The Hidden Valley Campground has 44 sites, pit toilets and no water. The campground is located along park boulevard and is surrounded by large boulders and Joshua Trees. Because of the park's very dry climate, fire danger in Joshua Tree is almost always very high. Be cautious. Campfires are allowed only in designated fire rings or grills that are found in park campgrounds or picnic areas. Keep fires small. Bring your own firewood. You may not gather park vegetation, whether living or dead, to fuel your campfire. If you plan to have a campfire, bring extra water to douse it thoroughly.

Hidden Valley Campground — Joshua Tree National Park

Of all the campgrounds in Joshua Tree this one is consistently the most slammed. It can be extremely difficult to get a site here as they are available on a first-come first-served basis. If you don't get a site here but you want to check out the cool features that make the site so popular, do not despair! There are two day use parking lots in the area so you can park/hike/climb by day. Bring your own water (there's a tap at the park entrance where the ranger station is). You can park at Intersection rock parking lot and enjoy everything Hidden Valley has to offer.

Things that make this campground so popular- classic climbs on all sides, beautiful views if you scamper up any of the rock formations, tons of climbers and a weekend climbers coffee hosted by the climbing ranger.

heads up that falcon nesting in the spring means some areas are closed- please respect closures.

Campground is "Hidden Valley" (not "Real Hidden Valley" across the road)

Nice sites amongst the rocks and Joshua Trees. Clean pit toilets, but no water. Non-reservable, so can be tough to get in some times (Ryan campground is another good option nearby).

Great location to access climbing

**Campground review**

Similar to all campgrounds in Joshua Tree National Park, it's hard to get a camp site, unless you come midweek or come off-season when it gets hot (mid-may through September). The availability is the reason for not rating this site with a full 5 stars. Otherwise this campground is great. Each site comes with a picnic table and fire pit. There are vault toilets but no running water. This campground is the only one in the park that has a an emergency phone line, which is necessary given lack of cell service. Payment of sites is self service with envelopes at campground board. This campground is extremely convenient for the nearby classic trad routes. There are also many bouldering problems in the campground itself, and many more just a short walk away.

**Gear review**

One of the great parts of being a Ranger for The Dyrt is testing awesome new products from time to time - on this trip I was testing [Boost Oxygen](https://www.boostoxygen.com/). I'd never used sports oxygen before trying this product, so I'm playing around with all the different potential uses. I ordered the flavorless kind and all three flavors in order to try them all. My personal favorite is the menthol-eucalyptus. My friends and I were using Boost throughout our climbing trip. At first assessment: they're fun. We weren't sure what to expect in terms of effects, but we got a major kick out these canisters. We found every opportunity to boost some extra Oxygen - before bed for recovery during sleep, to wake up in the morning, after running around, in between climbs, etc. The flavors really add to the experience. I found the effects to be more noticeable in the immediate sense, like getting a shot of alertness when groggily waking up in the morning or when feeling winded right after exercise. Sometimes I experienced it as a very subtle and brief tingling after taking a few bursts of Boost. Long term effects were less obvious to me, and I didn't notice any clear muscle recovery effects. One final nice feature is that the canisters are extremely light weight - because it's oxygen! So it doesn't add any weight to day packs, which is especially nice if you want to bring some for long hikes, especially at high altitudes. Check it out: [https://www.boostoxygen.com](https://www.boostoxygen.com)

Boost Oxygen at Hidden valley Campground

Very cozy campgrounds. The entire campgrounds are surrounded in a wall of boulders varying in shales and sizes. Tons of fun to scramble and boulder on. We wenf in July and the evening temps were fantastic. No need for tents or sleeping bags. Just a mat and a thin blanket, and sleep under the stars. Although the sounds of coyote packs passing by in the pre dawn mornings can raise a hair or two. Many of the individual camps are well secluded and tucked under or near by boulders. The gynormous boulders surrounding the entire hidden valley camp makes for pretty good shade and sunset photos. All campsites have fire ri gs and bench tables, nearby vault toilets that are well dispersed through the camp. My favorite camps were 16, 17\. Next woukd be 22,23\. These camp sites are often filled throught the year. Best time to get em is early in the am. First come first serve, $15 a night.

Beautiful cozy campground surrounded by boulders

This campground is the perfect place to truly experience the magic that is Joshua Tree. From climbers coffee on the weekends hosted by the park rangers, to boulder problems right in your campsite, to world class classic climbs feet from your car, the Hidden Valley Campground offers everything you could imagine for a Joshua Tree experience.

If you are not a climber, don't worry! This site offers beautiful hikes, scrambles to explore, and hikes nearby. The desert is beautiful and Hidden Valley offers a little bit of everything.

