JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

Joshua Tree Camping Trip—When things don’t go according to plan

Out of a desire to get in another van trip before the holidays ramped up more fully, we booked two nights in Joshua Tree following Thanksgiving. We’re learning that we prefer to stay a minimum of three nights in any location, but #work #dayjob limited the time we could get away on this trip. With Joshua Tree only about an hour from our home, it was an easy national park to hit up with limited travel availability.

BOOKING A CAMPSITE AT JOSHUA TREE

Our campsite reservation falling on a Sunday night-Monday night made it easier to find a place relatively last minute, and we also had the benefit of avoiding weekend crowds. Joshua Tree’s website indicates weekends October - May are the busiest. Sites can be booked on a rolling basis 6 months in advance. We booked our nights one month before our trip and opted for Jumbo Rocks Campground—it had the most reviews (over 2,000) and with an average of 4.5 stars (out of 5) on recreation.gov.

We entered the park from the West Entrance Station. There was a little bit of a line (about a 15 minute wait) to get through the entrance and show our Interagency Annual Pass.

West Station Entrance

PARK ADMISSION

Side: If you plan to make 3 or more visits to a national park within a 12 month period, it is worth purchasing the $80 Interagency Annual Pass.

For visiting just Joshua Tree it is $30 per private vehicle for 7 days or $55 for an annual pass. It is $80 for an annual pass with the freedom to visit all the parks within a 12 month period—definitely worth the price if planning multiple trips. There are also discounted/free passes for military personnel, those with disabilities, and persons over 62.

Image designed by the National Parks Service

WATER MISHAP

As we entered through the West Station, we made the mistake of thinking we could fill up our van with water once past the entrance gate. We knew Jumbo Rocks Campground did not have any water, but assumed there would be another location to fill up. The ranger let us know the closest water fill source was back at Black Rock Canyon Campground (in the northwest corner of the park). We had to turn around and drive 40 minutes back to fill up our van. This added an additional 1.5 hours to our campsite arrival time—a mistake we won’t make again. It’s a good reminder to not only check the services of your campsite, but also the services (or lack thereof) within the surrounding area.

Once we filled our 21 gallon tank, we were back on our way for the second time to the West Entrance Station.

JUMBO ROCKS CAMPGROUND - SITE 117

The great thing about this campground (hence the name) are the rocks surrounding just about every site. This provides a bit more privacy between sites and plenty of exploring. Our girls (and us) loved climbing the rocks above our site.

We arrived at site 117 just before the sun went down. We had already prepped most of our dinner before leaving for Joshua Tree, so we took off exploring as soon as the van was in park knowing dinner would take less time to get on the picnic table.

Site 117

DINNER FIRESIDE

For dinner the first night, I used one of my go-to camping recipes from Emily Vikre’s The Family Camp Cookbook: Kebab Fajitas. I love how throughout the cookbook, Emily provides guidance on what can be prepped/made ahead of time at home. With our girls being young (4 & 2), we are pretty hands-on while camping & especially once the fire gets going. I like having recipes I can prep ahead of time so that I am not spending copious amounts of time leaning over the picnic table, grill or fire pit. We could opt to cook inside our van (using an induction cooktop), but have always preferred outdoor cooking while camping.

I marinated the chicken overnight and then built the kebabs with peppers & onions in the morning before leaving for Joshua Tree. We served the fajitas with black beans (warmed on our propane camp stove) and rice I precooked at home and reheated on the camp stove. I also made & baked a simple berry cobbler before leaving—all it needed was a reheat on the grill. We got a small Lodge cast iron pan (8”) as a wedding gift 10 years ago and it is still a must-have while camping. In the fall, grocer Trader Joe’s carries Salted Maple Ice Cream and it pairs perfectly with berry cobbler. The cobbler and salted maple ice cream fireside were a food highlight from this trip.

“HALF THE PARK IS AFTER DARK!”

I’m not sure which national park this phrase was coined for. Arches, perhaps? I don’t believe it was for Joshua Tree, but either way, we loosen our bedtime routine and schedule with the girls while camping. For the girls a night walk feels speciaL—holding their own flashlights and roaming through the campground is a nice shift from the more confined spaces of our sidewalks and car congested streets at home.

WHEN THE PLAN DOESN’T GO ACCORDING TO PLAN

Even with meal prepping and meticulous packing, sometimes trips just go awry. It is a balancing act mixed with a learning curve to know when to forge ahead and when to admit defeat.

A couple hours after we were all asleep in the van on the first night, our youngest (Indy) awoke throwing up. She continued to throw up several times throughout the night. Our older daughter is a champ at throwing up directly into a bowl or really any container we place in front of her face. Our youngest however…let’s just say her aim still needs some work. In the morning we surveyed the damage—all of her bedding (and the additional sets I brought as backups) and ours were soiled. So often with parenting, Kyle and I find ourselves staring at each other blankly and saying, “I don’t know.” Had Indy picked up a bug somewhere? Was this a fluke? Were the “barfs” about to hit all of us? Could Indy rally enough to continue camping at Joshua Tree? No one knew—especially not the adults. We limped through the morning with Indy having decent stretches when she seemed to be feeling better, followed by sudden bouts of throwing up.

During one of Indy’s stretches when we thought the throw up might be behind us, we were able to take the short Skull Rock Trail to see the skull rock formation (I think it looks more like a melted Darth Vader mask and less like a skull).

We had planned to hike the Arch Rock Trail and Cholla Cactus Garden Trail while staying in Joshua Tree, but as the morning wore on and more and more items were being contaminated with throw up, we knew we needed to get Indy home. Our 21 gallon water tank was quickly dwindling as we tried to keep up with the clean up. Had we been at a campground with potable water, I think we could have stayed, but the lack of water access + needing to ensure Indy stayed hydrated and didn’t get worse made it impossible to remain at Jumbo Rocks. We loaded up thankful to live close enough to return soon. That’s life and especially life with kids.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Delicious dinner & dessert our first night in camp

• All the rock climbing/scampering we could do right behind our campsite

• Night walk after dinner

LOWLIGHTS:

• Indy getting sick!

• Not doing a more thorough job researching the services available at Joshua Tree—this meant having to drive 40 minutes back to fill up the water for our van. This pushed our arrival at camp back 1.5 hours.