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How Do I Get to Joshua Tree?

May 28, 2019 Bob Howells

This post is part of Just Ahead’s Joshua Tree Trip Planner—our guide to everything you need to know to plan your trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Click here to see the complete series, and be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Joshua Tree before you head to the park.

The best way to get to Joshua Tree National Park is by car. Park entrances and park roads are not easily served by mass transit, and the park does not run shuttle buses. Here are estimates of driving time from common locations:

Los Angeles or San Diego: 3 hours
Las Vegas: 4 hours
Phoenix: 4½ hours
Death Valley National Park: 4½ hours
Yosemite National Park: 6 hours
Grand Canyon National Park: 6 hours
San Francisco: 8 hours

West Visitor Center, Joshua Tree National Park

Three entrances have nearby visitor centers where travelers can get oriented: West (shown), North, and South. NPS photo

Where Should I Camp in Joshua Tree?

May 27, 2019 Bob Howells

There’s nothing like spending a night or two in Joshua Tree National Park.

The nearby motels and inns are fine (click here for advice about where to stay), but they’re not in the park. And nighttime in Joshua Tree is special. The sky is almost always clear, so the star show is dazzling, particularly in the campgrounds farthest away from the glow of city lights: Belle, White Tank, and Cottonwood Spring. No matter where you camp, sunset and sunrise are almost always dramatic. You’re likely to hear coyotes yipping and howling at night, and you’ll wake up to the dawn chorus of singing birds.

Jumbo Rocks Campground, Joshua Tree National Park

Massive boulders frame campsites in Jumbo Rocks Campground. NPS photo

Where Should I Stay Near Joshua Tree?

May 26, 2019 Bob Howells

Much as we love camping in Joshua Tree National Park, sometimes a roof and creature comforts are in order. The towns near and adjacent to the park offer everything from inns with character to traditional motels to quirky joints that don’t fall into any category.

We don’t endorse any places in particular, but a few local lodgings are notably famous:

What Are the 10 Best Sights in Joshua Tree?

May 25, 2019 Bob Howells

Naming the top 10 best sights in Joshua Tree National Park is like naming your favorite child, because we love every sandy, rocky, scrubby, wildflowery acre of Joshua Tree. But here we go anyway: a selection of our favorite places described in the Just Ahead tour of Joshua Tree National Park. Note: These are not in any particular order. Because remember, we love them all.

Barker Dam/Keys Lake, Joshua Tree National Park

Summer or winter rains bring an ephemeral lake to Joshua Tree at Barker Dam.

Just Ahead Joins Pure Adventures for Road Trips in the American West

November 10, 2015 Bob Howells

Just Ahead is delighted to announce an exciting partnership with Pure Adventures, a company that sets up self-guided tours in destinations all over the world.

Just Ahead audio guides will be featured on the company’s Passport to the American West trips—self-guided drive-bike and drive-hike tours that visit spectacular western national parks. Pure Adventures travelers will enjoy Just Ahead narrated tours of such parks as Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Death Valley, and Yosemite, as well as our Interstate 15 guide (Los Angeles to Utah via Las Vegas and Hoover Dam).

Just Ahead and Pure Adventures are a perfect match. Both companies help adventurous travelers get the most enjoyment and value possible from road trips in stunning locations.

The press release below has all the details.

For Immediate Release

Pure Adventures Announces Passport to the US West: Self-Guided Drive and Hike Vacations

Legendary Highways, Distinctive Lodgings, and Iconic National Parks Highlight Pre-Designed Itineraries

SCOTTSDALE, AZ, Nov. 11, 2015 – Pioneers of self-guided cycling vacations, Pure Adventures (http://pure-adventures.com/), announces a new high-end offering, Passport to the American West, one or two-week, self-drive and hike vacations focused on the 2016 Centennial Celebration of the US National Park Service.

These vacations that include a National Park pass, award-winning audio tour guides of visited parks, premier accommodation selections, a detailed road book and suggestions on the best hikes can also be customized to a client’s budget and interests.

With suggested travel during the best times to see the West, Pure Adventures recommends warm season tours from March through November. The deserts are very hot in high summer, but the mountains and canyons are cool. Peak visitors are expected in June-September. Ideal travel months are April, May, June and October.

