Advice: First time visiting Joshua Tree NP

I just finished an eight-day, 180 mile trip thru JTNP.  The CRH trail is by far the most common backpacking trail.  The middle portion, Juniper Flats to Covington is the best IMO.  Other good trails include Big Pine and Boy Scout. I used a trekking pole tent and had no problem any night. I had to use extra rock anchors most nights since you commonly camp is sandy washes or otherwise loose sand/gravel areas that don’t have great stake holding power. Rocks aren’t hard to find though.

Covington or Queen Mountain. Dress warm. It can get down into the teens with snow levels down to 3,000’. Covington is warmer.

Thanks to you both, great info.

Hello, I backpack joshua tree all the time.  Its where I test out my new toys.  The Boy Scout trail is good as an overnighter or even a 1 day dayhike.  Its around 7 miles one way.  It starts off in a Joshua Tree “Forest” and ends up in the “Wonderland of Rocks”.  So you probably want to do all of it so that you can see the varied terrain.

If you dont want to hike the 7 miles then turn around and hike 7 more back, you can leave one car at the end point (Indian Cove backcountry board), then drive all around the park to the start point(Boy Scout Trailhead)   The drive between end points is about 20 minutes and goes through the nicest parts of the park down Park Boulevard.  The drive is worth it by itself especially if this the first view of the park.

Try not to camp in the Wonderland of Rocks.  There are a number of good clearings right before the WonderLand.

I have bad luck with longer spikes.  A short sturdy spike like an MSR Ground hog mini works well, and there are usually rocks.  Becareful picking up rocks, there could be the dreaded brown spider underneath.

Any normal tent works fine.  There are surprisingly few thorns on the ground, although they do exist.  A plastic ground sheet will have no problems.

EDIT: I normally use a Doumid and have no problems with staking it down.  But you will probably need rocks.