Visitor center · Joshua Tree National Park
A focused cultural introduction before the desert roads.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Joshua Tree Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Joshua Tree National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Joshua Tree audio tourRecorded for this area
Oasis of Mara: Palms and a Serrano Story“Up ahead is the Oasis of Mara at park headquarters in Twentynine Palms. For an easy look at a fan-palm grove, the half-mile paved loop takes about fifteen to thirty minutes and is wheelchair accessible.”
Plays on the road 1.2 mi from Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center in the Parkwolf Joshua Tree Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
This staffed National Park Service visitor center is in downtown Twentynine Palms, outside the park and just south of Highway 62 beside Freedom Plaza. It is a handy orientation stop before you head for park roads: pick up a map, ask staff for route advice or buy an entrance pass.
The exhibits highlight the park’s traditionally associated Native American communities. There is also a bookstore and gift shop, along with visitor information. The interpretation is more focused than the former Oasis Visitor Center’s natural-history displays, so set expectations if you remember that older center.
The center opened in May 2022 as part of a decade-long downtown revitalization project. It replaced the former Oasis Visitor Center, which stood by park headquarters near Oasis of Mara. The oasis and its trail are separate stops; this building is on Freedom Way in town.
Wildlife
129 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
15 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
413 sightingsDesert TortoiseMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
275 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
47 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
32 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Joshua Tree. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyOasis of Mara Trail0.5 mi · 20 min · 1.2 mi awayA half-mile paved loop beneath fan palms, with history on the signs.
ChallengingFortynine Palms Oasis Trail3 mi · 2.5 hr · 3.3 mi awayA desert ridge hike ending at a hidden fan palm oasis.
ModerateContact Mine Trail3.8 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.5 mi awayA quiet desert walk ends among century-old mine workings.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayOasis of MaraA palm grove with a surprisingly deep Serrano story.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayFortynine Palms OasisA shaded palm grove at the end of a desert ridge hike.
Sight · 4.1 mi awaySky’s the Limit Observatory and Nature CenterWalk a Solar System model scaled for human steps.
Entrance station · 4.2 mi awayNorth Entrance StationA quick north-side stop to sort your park pass.
Sight · 4.6 mi awayContact MineOld mine gear at the end of a quieter four-mile desert hike.Parkwolf’s Joshua Tree ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
