Ramona & Conan made our experience unforgettable. The walk/hike portion was very educational about…read morethe land we were on, its history, etc. The sound bath was in a special cave with immense energy. It opened our minds & hearts in an unexplainable way. A true off the grid experience. This is not for everyone but if you feel called, do it! A very worthwhile experience. The land is precious and full of wonderful energy.

I recently went here to get away from everything, it turned out to be just what i needed. The…read moregrounds here are beautiful, they gave us a tour and really explained in detail the history of the place from the petroglyphs, to the plants, and wildlife. The sound bath with Ramona was other worldly, it was held in a Cave made from an ancient rock structure, it was very powerful. It feel like a prehistoric wonderland. I was able to camp in my truck tent, but there are super cool tents and structures you can rent. I highly recommend to going here to detach from the normal fast paced life, its an enchanting experience.

Frail is easy to follow. It isn't too steep and it's a solid 1.6 miles to the spot from the parking…read morelot. Once at the palms, the temperature cools out dramatically under the shade. Pretty neat!

I could rave and rave about this hike. I almost didn't do it because it's a little out of the way -…read morethe trailhead entrance is off the main road past the first entrance if coming from Palm/desert hot springs. The hike itself probably only took me 45 mins or so to get to the oasis, and BOY was it worth it!! It's a shallow step/Rocky path most of the way, and right at the end you suddenly emerge over this hill and get an incredible view of a valley full of California fan palm trees! I came on a clear day with mild temps in the mid 70': and it was comfortable, and TOTALLY stunning. The volunteer @the welcome center said in summer they get some rain and it doesn't drain fast so water can pool and make it like a true oasis (don't swim in or drink that water). Overall, between Ryan mountain and this hike - it truly MADE my experience @J tree. Anybody going to visit the park I would recommend doing this trail :)

Hiked Barker Dam Trail in January 2026 and it ended up being one of my favorite spots in Joshua…read moreTree National Park. The dam was filled with water (which apparently isn't always the case), and I had most of the trail completely to myself. Peaceful, scenic, and classic Joshua Tree views the entire way. Easy hike, big payoff, and felt like discovering a hidden gem. Loved it.

Easy and idea spot for light hiking just after you park your car. Trail leads to some key spots in…read morethe park including the the remnants of the Barker Dam that once served the area. Surrounding area are steep cliffs and bluffs offering some really epic views. Be sure to keep an close eye out for infamous Big Horn Sheep that often adorn the sides of the canyons on top of rocks and steep terrain.

TLDR: site 29 is the best in my opinion. there's cool wildlife if you look for it. flush toilets…read moreand running water. potable water free and many faucets around campground. hiking trails within walking distance. black rock campground was a great in-between for glamping and regular camping. I think the most defining features of this campsite are the flush toilets and running water in the bathrooms. however there are no showers. there is potable water faucets scattered about the campground. there are many sites to choose from but after walking around the campground, the best ones are furthest from the entrance (like where we stayed at site 29) highly recommending site 29!!!! very secluded and not crowded next to your neigboring sites. close to the bathroom with no smell. the campground has a nature center open 8am-4pm on the weekends and has a Ranger present as well as other staff. there are hiking trails about 0.75 miles from the campground at High View Trailhead (walkable or can drive there since there's a parking lot at trailhead)

+ Decentely remote venue to go camping with folks. + Nice…read morethat there's a visitor center in the center of the campground for our convenience. . The camp sites are close together, so you can see and hear your neighbors. Not so secluded. If you want more privacy, maybe you'll prefer a different campground. Deserts, man. So dry and often warm.

We booked a yoga under the stars experience with Sacred Spiral and it was truly one of the…read morehighlights of our trip! Elizabeth took us into a remote part of the park that we could have never navigated on our own to a perfect spot for yoga just as the sun was setting. From there she led us on an off-trail hike under the stars that was just spectacular (don't forget your headlamp!). No way we could have ever had this experience on our own. Elizabeth is warm and friendly and very knowledgeable about the park, it's geography and the flora and fauna in the area. I can't rate her or this experience highly enough!

Elizabeth was an amazing yoga instructor. We organized a private session as a birthday surprise,…read moreand her energy, yoga style, and sense of humor were an excellent addition to our weekend in Joshua Tree. Everything from early communication to the actual yoga session was handled professionally and she was friendly and supportive every step of the way. I highly recommend Elizabeth and Sacred Spiral Adventures to anyone making the trip out! Next time, we'll go scrambling, too!

