Camping at White Tank during a Joshua Tree summer is a great location in the middle of the park (easy to get there from any of the 3 entrances) and perfectly positions you for some early morning hiking before the sun gets to hot.

The campground is set in the middle of a boulder field- very dusty and sandy--with no trees (sorry hammock campers). Some sites have more privacy than others and most are separated by big boulders. Each site has a concrete picnic table and a fire pit (some sites also have a grill). There is a pit toilet (which I compulsively checked for rattlesnakes (did't see any).

There is NO water access at all-- you will have to bring in all the water you need for drinking, cooking, washing. The closest places to buy food, gas, firewood, supplies are about 25 miles away. Bring more than you need.

A fun feature of this campground is that it is also the trail head to Arch Rock. The hike is very short, but it's fun to be able to see it at different times of the day and night, and to play around in the boulder field. We also did the Ryan Mountain hike from here and were glad to be able to get there early in the morning before it got too hot. Note--sites that are close to the Arch Rock trailhead get a lot of non-campground vehicle and foot traffic during the morning. If you want to sleep in, pick a site further from the trail head.

If you're planning to hang out in the campsite during the day, you'll want to pick a site where you'll have midday shade from the boulders.