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    Black Rock Canyon

    4.1 (76 reviews)
    Open Open 24 hours

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    Nature Center
    Travis T.

    Nice little nature center that is nestled within a bunch of Joshua Trees and next to Black Rock Campground. I like this area because it is one of the thicker areas of Joshua Trees. I felt like I got more of an up-close experience with them because there are so many of them around here. The ranger station has a gift shop, maps to help guide you and an area to stamp your national park passport book. The nearby campground has 99 sites with picnic tables and a fire ring at each spot. Campsites vary in size and can accommodate both tents and RVs. There are also several trails you can hike on at this location. This area was originally developed to be a Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Campground back in the 70's.

    Site 12
    Grace A.

    Not a terrible campground, but the spots were very close together compared to other national park campgrounds. The host was nice and the bathroom/grounds were generally clean.

    Black Rock camping grounds
    Love P.

    This is a great place to visit if you want to do a short hike at Joshua Tree, but don't want the full National Park experience. I was only going for an hour so a helpful park employee let me know about this option. There was free parking and satisfied my desire to hike a bit in the desert. This is not a substitute for anyone looking for the full Joshua Tree experience.

    Tina H.

    Awesome camping spot when visiting Joshua tree! All campsites have a fire pit and table. Campsites are pretty spacious. Campgrounds are well kept and rangers are very friendly.

    Trail map
    Gavin S.

    I decided I need some Joshua tree photos for Instagram but didn't want to deal with hassle/vastness of Joshua Tree National Park so I thought Black Rock Canyon would be the right place! The Black Rock Canyon Ranger station (or Black Rock Nature Center according to Google) is the perfect place to start your Black Rock adventure. Black Rock Canyon Overview * Small part of Joshua Tree National Park * Completely free to visit; unlike the main portion of the Joshua Tree park * Has spotty cellphone reception on parts of the trails * Features multiple short trails - High View Nature Loop, Panorama Loop, Short Loop, etc. * Has tons of Joshua trees So as you can see, Black Rock Canyon presents itself as an affordable (free), safer (cell reception), condensed alternative to the main Joshua Tree Park. The Black Rock station is where you will want to park for Black Rock Canyon trails. There is free parking on a paved lot. Google Maps may want to take you to other places for the trailhead; but, it may attempt to lead you on to closed/private roads. The Black Rock Canyon Ranger station is very well equipped as ranger stations go. There are clean restrooms, printed brochure maps (uncommon post pandemic), a gift shop, and even a small art exhibit! Unfortunately, the gift shop does not sell food. The reason I knocked off one star is because the road to Black Rock Canyon station is suboptimal. It is a maze of very narrow, pothole plagued roads. The roads are in a bad enough condition that I would prefer a dirt road and be concerned with tire damage. Overall, my experience with Black Rock Canyon station was good! The trails were fun, though, it didn't look exactly like the Joshua tree photos featured on social media. Black Rock Canyon is much more lively with dense fields of Joshua trees and shrubs than the barren, rocky desert-scape Joshua Tree is known for. Amenities: (Spotless!) Restrooms, Printed Maps, Art Exhibit, Gift Shop Parking: There is free parking available on a small, paved lot. The lot was nearly full on February Sunday morning.

    Christopher B.

    Awesome campsite. Bathrooms at this location are overall clean and well maintained. The campsites are a little tight and close to together, but luckily more than half the site was empty when I went. Some spots are definitely better than ours. #20 was a pretty good & large spot. For $25, I would definitely return to this spot in the future.

    Campsite (pre-set up).  Plenty of space and a very aggressive squirrel included!
    Craig W.

    Very nice campground located on the north end of Joshua Tree. Check-in at the ranger station was efficient. Rangers were pleasant. Campsite was decent-sized. No one was immediately around us because the campgrounds were definitely not full. Most of the campers kept it low-key at night, which was nice. Every campsite comes with concrete picnic table and a fire pit. There is very, very little shade so bring a canopy. Nice trails, ranging from 1-2 miles to much longer ones. We saw jackrabbits and tons of lizards and some great birds. We also heard plenty of coyotes at night. It can get really hot (and cold) out here but we got lucky and it only hit 80 at the highest. Restrooms were the cleanest I have seen in any campgrounds. Real, flush toilets. Bravo. This is a beautiful area and very relaxing. A very nice, well-kept campground will bring us back in the future.

    Wayne S.

    Black Rock Canyon Campground,located 5 miles north of Twenty Nine Palms Hwy is a scenic location with campsites for tents,campers,trailers and RV's near Joshua Tree National Park with plenty of hiking,biking,walking,day packing and back packing opportunities! This is a great,safe and comfortable camping location that features fire pits,benches and tables,a info center and plenty of open spaces for everyone who visits! Great for seasoned and first time campers as well! If you need or forgot something the city of Yucca Valley is only 5 miles away! In the evening the skies are filled with millions of beautiful stars! Perfect for an overniter,a few days or as a launch point camp for a california deserts camping adventure! We enjoyed our experience here very much! . . . . #blackrockcanyon #joshuatree #joshuatreenationalpark #californiadreamin #californiadreaming #camping #hiking #panoramatrail #yuccavalley #29palmshwy #29palms #jthavn #ilovejoshuatree #gocamping #waynesalvatti #seetheusa #photografxworldwide #nitesky #starsinthesky

    Campsite 97 nice and private
    Bobby C.

