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Joshua Tree National Park. VW Buss and Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia) in Joshua Tree National Park: Hidden Valley Campground site. Photo by Jarek Tuszy艅ski –

Top 10 Unbelievable Facts About Joshua Tree National Park

From a silent, vibrant sunrise over desert sands to a darkened, plum, starstruck evening- traveling through Joshua Tree National Park can be awesome. Just a few hours from Southern California, visiting is not only generally accessible but fulfilling- physically and spiritually.

Due to its arid topography, Joshua Tree National Park鈥檚 weather can range in extremes. In the summertime, temperatures can surpass 100 F with nights dropping to 70 F.

During the winter months, temperatures can range between 60 F in the daytime and drop below freezing at night. Therefore, the best time to visit Joshua Tree National Park for perfect weather is during the spring months of March and April or during the fall months of October and November.

 These are also excellent months for camping. But it can still be a fun American winter destination to visit as the weather varies between mid-60s F in the daytime and high 30s F at night.

The weather year-round typically brings clear sunny skies with low humidity and a very rare chance of rain. However, the desert-type weather of Joshua Tree National Park can also be unpredictable, therefore it鈥檚 important to prepare for extreme variations.

1. The Joshua Tree Isn鈥檛 a Tree but a yucca plant

Joshua Tree National Park (California, USA). This is a picture of the protected area listed at WDPA under the ID. Photo by Dietmar Rabich –

The Joshua Tree is a yucca plant and is in the same subgroup that includes flowering grasses and orchids. It grows primarily in the Mohave Desert, which includes Joshua Tree National Park, but you can also sometimes find them in the Sonoran Desert, hanging out with the Saguaro cactus.

They are a slow mover, growing just 1-3 per year. Based on that growth rate, some researchers think that the average lifespan for the tree is 150 years.

2. The Mormons named the tree after the biblical Joshua

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Rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Photo by King of Hearts –

The local Cahuilla refers to the trees as 鈥渉unuvat chiy鈥檃鈥� or 鈥渉umwichawa鈥�. But more recent legend has it that when Mormon immigrants made their way across the Colorado River, they named the tree after the biblical Joshua.

They saw the outstretched arms of the tree as a vision of supplication, guiding the westward-bound pioneers, just as biblical Joshua helped lead the exploration of Canaan.

Exhausted pioneers also named Death Valley, which you can learn more about with these 10 fun Death Valley facts. And yet more exhausted pioneers also attempted the Donner pass, learn more with these facts about the Lake Tahoe area.  

3. Joshua Tree National Park is big and wild that visitors cannot see the whole of it

Joshua Tree National Park – Pine City trailhead. Photo by Daniel Mayer (mav) –

Joshua Tree National Park covers 1,235 square miles and is the second-largest National Park in California, after Death Valley. What we as visitors see is only about 15% of the parking area. The remaining 85% is managed as wilderness.

While some backcountry trails go into that wilderness, the landscape and climate are pretty forbidding and it takes a pretty hardy hiker to handle it. So, those lands remain fairly untouched.

4. It took Joshua Tree 58 Years to become a national park

Plaque of Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, California. Photo by Bernard Gagnon –

For 5,000 years, people have been living in the region that now makes up the park. However, it was with the establishment of roads and mining in the 1920s, that the fragile landscape began to feel the pain of human habitation.

 Minerva Hoyt, a southern belle and desert plant lover became concerned when she observed the cactus being destroyed. She started the Deserts Conservation League and lobbied hard for National Monument protection which happened in 1936.

But it took until 1994 before the land was elevated to National Park Status. This is meaningful because National Park status covers a higher level of conservation status and more resources.

5. Joshua Tree has 57 mammal species

Flowers in Joshua Tree National Park. Photo by Alex Proimos –

For a landscape that looks empty, Joshua Tree has a lot going on. In fact, on my most recent visit, coyotes were just wandering around. Coyotes are very resilient creatures, but they aren鈥檛 the only mammals in the park.

The ones that do well there are typically fairly small, burrowing, and nocturnal. This includes rodents like an assortment of squirrels, mice, gophers, and rats.

 There are also jackrabbits and cottontails. And of course, there are 16 species of bats. For larger mammals, you鈥檒l occasionally find a mountain lion, bobcat, black bear, and cheeky coyote.

6. Joshua Tree has three Different Ecosystems

Driving down the main road that goes through Joshua Tree National Park. Photo by Chloekwak –

Joshua Tree sits as the confluence of three different ecosystems. There is an arm of the Colorado Desert (which is primarily in southeastern Califonia and southern Arizona) that sneaks into the southeastern part of the park.

This area is characterized by the ocotillo plants and cholla cactus. The northern part of the park includes the southern boundary of the Mohave Desert, which also encompasses Death Valley National Park and Las Vegas.

This area is where you鈥檒l find the namesake Joshua Trees. The western part of the park touches the San Bernardino Mountains. This 4,000-foot elevation houses Califonia juniper and pinyon pine trees.

7. Joshua Tree is a dark sky park

Volunteers during a Joshua Tree Monitoring. Photo by NPS / Alessandra Puig-Santana –

While the southern boundary of Joshua Tree does get some light pollution from Palm Springs, the northern and eastern reaches of the park offer some great stargazing opportunities.

The Park has supported efforts to update lighting codes in Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley, and it also convinced a nearby military base to substantially reduce its use of outdoor light at night.

The main part of the park doesn鈥檛 close its gates at night, so you can simply drive in and find a quiet pull-out for watching the sky. There is also an observatory in 29 Palms. It hosts a night sky festival, which usually takes place in September.

8. Joshua Tree has One of the Best Sunsets in California

Joshua Tree N-P Cottonwood. Photo by Bachelot Pierre J-P –

The Key鈥檚 Views overlook offers a head-swiveling gander at the Coachella Valley. On a clear day, it feels like you could reach out and touch LA. It鈥檚 great any time of day but at night, it lights up.

You鈥檒l want some partly cloudy skies because, at sunset, the setting sun sparks up the clouds in a flaming light show.

9. There鈥檚 a Murderer in Them Thar Hills

Joshua Tree National Park at night. Photo by Henrique Pinto –

That鈥檚 the quick version of William Keys’ life. The longer version is that he started out running scams at Scotty鈥檚 Castle, in Death Valley. After doing some time for that, he began working in a mining operation in Joshua Tree.

 When the mine owner went bankrupt, Keys took the equipment as back pay and created his homestead. The Keys family was remarkably resourceful, running cattle, designing their dam, and growing crops.

They ran their mine for years and later earned income separating ore for others using a machine of Keys’ own making.

A long-simmering feud with another homesteader landed Keys in jail again, this time for murder. He was acquitted on a technicality, but the tour guides will tell you with a wink and a nudge that everyone knows he did it.

10. The Town of Joshua Tree Has Some Pretty Funky Sculptures

Joshua Tree National Park. California. The USA. Photo by Ed Dunens –

Joshua Tree National Park is amazing on its own, but it鈥檚 also worth exploring Joshua Tree Town. A gallery scene arose in 29 Palms during the 1960s.

Over the next few decades, galleries and studios spread along the highway 62 corridor, ensuring that the arts culture became firmly planted into the sandy soil of the Basin. There is a decidedly counter-culture element to the whole enterprise.

You can tour the Noah Purafoy sculpture garden. It includes an array of found object sculptures, including some surprisingly graceful toilet sculptures.

Then there鈥檚 the Krblin Jihn Kabin, which is a broken-down cabin that once housed a religious prisoner of war from a parallel universe. You have to see it to believe it.