Jumbo Rocks Campground — Joshua Tree National Park

Heads up about this place if you’re in an RV like we are. We reserved spot #40, we are a 26ft class c (28 ft total length) and the length limit for this spot is 30 ft, and RVs are allowed. But we felt like we barely fit side to side, and definitely wouldn’t have put our slides out. Not to mention it was so unlevel that we wouldn't have wanted to take the slides out anyway. The spot was cute, a little spot by itself between a hill and the “bump out” type parking spot where you’d park your vehicle. There’s a picnic table, a grill, and a fire pit. We ended up parking there for a bit, walking over to skull rock and the discovery trail to face rock (dogs not allowed on trails), walked back, and left. We would have been way too uncomfortable if we’d tried to stay the night. Oh well- we only lost $20. 

There are dumpsters throughout the campground, and recycling at the entrance. We didn’t see any hosts or staff. There are pit toilets as well. We did see some other RVs in spots that looked fine, but overall I’d recommend this place for tents only unless you know for sure you’ll fit in the spot. Zero cell service in the entire park.

I lowkey want to gate keep this area and keep it all for myself.. but spot #39 was hands down the best spot there (if #38 isn’t being used). We had a ton of privacy and fun rocks to climb on.

It’s a beautiful campground surrounded by giant rocks. The bathroom is decent.

Very good

Jumbo Rocks is a great campsite with decent amenities. There are bathrooms everywhere and has over 100 sites available. Trash receptacles are plenty and usually nearby. Numerous hikes are nearby for numerous outings and is very family friendly.

The site is very popular so finding an open site to book can be difficult, but not impossible if you check everyday.

So much exploring to be had right from your camp site. The high dessert is fascinating. The rock formations are so easy to explore and offer an abundance of intrigue. The campground has great sites tucked here and there. Pit toilets, garbage and recycling for all, bbq, picnic table and fire pit at each site. Great location.

We loved Jumbo Rocks although to be honest we liked Ryan a little better-- Jumbo Rocks is so big and there were a lot of people around, so it didn't feel as remote as Ryan. However, as the name implies, there are SO MANY ROCKS to climb around on, which our 9 year old totally loved. He was scampering around morning to night. And the campground itself was clean and well maintained.

Great campground for exploring Joshua Tree NP. The weather was super windy during our stay and even saw some snow on the last day of camping. The bathrooms have vault toilets, no water available so come prepared. No cell service within the park either. Twentynine Palms town is about 20 minutes away, has plenty of stores and has cell service. Skull Rock seems likes it’s always packed with tourists, I recommend coming early in the morning or for sunset. Attach Rock and Heart Rock are also cool to see and are close to the campground.

70 yr olds in 17’ trailer: Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good) Overall Rating: 4.8 Site Privacy: 3.5 Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good) Overall Rating: 4.8 Site Privacy: 3.5 - many sites are pullover Site Spacing: 4.0 - Many campsites nestled in or near the jumbo rocks Campground Noise 4.5 Pretty Quiet Road Noise: 5. None Bathroom Cleanliness 5. Nice pit toilets Cell Service (Verizon): None Setting: 5 Very picturesque .
Weather: 5 Solar: 5 - in most sites Host: None Site Spacing: 4..0 . (Site 12 parking is in site 13 area) Campground Noise 5 Quiet Road Noise: 5. None Bathroom Cleanliness 5. Nice pit toilets Cell Service (Verizon): None Setting: 5 Very picturesque Many sites offer a unique setting. Some are close to CG road Weather: 5 Solar: 4 - in most sites Host: Yes (We walked through, did not stay)

Site 049 is set off from the road but you park your vehicle in a 4 slot space nearby. That means you have to carry all your gear 100 feet every time you need to get something from the van. Also, the assigned parking slot is just about on top of the restroom, so everyone troops by your vehicle to use it.

You would not know these facts just by looking at the NPS photos, so our advice is to try to search for photos taken by campers rather than NPS.

Campground itself is fantastic. Our second time to Joshua Tree but first time in Jumbo Rocks. Lots of ways to ramble around the rocks and desert.

