Entrance station · Joshua Tree National Park
The west-gate sign, water fill, and first stop on the park drive.
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
The Bird That Plants Mistletoe“A reddish tangle growing in a mesquite tree may be desert mistletoe, with a bird helping it spread. Phainopeplas, crested birds whose males are glossy black, eat the mistletoe's berries.”
Plays on the road 0.1 mi from West Entrance and 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
West Entrance and Welcome Sign is Joshua Tree’s west-gateway stop on Park Boulevard: the fee booth and a tan brick welcome sign a short distance apart. Pull into the small lot beside the sign for a photo, then use the accessible restrooms and potable-water bottle filler before driving farther into the park.
This is the park’s busiest entrance, and lines are often long. If you’re planning a one-to-five-hour Park Boulevard loop that returns to Highway 62, entering through the North Entrance in Twentynine Palms may save time. You can pay or buy a pass at the booth when it’s staffed; if the booth is closed or unstaffed, visitors may continue unless park roads are closed for a special circumstance.
The sign is a tan brick wall with the National Park Service arrowhead and an “Entering Joshua Tree National Park” panel, set against open desert and rocky hills. For the arrival photo, keep some of that landscape around the sign. The replacement fee station opened in February 2026 to handle the busy gateway more safely and efficiently.
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
ModerateBurro/Rocky View Loop4.5 mi · 2.8 hr · 1.2 mi awayA 4.5-mile loop through rocky hills, washes and wide desert views.
ChallengingPanorama Trail3 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayA three-mile backcountry climb links Quail Wash and Bigfoot Trail.
ModerateNorth View Trail5.6 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayWide Morongo Basin views reward a long, rocky out-and-back.
ModerateMaze Loop Trail5 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayA five-mile boulder maze through sandy washes and Joshua trees.
ModerateWindow Loop Trail5.5 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayA long Maze approach leads to Window Rock’s tiny opening.
ModerateNorth Canyon Trail1.8 mi · 1 hr · 1.6 mi awayA one-way connector through the Maze’s washes and rocky ridges.
ModerateSamuelson Rocks via Creosote and Bigfoot Trails4.8 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayFollow desert paths to a lonely mound of carved messages.
EasyCreosote Trail1.2 mi · 45 min · 2.1 mi awayA short, lightly signed walk among creosote and Joshua trees.
Sight · 3.4 mi awaySamuelson RocksCarved desert messages from a man whose story went missing.
Sight · 3.9 mi awayNancy Karl Trail OverlookA sandy trail leads to a wayside view over the desert basin.
Visitor center · 4 mi awayJoshua Tree Visitor CenterPick up a map and ranger advice before the West Entrance.Parkwolf’s Joshua Tree ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