Driving to Las Vegas? Check Out Just Ahead’s New Interstate 15 Audio Guide

July 24, 2015 Bob Howells

Our newest smartphone audio guide is also our most unique tour—it’s a guide to Interstate 15 from Los Angeles to St. George, Utah, by way of Las Vegas and Hoover Dam.

In other words, Just Ahead is now developing audio tours of great American roadways to go with our highly popular national park tours. Of course, in the case of Interstate 15, the route happens to link up with a couple of Just Ahead’s terrific national park tours—Death Valley and Zion—which in turn lead neatly into Just Ahead’s many other California and Utah national park guides.

For many travelers, I-15 is known simply as “the way to Vegas,” and if that’s your destination, fine. You’ll learn a great deal on the way. As you cruise along the interstate, we spin yarns about the old Spanish history of the route…its bizarre geographical highlights, including cinder cones and the San Andreas Fault…and the plant life and wildlife that flourish just outside your windows, from Joshua trees to creosote to rattlesnakes.

Naturally, this being the way to Vegas, we cover the quirky history of that one-of-a-kind city.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: The Latest From Just Ahead

April 10, 2015 Bob Howells

Few national park settings are as made to order for a Just Ahead mobile audio guide as Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon Park. Which is why we’re particularly proud to announce the release of our brand-new guide to these great Sierra Nevada siblings.

Just Ahead’s audio tour of Sequoia and Kings Canyon travels from the foothills of central California into the High Sierra Nevada to the home of the world’s largest trees. It’s a thrilling journey, traversed by three of the country’s most scenic drives: Mineral King Road in Sequoia, Kings Canyon Scenic Byway in Kings Canyon, and Generals Highway, the twisting mountain road that connects the two parks.

Just Ahead Announces the Release of Our Yosemite National Park Tour

October 14, 2014 Bob Howells

Just Ahead, the app that turns your smartphone into an audio tour guide to the world, has launched its third tour: Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite is an absolutely perfect park for the Just Ahead platform. It has great roads that lead to fabled places as well as out-of-the way gems. We guide you to all of its world-famous landmarks like El Capitan and Yosemite Falls…the Ahwahnee Hotel and Bridalveil Fall.

But those are clustered in Yosemite Valley—a magnificent place, but less than 1% of the park.

Mirror Lake is the gateway to Tenaya Canyon in Yosemite National Park.

Just Ahead Launches Second Tour: Death Valley National Park

July 1, 2014 Bob Howells

Just Ahead, the app that turns your smartphone into an audio tour guide, has a brand new tour: Death Valley National Park in California.

Joshua Tree National Park was our first, and the response to that tour has been terrific—users have told us how enjoyable it is to travel through these compelling destinations with a friendly tour guide along for the ride, pointing out landmarks and historic sites, side trips and day hikes, all mixed in with stories about the park’s history, wildlife, and fabled characters.

Coming Soon: Just Ahead’s Tour of Death Valley National Park

June 2, 2014 Bob Howells

We’ve been hard at work on our next Just Ahead tour, and we’re just about to unwrap it.

What’s just ahead for Just Ahead?

Death Valley National Park.

This is no small feat. Death Valley is immense. The largest park in the lower 48 American states. That’s right: Death Valley, at 3.4 million acres, is larger than Yellowstone National Park.

And full of amazing places, astounding beauty, rich history, and fascinating stories.

We’re very proud of this narrated audio tour tour, which covers more than 300 locations in and around Death Valley National Park. We guide you to the park from any direction you choose, and once you’re in the park, we guide you to amazing sights along the park’s excellent paved roads, plus many dirt roads suitable for passenger cars.

What's Ahead? The Just Ahead Blog

How Do I Get to Joshua Tree?

Read More

Where Should I Camp in Joshua Tree?

Where Should I Stay Near Joshua Tree?

What Are the 10 Best Sights in Joshua Tree?

Just Ahead Joins Pure Adventures for Road Trips in the American West

Driving to Las Vegas? Check Out Just Ahead’s New Interstate 15 Audio Guide

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: The Latest From Just Ahead

Just Ahead Announces the Release of Our Yosemite National Park Tour

Just Ahead Launches Second Tour: Death Valley National Park

Coming Soon: Just Ahead’s Tour of Death Valley National Park