We had a group camp at Jumbo Rocks during the recent new moon. We had campsites 147, 148, and 150. The campsite was completely full and the way the sites are laid out it feels like you are on top of one another. 

While site 150 had some space deep into the landscape it had zero to no flat space. The site is also right next to the restroom and you have to park and walk back to the site. When we got there the parking was nearly full despite a car limit in place per site. Site 147 was even more on a hill side. It was barely a camp site. 

The sites did have a good table and fire pit that we used. The restrooms are pit toilets and were not in the best shape. 

The skies were awesome outside of some light pollution to the south (the direction of the milky way core). We stayed out quite late taking pictures. 

Another issue we found was that coyotes were super loud throughout the night and kept some of us up.

Let me start by saying what a special place this is. Joshua tree as a whole is a such a magnificent place, but the jumbo rocks campground is otherworldly. I have camped in a lot of different deserts across the country none compare to the amount of fun that can be had on Joshua tree all the climbing and exploring that can be done is outstanding. Although we went in February the weather was great during the day a little chilly and windy at night but with the right preparation all went well. We spent three nights tent camping with sleeping bags and it was low 50s high 40s and we were okay with layers. The days were 60s/70s and sunny. The campsite has about a 45 min drive to town through the north part of the park. Overall this place is amazing highly recommend and for new campers its in the middle of the park but theres lots of people around so you don’t feel totally alone. If u wanna walk away from camp and get away from people and noise theres plenty of opportunity to. If you do stay try and get a camp site next to one of the giant boulders makes for great nighttime ambiance with stars and a fire.

Being in the park, camping here is beautiful and convenient. However, it’s a big campground with a lot of spots and people and not a lot of shade. I think it’s great if you’re short on time to visit the park, but you can find similar places outside of the park a bit further that offer more privacy if that’s your jam.

This is one of my favorite places to camp. The night sky is amazing and during the day you can explore the campground and climb rocks for amazing photo ops. They have bathrooms on site and keep them clean and maintained

Awesome tent sites in Joshua Tree, tucked between some Jumbo Rocks. The sites are pretty spacious and private and have primo scenery and star gazing opportunities.

We made the mistake of booking a site that we were supposed to park and “hike” in to set up. It was pretty much a group site with other people that you’re not in group with… The party next to us also made the mistake of booking one of these sites with a rooftop tent so we had the pleasure of camping right next to people who should have been wearing CPAP at night. We snagged a spot in a FCFS campground the next morning and were much happier!

Joshua Tree is of course spectacular and this campground is no exception. The campground is one of the bigger/busier ones in JT. Beautiful rocks and lots of places to explore. Kids love climbing on the rocks. You can hike to skull rock from the campground. JT has very narrow windows of time where it is not too hot or too cold (but you probably knew that, and if not, do more research). There is no water at Jumbo Rocks or pretty much anywhere in the park - bring the water and fire wood and everything else you need. Site 031 has beautiful views, but there are no flat spots for tents. Also, you have to walk through other sites to get to your car, so just expect that.

Very busy and crowded campground. Need reservations at Jumbo Rocks. Usually only one parking spot per camp site. Vault toilets have high use. Camp hosts and rangers visible and quiet hours observed.

it was so windy!! and sandy!! No water nearby

Site 82 is on the main campground road, but you can put your tent far enough back that you don't hear the cars or vehicles pass by. It's also far enough away from the other sites that you don't really know there're there.

A lot of the other sites are right on top of each other or far away from the parking for that site.

Great area, but the sites are really right on top of each other, at least where I was.

Awesome campground that is close to lots of hiking trails. The sites are good sized and the scenery is amazing.

Nice campground in the National Park, most sites are next to the gorgeous rocks

Jumbo rocks was overall a beautiful campground! Do beware of how close campsites are, and in order to reach many you have to walk directly through others sites. This was at least the case with sites 104-107. The grounds were overall very clean, however the restrooms were a bit of a mess. We didn’t get the chance to meet the campground hosts, and only saw the ranger once over a 3 day stay. If you head to Jumbo Rocks, make sure to give Geology Tour Rd a go if you have a 4wd! Happy camping!