Notes: This is a very popular campsite - it is not free, and sometimes you will have to drive around for a while to find a spot.

Cons: No water, busy

Pros: Beautiful, LOADS of climbs, lots of people to meet and climb with if you come alone or with friends

A climbers paradise! 

As a rock climber I absolutely loved my time in Joshua tree, but especially this campground. I loved the community here and the overwhelming kindness everyone showed. There were so many night people would just gather around a campfire, cook together and climb together regardless if it was the first time meeting each other. I really enjoyed all of the sun sets as well.  This is a good place to meet new people and hike or climb. 

amazing experience


The campground itself continues to be five stars in terms of quality and facilities. However, there really is difficulty finding a spot during the fall through spring season, so you can’t count on it unless you can arrive early on Friday or during weekdays. Also, although dogs are allowed at the campgrounds, they must be within 100 ft of sites or major roads at all times. This isn’t a fault of the campground specially, as this restriction applies to the whole national park and all campgrounds within it. However, it’s good to know if you’re planning a trip with your dog, because it rules out any hiking and 95% of climbing options.

great if you can get a spot, limited options for dogs

Great campground near some amazing climbing and hikes. Beautiful sunset views and spots are very specious but fill up by early afternoon. No big rigs! Very noisy and crowded and bathrooms and garbages get overrun quickly. 

Joshua Tree

The most popular campground in the park means people constantly walking though your campsite and random people taking your limited parking spots. This place needs a Host.

Way beautiful & Way Crowded

My daughter and I came here for a meteor show, amazing!!! The hiking was good, it is very hot bring plenty of water!!!

Great for star gazing 

Me and the ol lady spent the night there this week in late July. Saw a beautiful thunder storm roll threw a few miles from us. Amazing sunset, we climbed up the rocks to get a good view and it was breathtaking. Not very crowded and close to bakers dam hike. Good hike, cool petroglyphs and a really mellow walk. Saw a bunch of critters and an owl flew right by our campfire.    

Great time in the off season 

Probably the easiest campground to get to in Joshua Tree. It has some really cool sites but most seem to be stacked on top of each other for Joshua Tree. It's close to some really cool hikes like the dam, the mill and the mine. I love Joshua Tree and all it has to offer but this isn't my top choice to stay in Joshua Tree.

Joshua Tree Easy

Don’t believe the rangers if they say it’s full or if the full sign is up - it’s often not accurate or updated daily. 

This campground was my favorite in JT - the sites are well spaced offering privacy and quite.

Regular NPS campground, pit toilets abound, table and fire ring per site. The usual.

Location is great and close by to al the main attraction!

Beautiful camp

Beautiful campsite. A decent drive in from the 10 but it's nice and relaxing. Once you get to the site it's an hourglass shapped drive around. We got the second to last site and it's cool spot. Hugs up on the rocks. Great views of the valley from this campground. If you can find a spot to climb up on the center rocks the sunset is perfect there. Highly recommend this sire

Great sites

Joshua tree is amazing I highly suggest camping here, wish I could’ve stayed longer. Great hikes all over 

Nice camping

The campgrounds are clean and well maintained.  The campgrounds have 44 sites which are first-come, first serve and offer pit toilets but no water.  The campsites are only $15/night and allow a maximum of six people, three tents and two cars (some sites only have room for one vehicle).

Great campground amongst beautiful boulders

Almost every campsite has places to hide away and tuck a tent into a private rocky area. Quiet, well kept, great for stargazing.

Camp in rocks

The best first come first serve campground in the park but good luck getting a spot on a weekend. Getting a campsite here is never guaranteed but always worth it. Other than the occasional inconsiderate groups that will jam pack a campsite with cars and tents, this place is epic. “DO NOT ALWAYS BELIEVE “CAMPGROUND FULL” SIGNS! Be sure to check as the rangers have not been updating the signs at all. 

Always crowded.

Nice place to stay in the park. Only complaint would be that it is first come first serve,which I don’t mind, but they don’t put signs up saying when it is “Full” so you have constant traffic and dust being kicked up from people looking for sites.  Fantastic scenery 

Hidden Valley is pretty much the only first come, first serve campground within Joshua Tree National Park. All of the other reservable grounds fill up months ahead of time, making finding a space at Hidden Valley pretty cut throat. I did not find a space my first night and had to get a hotel.

There are a lot of people that come here to rock climb and they tend to set up camp for days at a time, making finding a spot even harder. This is definitely NOT a “one and done” camping place like I’ve seen at most other national parks. Campers hoping to snag a site at Hidden Valley will need to begin making rounds by at least 8 am. 

