It’s no secret that we love to visit national parks. It’s also no surprise that we love to camp for free. Lucky for us, so far we’ve been able to find dispersed camping on public land pretty close to every national park we’ve visited, and Joshua Tree National Park isn’t an exception. Just as Joshua Tree National Park can be split roughly into two areas, so can its dispersed camping opportunities.
BLM Camping at Joshua Tree National Park South
On the south side of Joshua Tree National Park, literally right outside the entrance, is a pretty decent BLM area. While the area is just off the highway, it was far enough back that the road noise wasn’t notable. The accessible camping area was small, but not very busy. Maps show the area as much bigger than we could get our 40’ bus into, but that’s pretty standard. The ground was fairly level and the winds predictable so we were able to park with our nose into the wind.
The city of Indo is fairly close and has both a Walmart supercenter and our favorite discount grocery store, WinCo Foods. Being a city, it’s also got several laundromats, auto parts stores, and other necessities. Only a few miles inside the national park is an RV dump station with potable water.
BLM Camping at Joshua Tree National Park North
The north side of Joshua Tree National Park is also in close proximity to BLM land, though not as close as the south side. It’s about 10 to 15 minutes away from the park, north of Highway 62. Maps of the area make the approach a little deceptive. Don’t take Cascade Road, which looks like the most direct route. It’s horrible, lumpy, and very easy to high-center one’s rig if one isn’t very careful. The best route is to take Sunfair Road to Broadway Road. Broadway Road is paved most of the way into the BLM dispersed camping area. This BLM land is pretty expansive, but spots for larger rigs are a little limited. One word of caution: The area is not well signed and abuts private property with many lots not developed and barely staked out. Take care that you’re actually on public land when you park.
As for amenities nearby, the campground is close to 29 Palms, the town of Joshua Tree, and Yucca Valley, making stores of all kinds easy to find. We didn’t need to cycle water in our rig while we stayed here, so didn’t check out any possible locations, but the area is thick with RV resorts and campgrounds that may let you dump and refill your RV, for a fee.
With the proximity to shopping and easily accessible BLM camping, it’s not surprising that Joshua Tree National Park is in the top ten most-visited national parks!