Sight · Joshua Tree National Park
A wooden welcome sign against the Colorado Desert and rocky peaks.
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
Bajada Nature Trail: A Short Plant Walk“You're approaching Bajada Nature Trail, a short loop for a closer look at Colorado Desert plants. Allow fifteen to twenty minutes for the flat, roughly third-of-a-mile walk on hard-packed sand.”
Plays on the road 0.4 mi from South Entrance Welcome Sign 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
South Entrance Welcome Sign is a roadside landmark on Cottonwood Spring Road at Joshua Tree National Park’s southern boundary. A dark wooden welcome panel and the park’s arrowhead sign sit on a low brick wall, with open Colorado Desert and rocky mountains behind them. This is a quick photo stop, not a trail destination.
Paved pullouts sit on both sides of the road. The strongest view puts the welcome panel and arrowhead together against the open desert and mountain ridge. In spring, wildflowers may appear across this stretch, though the display varies from year to year.
Bajada Nature Trail is a short drive north, with the Cottonwood Visitor Center and campground farther along. Treat those as separate destinations when you need their visitor facilities; they are not part of the sign stop itself.
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
EasyBajada Nature Trail0.3 mi · 18 min · 0.4 mi awayA short, flat loop through Colorado Desert plant life.
ChallengingLost Palms Oasis Trail7.5 mi · 4 hr · 4.3 mi awayA long desert hike ends at palms tucked below a rocky bluff.
EasyCottonwood Spring Nature Trail0.2 mi · 15 min · 4.3 mi awayFan palms and a Cahuilla mortar, a few minutes from the lot.
ModerateCottonwood Spring and Mastodon Peak Loop2.4 mi · 2 hr · 4.3 mi awayA 2.4-mile loop through bouldery canyons and old mine ruins.
EasyMoorten’s Mill Trail1.2 mi · 1 hr · 4.3 mi awayFollow Cottonwood Wash to a five-stamp mill site.
ChallengingConejo Well Trail13.6 mi · 8.5 hr · 4.3 mi awayA remote desert roadbed to Conejo Well, with hard navigation.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayLost Palms OasisA rare palm oasis, reached only after a long desert hike.
Sight · 4.1 mi awayMastodon MineA close-up look at mining history on the Mastodon Peak loop.Sight · 4.3 mi awayCottonwood SpringPalm oasis, Cahuilla mortars and gold-mill remains, steps from the road.
Campground · 4.8 mi awayCottonwood CampgroundDark-sky camping with a signed path to Cottonwood Spring.
Picnic area · 4.8 mi awayCottonwood Picnic AreaCovered tables make this a useful meal stop in the southern park.Parkwolf’s Joshua Tree ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