Super campspots among the boulders. Great hiking out of the campground. Some of the tent sites are "really" walk in sites so it makes it a bit more challenging if sleeping in van. Bring everything you need ie. Water!

This was my first time solo camping and it was the best experience for a nature newbie like me. I appreciated the close proximity of the next door campsite for the only reason of me traveling alone with just my dog. I do appreciate a little more space from other campers now as I’m getting more comfortable camping alone & like my privacy. That being said, I still got the full experience of camping alone with privacy and not bumping into other camps space. The whole site is well organized by space number with multiple parking spots per campsite. It was pretty full of campers when I pulled in but not once did I see or feel too many ppl were around me at the camp ground. I also appreciated how one of the trails from the camp lead right up to a popular pic spot, the Skullhead Rock. It’s a quick little hiking trail with a great ending spot. There was the longest line waiting for a pic on the rock so I passed and drove a little further past skullhead and did some hiking at the end of a little turn off road. The reason why I’m going back: Ranger patrol came to every site to verify the camper and confirmed reservations. Didn’t expect this but once I talked to him, I felt soo much safer and was glad someone at the park was maintaining some kind of system of the sites and who was staying in them. Showers/bathrooms are dispersed throughout. Perfect place for huge groups that book multiple sites or large family.

We LOVED camping at Jumbo Rocks! We were in site 101 which was set back from the road a bit and gave more privacy than some sites. The campground is perfectly located near everything you’ll want to see in Joshua Tree. There are huge boulders all around that really make it feel like a cool place to be. Twice we saw foxes near our site and we were visited by lots of birds. There was a convenient fire ring, bbq grill and picnic table. We woke up to the prettiest sunsets I’ve ever seen!

The campground only lost 1 star because the bathrooms were yucky and there was no where flat to set up tent so we had to sleep at a slight incline.

I wanted to love this campground but I can’t. I had the absolute worst camping experience and probably the most stressful. I was forced to move my pop up camper from space 99 to 43. There was a group of 4 families and we were placed in 99. The reservations were made months ago and not by us. So we trusted which sites were assigned to us.

A camp host initially came to tell us our site wasn’t a camper or trailer site and that we had to move; it was only a tent site. Meanwhile a whole Airstream was in the next site over. This after we are all set up and level. Anyone that knows about a pop up camper knows it’s not the easiest thing to just break down and move. We decided to wait it out and get official word from the park rangers. Eventually 2 park rangers came that seemed to be okay with us staying in our site, until another camp host came by ranting about measurements and nonsense. At this point we were told we had to move. And please note…kids were crying and upset at this point. You think these grown adults seeing kids cry cared…NOPE! My son in particular l, because he hadn’t seen his friends in months and the thought of having to leave would crush him. So after all the back and forth, we started to attempt to halfway break down the camper down and move to the other site, 43. And note this site wasn’t close.

So next, some super park rangers with guns came to our site. I was already upset and here they come. We already complied and agreed to moving so this crazy camp host for some reason, felt the need to call the cop rangers to our site. Also note, I never had any words with this woman or anything to have her feel the need to call them. I don’t ever like to think race plays a part in situation like this but at this point, when ranger police are called to our site after already agreeing to move, I had no choice to believe it was for anything other than being black.

If it wasn’t for our crying son, I would have just packed up and left. We made the move and had a rather tolerable weekend.

I won’t be rushing to ever come back here again. If your black just beware, they will find a reason to mess with you and pick on you for minute things that can force you to move or leave your campsite.

Beware of the hosts; I believe they are a couple and just terrible. And ALL the park rangers. They walk your site looking for reasons to make you move or your camp experience a living hell. They also don’t mind making kids cry just to prove a point!

We’ve got a 9 person tent and it was impossible to set up at Jumbo Rocks in July. Beautiful campground!!

We camped here middle of august and it was empty, mostly because it’s unbearable during the day with 100+ degrees during the day. We only stayed from dusk til the early morning but it was so beautiful! Just be sure to bring enough water with you cause there’s no spigots.