I believe I had campsite 16. The actual camping area was set pretty far back from where the parking space was, which as a solo traveler made hauling my things from my car a bit of a challenge, but having the additional privacy was nice. Speaking of privacy, because of all of the rock climbing, there are generally people that could be looking down at your campsite at any given moment.

I was there in early November and the nights were brutally cold, so stock up on fire wood in town. Water is available at the west entrance gate or at the visitor centers.

Joshua Tree is probably my new favorite national park, so I hope you’re able to find a space!!

New Fave Place!

We had spot 18 and fit in our trailer! It’s flat too so no leveling was required unlike most of the sites here. No water or RV hookups. Saw a coyote though. 

Parked 18 ft trailer

Loved our site!

First come first serve, affordable, therefor busy. No reception. We had half the sites to pick from on a Thursday afternoon and my Friday night the campground was full.

Our site had a great shady spot for the tent and we could walk back into what felt like a shaded grove on the rocks. Great climbing here and mostly climbing caravans I felt like. We had a lot of people ask for our site so we had to stand our ground when they tried to rush us out, but ended up giving it to a nice family who was willing to mark the site then come back. 

Remember to bring more water then you think you need, and that the noise echos off rocks so respect quiet hours!

Highlight of JT

This campground was amazing, getting to camp around huge boulders is really cool, had an amazing time, bathrooms kinda smell maybe because it was really hot

Boulders 

Upon checking in at the West Gate I was told our 19' might be too long for the campground; but, may fit in #1-7.  No problem in any of those sites for the Trailer and car.

Weather forecast was for the mid-90's; but the high altitude breeze in the shade was very pleasant.  Right before dusk 6 mountain goats came sauntering right through our site.

This is a GORGEOUS park.

Oh - no cell service, water, electric

Wow!!!

Awesome sites amongst the rocks. Centrally location for a great base camp for day activities.

The best campground in Jtree!

A little bit of a drive up, but very worth it. No service for ATT up there but the views were great. Campsite was very clean. I arrived after dark and found a spot. People were climbing the rocks. Highly recommend. It was $30 dollars for me 

Awesome campground

Absolutely amazing campground. I pitched a tent at site 2 and had amazing views. No showers, but your camping! Toilets aren’t bad just bring TP and baby wipes. Stars are amazing. You literally cannot go wrong. This is the best campground at Joshua tree 


INSANE VIEW

The Campground offers the most basic accommodations as toilets; no water or showers. It operates with the Frist-come-first-serve system and we would highly recommend to ask someone already parking to share a spot; that’s how you have a chance to get in and connect with great people the same Time. Joshua Tree Park shows some its best climbing spots right around the campground and you definitely will find a guide to try rock climbing if you would want to try. Amazing Stargazing; amazing nature, amazing people - thanks for having us!

Great opportunity to experience Joshua Tree

Hidden Valley is the kind of campsite that begs you to remember where you are. The campground flanks some large rock formations that host rock climbers during the day. 

The sites are pretty well spaced out and arranged. I was lucky enough to grab a spot up against the rocks and it was spectacular. Be sure to climb up on the rocks at night for some awesome stargazing. (Don’t forget your headlamp.) 

Hidden Valley is first-come first-serve. Once you claim your site, you now have to travel back to an entrance station to pay. So keep that in mind. 

Quintessential Joshua Tree 

One of 3 campgrounds in Joshua Tree that is first come, first served. Filled
 up by 4PM in mid May. NO  water, no electric no internet. Little shade most of the day. Few sites can accommodate anything larger than a Sprinter. Sites vary from flat to 5 degree slope.

DARK DARK DARK sky.....wonderful.

Camping among the rocks.

$15 a night, which is a better deal than most NPs will offer and right in the middle of the park! This spot was awesome, lots of wildlife to see (lizards, jackrabbits, etc). There’s plenty of spots that offer great shade, because of the rocks. The rocks are great to boulder, scramble, or climb on. Bring your climbing gear if you’re interested! A baby jackrabbit came right up to me at one point, which was adorable but not great. I guess people feed the critters all the time, so be wary. Don’t feed the animals!! The bathrooms are clean &amp; have trash cans and even lights. There are plenty around, and dumpsters too. They don’t smell either. Picnic tables at every site and fire pit with a grate. Really just a wonderful time here. Mostly for tent camping, but we saw some RVs here and there. 
Ps. Don’t burn the vegetation lying around, a park ranger told us it’s horrible for burning and creates lots of smoke, and check under your cars for turtles!!! It says that everywhere but incase you miss it