiking | 37 | 69 | 91 | 91 | 47 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 73 | 89 | 61 |
| Crowds |
Swipe the table sideways for the rest of the year.
Two deserts meet here, and the season is spring and the winter holidays — March is perfect, July is around 37°C with no shade and no water anywhere in the park
Desert walks over sand and granite, short to strenuous, no shade and no water inside. No guide needed; a water plan is essential.
May through September. There is no water in the interior of the park, no shade, and the rangers pull people out every summer. Also note there is essentially no mobile signal inside the park.
March and April for the wildflowers and the climbing season
Hidden Valley and Barker Dam are short, flat and full of rocks children want to climb. The heat and the total absence of water and signal are the real constraints.
Twentynine Palms is the cheap, practical gate. Joshua Tree village is the interesting one, and Palm Springs is 45 minutes away with everything, at a price.
Over 40°C with no water in the park at all, no shade, and essentially no mobile signal. Rangers rescue people from this every summer.May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep
Kept out of the score on purpose. Averaging a rare catastrophe into a monthly number would tell you something false; the warning is the honest form.
Carry all your water in — there is none in the park. Winter nights drop below freezing, which surprises people who packed for a desert, and the park is one of the great dark-sky sites in America.
0 is this destination’s own quietest month and 100 its busiest. The scale never compares one destination to another. Source: NPS JOTR