    Black Rock is great however outside Joshua Tree NP so you have to pay $15 more to enter on top of your camp reservation. That is one thing we were unaware of. However they take reservations and RVs and the site was lovely. I would stay again but I like being inside the park better if possible. They have ample bathrooms and a RV dump station with water fill ups.

    Sara L.

    I left my heart at Black Rock Canyon! :) It was a quiet, peaceful, beautiful area. Campsite have fire pits (favorite part). Short, but sweet hikes in the area. Not as populated as other camp sites, another plus! It was perfect! I can't wait to go back. Totally recommend it. Also, restrooms were clean. :)

    Kayla B.

    Not a terrible site... but it was miserably windy this past weekend. There are a bunch of wind mills in the area, so I'm not sure if the area is always windy? When my friends and I went into the actual park, it was easily 10 degrees warmer and there was no wind. The wind was honestly the game changer - our tents were flopping all over the place, and our food would go cold ~2 minutes after serving up. Mother Nature's attitude has nothing to do with the campsite experience though, I give the place 3 stars because the ranger was kindof a narc. Note to future campers: They're strict on the rules. No more than 6 people, 3 tents, and 2 cars - and the tents have to be within 25 feet of your fire pit or picnic bench. You've been warned!

    Coyote in the campground at dawn

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    Ask the Community - Black Rock Canyon

    Are the camp site first come first serve? Or do we have to book a spot in advance?

    They are first come first serve and reservable on line .

    Do they have a dump station there?

    Yes

    On the map, sites 95 & 97 are next to each other but seem some distance away? would it work to book both sites for a group?

    It's not terribly far, you'd be able to see each other and easily walk back and forth, but tents would still have to be within 20 or 25 feet of the fire pit, so you wouldn't be able to spread out between the two.

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    Review Highlights - Black Rock Canyon

    In the future, we will just plan on staying at Black Rock campground and doing day hikes in Joshua Tree.

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    Wall Street Stamp Mill

    Wall Street Stamp Mill

    4.5
    (4 reviews)
    6.1 mi

    This was one of those last minute / random / wasn't planned kind of hikes. Which ended up being…read moredefinitely worth it. Very minimal gain and elevation, however wear sturdy shoes due to the soft uneven sand. Very interesting history I won't spoil it for everyone but it's not just about a mine.. You can get up close and personal with the mine, please be respectful and do not enter the mine although it is very clear you can see that some people have disregarded the signage entering the mine and damaging pieces of it as well. As with any mine, it is unsafe to enter. Parking is of course on all BLM land free. When I went it was during the week and it was not overly crowded at all I think I may have seen a total of four people. Very peaceful and even during the summer it wasn't outrageously hot as SoCal can be. Definitely worth the Segway from heading to death valley.

    Relatively flat, wide path to and from the parking area. This is not one of those challenging…read morehikes. However, you are rewarded with some beautiful groves of Joshua Trees, very slight diversions to check out Wonderland (Ohlson) Ranch ruins and an vintage abandoned vehicle near the beginning of your walk. Later on, of course, is the Wall Street Stamp Mill, which is an abandoned gold stamp mill. While this has been fenced off, it's very interesting. And of course, there's more abandoned stuff nearby, including a couple of cars. Bring lots of water, a hat, and sunscreen. You're in the desert. Even if it's not hot, you're in the desert.

    Photos
    Wall Street Stamp Mill
    Wall Street Stamp Mill
    Did a photo shoot along this trail with my friends and it was GORGEOUS! Highly recommend it!

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    Did a photo shoot along this trail with my friends and it was GORGEOUS! Highly recommend it!
    Joshua Tree Adventures

    Joshua Tree Adventures

    4.9
    (34 reviews)
    6.1 mi

    My family and I came to Joshua Tree for the first time and since we were unfamiliar with the area,…read moreI hired Ethan from Joshua Tree Adventures to be our guide inside the Joshua Tree National Park. It was the best decision I made!! The first day he took us on an amazing 4-hour hike inside the park, he showed us all of the extraordinary sites and also educated us about the very complex geological history of the park. On the 2nd day, he took us mountain climbing, which was the highlight of our trip!! Ethan's kind, encouraging and wise nature helped my son and I accomplish mountain climbing feats we thought were impossible! I HIGHLY recommend Ethan's services for anyone visiting Joshua Tree! The guided tours we took with him really made our trip adventurous, fun, educational and very memorable! Ethan has been guiding for many years and has a real passion for what he does! He's one of the BEST guides I have worked with!

    I can't recommend Joshua Tree Adventures highly enough. My friend and I did a day of guided hiking…read morewith Ethan in Wonderland of Rocks. He took us to beautiful parts of the park that we would never have found on our own. We are in our late sixties and hike regularly. Ethan designed a route that was a good match for our abilities; some elevation gain, walking up and over granite faces and between boulders. He was there to provide help if we needed but was also willing to let us sort out our footing on our own. He regularly checked in to see how we were feeling about the route. As we walked, he gave us a lot of information about the geology, plants and history of the park and answered all of our questions. I wI'll definitely book another adventure with him on my next visit to the park.

    Photos
    Joshua Tree Adventures
    Hot Chocolate in the shade!
    Hot Chocolate in the shade!
    Joshua Tree Adventures

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    Black Rock Canyon - hiking - Updated July 2026

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