Just took a Joshua Tree morning tour with Wendy. She was excellent and patient with my family…read more Since we got into the park a little after 8am, we were constantly ahead of the crowds. Overall we really enjoyed our experience and would highly recommend using them. And we paid about $100 per person for a private morning tour. That's pretty good value IMO! The selection of different activities was very low but that was because we booked the busiest time of the season, and only about 3 weeks ahead of time. Booking process was very smooth. The only issue I had was they were unresponsive to any type of communication beforehand. After I booked online, I wrote them and email asking for confirmation, as well as called them and left a voicemail. I received no reply. I almost thought I might have been scammed! Thankfully that wasn't that case.

Great day hiking experience! Our guide was knowledgeable about the park itself and the plants,…read moreanimals, and geology. He also was flexible to adapt to our group's need to change plans when we realized not everyone was interested in rock scrambling.

This was one of those last minute / random / wasn't planned kind of hikes. Which ended up being…read moredefinitely worth it. Very minimal gain and elevation, however wear sturdy shoes due to the soft uneven sand. Very interesting history I won't spoil it for everyone but it's not just about a mine.. You can get up close and personal with the mine, please be respectful and do not enter the mine although it is very clear you can see that some people have disregarded the signage entering the mine and damaging pieces of it as well. As with any mine, it is unsafe to enter. Parking is of course on all BLM land free. When I went it was during the week and it was not overly crowded at all I think I may have seen a total of four people. Very peaceful and even during the summer it wasn't outrageously hot as SoCal can be. Definitely worth the Segway from heading to death valley.

Relatively flat, wide path to and from the parking area. This is not one of those challenging…read morehikes. However, you are rewarded with some beautiful groves of Joshua Trees, very slight diversions to check out Wonderland (Ohlson) Ranch ruins and an vintage abandoned vehicle near the beginning of your walk. Later on, of course, is the Wall Street Stamp Mill, which is an abandoned gold stamp mill. While this has been fenced off, it's very interesting. And of course, there's more abandoned stuff nearby, including a couple of cars. Bring lots of water, a hat, and sunscreen. You're in the desert. Even if it's not hot, you're in the desert.

First-come, first-serve. No showers at campgrounds within the park. Brush up on bird baths before…read moreyou go. Weekend campsites are tough to score during spring peak season (March-April). Get there on a Thursday if you can swing it. If you can't, get there at the crack of dawn on Friday. Campsites will probably be full, but if you have faith and perfect timing, you'll whine/pout in the car for awhile until you snag one as someone else is leaving. This ended up being the case around 6:30 am, when we tested our luck at Ryan Campground after Jumbo Rocks was full. Ryan Campground has 31 campsites. If a post has an orange envelope clipped to it, the site's taken. Otherwise, it's yours. Sites are fairly spacious and surround a cluster of boulders. We snagged #16 for $15/night. If it's a weekend, it's a guarantee people will be circling the grounds each day in search of a site and asking if you plan to leave. They will also approach you at night and ask for advice on a place to camp. If you're feeling altruistic, keep in mind it's 2 vehicles per site. Make sure to consult the weather forecast beforehand--what we thought would be a little breeze ended up being 30 MPH gusts of hell. We took the ominous warning from the state park ranger lightly, who devilishly giggled after saying "no, you won't blow away." We didn't, but our tent collapsed, as did 80% of the tents surrounding us. Amidst our elemental battle, a couple pulled up to ask if we were leaving. We weren't, but invited them to share our site with us. The 4 of us combined couldn't keep our tent upright against the wind. An hour later, a torrential downpour forced us to throw everything into the car and sleep in a hotel. We returned the next morning when the wind died down. The weather didn't deter anyone, the sites were still full. Our tent dried out during the day and we were able to have a great experience. Highly advise a night hike to Ryan Ranch, but bear in mind you may encounter desert stragglers who've ingested hallucinogenics. It's entertaining. No matter your experience of Ryan Campground, you're sure to come away from it with a good story.

When we were there it was quiet and our site, #5, was close to the bathroom. We were pretty close…read moreto site 6 and luckily it was unoccupied when we camped. It felt like we had a lot of space to ourselves. The site is pretty exposed so the sun was burnin'! There seemed to be a lot of sites on the other side of the campground that were next to big boulder rocks so there are sites with more shade. The bathrooms were pretty clean, no showers. The fire risk was high due to the high winds so we were barred from using the fire pit and bbq grill that weekend. The Joshua trees are mesmerizing and are everywhere! There are a couple more campgrounds in Joshua tree that we would like to check out but wouldn't hesitate to stay at Ryan campground again!