North Joshua Tree BLM — Hotel in Joshua Tree

Boondockers paradise in the desert, just 15 minutes away from Joshua Tree National Park entrance. Starry sky at night was wonderful, and so was the glow from the nearby towns.

Please be mindful of other travelers, pack your trash, and respect the land, so we can all enjoy this for years to come!

It was a spacious and quiet free public land, as long as you keep your distance from the “party” rigs. Pulled in a little bit later on a Saturday night, and found a spot easy.

Roads are doable in any vehicle when it’s dry outside. Not sure about during rainy days - probably turns into a mud pit.

My 2x4 144 wheelbase sprinter van made it just fine, but go slow and watch out for washboard and other vehicles.

Also be mindful of occasional dogs that run around without leash. It’s a safe space for all!

There are definitely a few rigs that looked like they lived there for a while, but everyone seemed respectful and kept their distance. Lots of rigs for miles. Felt completely safe as a solo traveler.

There is no shade anywhere. Temperatures in June were 90° by 8:30 AM. Please keep that in mind if you’re...

I had a lovely time car camping even though I was caught in 70 mph winds. Lots of space for dispersed camping. People ride dirt bikes and shoot guns and light fireworks, but it is what it is.

CAREFUL! NAILS!!! I think someone had beef with a group of old campers and as I was taking a walk in the morning I found a massive area completely and intentionally littered with old screws and nails. This was probably someone who was mad at whoever was there before, but if drove even 15 seconds more, I would have had a disgusting tire shop bill. This is dangerous for cars, humans, all animals and the environment. Who ever did this is scum, but thankfully there are groups of local people who clean up the lake bed on occasion. STOP MAKING THEIR JOB HARDER!

If you go there, I'd recommend parking along the main road and charting out your path on foot before just driving in. By the time you read this and go yourself there's a good chance it'll be cleaned up, but better safe than sorry, and you can never ignore the human variable.

This is badlands and should be...

Great place to camp. Campers /RVs are 100s of yards apart (choose your own place, any place). Hike, bike, ATV, cycle anywhere. Free and nobody to bother you. The roads look scary for s big rig, but although bumpy, it is very solid and flat. I had no problem getting my 40 foot big rig towing a toad in by going around the both side on Reagan road and then right along the power lines on Cascade road to then pull in anywhere on the dry Lake bed. And there is great Verizon and T-mobile LTE here (no service inside Joshua Tree). Note that the location shown on Google does not match the Joshua Tree and BLM websites and is actually on private land for sale! The official BLM is...