Camping in Joshua Tree

Click here to buy prints from this post

In my last post I mentioned that Joshua Tree National Park has nine campgrounds, which are all available on a first-come, first-served basis, and when we visited the park on Friday and Saturday all nine were full. We arrived again on Tuesday and a couple of the campgrounds were crowded but we had a few options in the Jumbo Rocks campground. Many of the spots are close together, so we chose one that had a bit of separation from the neighbors, put our “reserved” sign up, and went out hiking to watch the sunset. 

This was our first “real” camping experience. We’ve slept in our car a lot and we’ve stayed in a campground (in our car) in the Adirondacks once, but it was a state campground with lighted bathrooms and running water and showers and cell phone service. In Joshua Tree there is no water, just pit toilets, no wifi, no cell service and Joshua Tree is a Dark-Sky park, meaning there are no lights in the park.

When we arrived back at our campsite after the sunset it was very dark. We used our headlamps to make and eat dinner and then we just spent time in the dark. I set up my tripod and took pictures of the night sky. Pearson and I used our headlamps to paint light onto objects in the pictures. It was so much fun, I felt like I was back in college playing with light and exposure.   

We woke up early to hike and watch the sunrise over the park. We successfully made it through our first real camping experience, though since we still slept in our car instead of a tent many people say we still haven’t had a real camping experience, but we’re getting there. (Though if Pearson has his way the car is as close as we are ever gonna get)

Click here to buy prints from this post