Parking
Use Contact Mine Trailhead on Park Boulevard, about half a mile south of the North Entrance Station outside Twentynine Palms. Parking type and capacity are not described.
Overview
About Contact Mine Trail
Why go
- Historic mine remains at the turnaround
- A quieter desert hike with broad mountain views
Heads up
- The mine is a surface stop, not an underground tour
- Most of the route is a sandy wash and rocky climb
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Joshua Tree map
Full mapElevation2,923–3,622 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
5 active Joshua Tree alerts
- ClosureOasis of Mara Trail closed past the OasisThe Oasis of Mara Trail is closed past the Oasis due to a heavy flooding event; do not continue beyond the Oasis. Check current park conditions before visiting.Official details
- ClosureSR 62 and US 95 closed by floodingFlooding has closed portions of SR 62 and US 95; avoid the closed segments.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Joshua Tree Tour Guide
Your drive to Contact Mine Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Contact Mine: A Hike to the Old Workings0:00 / 0:26
“Contact Mine's trailhead is coming up, for a hike to old gold and silver workings on the mountainside.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Joshua Tree Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Sky's the Limit: Walk the Solar System
- A Wasp's Meal for Its Young
- A Shrub for a Nursery
- Taking the Desert to the City
- 89 audio storiesacross Joshua Tree’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bighorn Sheep, Golden Eagle, Desert Tortoise, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 60 trails, 64 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Contact Mine Trail
A quieter mine walkContact Mine Trail is a 3.
Contact Mine Trail is a 3.8-mile out-and-back from a trailhead just south of the North Entrance to historic mine workings. Plan on 2–3 hours and roughly 700 feet of climbing. It is a good pick for a quieter hike with broad desert and mountain views.
The routeStart in a sandy wash, then climb the rocky mountainside on hard-packed dirt with occasional…
Start in a sandy wash, then climb the rocky mountainside on hard-packed dirt with occasional built-in rock steps. The trail follows the winding remains of an old roadbed toward the mine; return the same way. Barrel cactus and other desert plants grow among the rocks along the route.
At the mineThe mine workings and old artifacts are the turnaround.
The mine workings and old artifacts are the turnaround. Some of the equipment dates to about a century ago. The openings are gated or sealed, so expect a surface visit rather than an underground tour. Leave all artifacts where they are. For a photo, frame the old rails or machinery with the surrounding mountain slopes.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Joshua Tree
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.
