Parking
Start at the Skull Rock parking area on Park Boulevard, opposite the Jumbo Rocks Campground entrance. The loop also has an access inside the campground. The trailhead lists auto and bus/RV parking.
Overview
About Skull Rock Nature Trail
Why go
- Skull Rock and interpretive signs are part of the loop
- Scrub, washes, oak woodland and boulders add variety to a short walk
Heads up
- The final stretch follows paved campground road
- Uneven rock, stairs and narrow spots interrupt the easy grade
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Joshua Tree map
Full mapElevation4,331–4,436 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
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 Skull Rock Nature 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
Skull Rock and Its Rain-Worn Face0:00 / 0:32
“Skull Rock is coming up beside Park Boulevard. It's a quick stop for a granite boulder with two deep hollows that look like eye sockets; you don't need to walk the nature loop to see it.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Joshua Tree Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Jumbo Rocks: Camping Among the Boulders
- Live Oak Picnic Area and Its Unlikely Tree
- Split Rock: A Short Stop or Longer Loop
- Farming on a Few Wet Years
- 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 Skull Rock Nature Trail
Take the full loopSkull Rock Nature Trail is an easy 1.
Skull Rock Nature Trail is an easy 1.8-mile loop from Park Boulevard through desert washes and boulder country, past the skull-shaped granite formation, then along the paved road through Jumbo Rocks Campground. Allow 1–2 hours if you want to stop at the interpretive signs. Published figures vary slightly: 1.7 or 1.8 miles, and 120 or 160 feet of gain. This entry uses 1.8 miles and describes the climb as modest rather than choosing one ascent figure.
Rock stop or nature trailSkull Rock is visible from the roadside, so you can see the formation without walking the…
Skull Rock is visible from the roadside, so you can see the formation without walking the circuit. The loop adds a longer route through washes, boulders and desert plants; the nearby Discovery Trail is a separate, shorter loop.
Two desert habitatsThe route passes through sandy mixed scrub and riparian corridors, where cat’s claw acacia and…
The route passes through sandy mixed scrub and riparian corridors, where cat’s claw acacia and desert almond grow. After the Park Boulevard crossing, oak woodland gathers among the boulders, while ridgelines carry California buckwheat and Mojave yucca.
How the rock got its faceSmall hollows formed where rain collected in the granite.
Small hollows formed where rain collected in the granite. As water wore them deeper, the depressions held more water and eroded further, creating the two eye-like sockets. Interpretive signs along the loop add more to look for in the rock and plants.
Start and footingBegin at the Skull Rock parking area opposite the Jumbo Rocks Campground entrance, or start…
Begin at the Skull Rock parking area opposite the Jumbo Rocks Campground entrance, or start from within the campground. Expect uneven dirt and rock, stairs, short steep sections and narrow places; use the marked Park Boulevard crossing. Pets are not allowed on this trail.
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.
