Welcome to the Joshua Tree National Park Tour

Explore the rugged, mystical beauty of Joshua Tree National Park with a self-guided driving tour. This raw desert landscape features incredible vistas, stunning rock formations, and eponymous cartoonish trees. As you drive on the Joshua Tree National Park tour and listen to stories around each bend in the road, keep an eye out for desert animals like the roadrunner, tortoise, and even bald eagle. Plus, enjoy a Bonus Tour of Palm Springs!

About the Tour

This self-guided driving tour begins at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center and follows the park road through this one-of-a-kind national park. As we leave civilization behind, we’ll hear about the Cahuilla tribe who once called this place home and get our introduction to Jim McHaney, who terrorized the townsfolk with his band of ruffians.

Then, of course, we’ll see the eponymous Joshua trees themselves. These funky plants look like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book, but we can assure you they’re 100% real! Get the facts on why they look like they do and what the early Mormon pioneers thought they meant on this guided tour of Joshua Tree National Park.

Continue to a hiking trail that leads you to one of the park’s strangest sights: a bunch of rocks with cryptic spiritual inscriptions on them, left by an odd recluse almost 100 years ago. We’ll also fill you in on some of the wildlife you might spot while you’re in the park, from the pint-sized roadrunner to the elusive bighorn sheep.

Next, we’ll visit the ever-popular Hidden Valley Nature Trail, where the infamous McHaney Gang once kept their stolen cattle while waiting to sell them off. Then it’s on to Intersection Rock, a climbing hub that positively towers over the surrounding desert.

After that, we’ll head down into Lost Horse Valley and hear the dramatic tale of how it got its name. It’s a story involving horse theft, a risky move, and a tense encounter with the McHaney Gang. Keys Point awaits beyond this valley, the most famous vista point in the park, where visitors and locals alike flock to catch the sunset.

Up next, we’ll swing by the ominous Skull Rock and get a chance to visit some old, abandoned mines in Queen Valley. Then we’ll head to an observatory that’s perfect for stargazing and end up in the Oasis Visitor Center. Our tour concludes here, just outside Twentynine Palms.

Tour Accessibility

Joshua Tree National Park tour from Los Angeles is easily accessible via the I-10 E in about two hours.

Joshua Tree National Park tour from Palm Springs is just under an hour via the I-10 E or CA-62 E.

Changing travel date? No worries! Your tour is available anytime from the moment you book. 

Starting Point Address: Joshua Tree Visitor Center, Joshua Tree, CA 92252, USA