Joshua Tree Lake Dispersed Camping

We found a quiet area away from neighbours. It is an open field area, and if it had been very hot, there is no shade. Thankfully, it is still just coming into spring.

Lots of ATVs, shooting in the distance. Okay spot if not raining. Barely 2 bars of solar. Starlink super fast.

There's indeed plenty of room, but come during daylight hours. Otherwise, you might encounter some unpleasant surprises with the nails and other debris (shell casings, broken glass, metal fragments) scattered across the field. We'll thank the neighbors for the use of their generator all over the night…

The area was easy to navigate; even when we pulled in late at night. There were a lot of people coming in and out as well. I wouldn’t recommend if you’re looking for privacy. Aside from that, I would camp if you’re looking for something easy, safe, and accessible.

Nice area but we were told that some areas have now become private land, so that’s something to watch out for.

We arrived late in the evening and spent one night there. There was couple of other campers too, so we felt safe. No trash but smelled like urine. Cell service was okay.

Not a bad spot in close proximity to Joshua Tree, but our tent disappeared from our site on 3/12. We left in the morning to hike and returned to our site to find that every piece of our tent and sleeping gear was gone.

Free. Easy to find a spot, lots to choose from. Clean and quiet. Cell reception was ok. The road was quite bumpy, but we managed with a campervan.

It was ok for what we needed it for. All campgrounds were full in the park and this was a free spot not far from the entrance. Lots of other people camping. We saw every type of rig out there. Easy to get to. No amenities, no shade. Great location for the park.

Pull up and sleep and not get bothered. Arrived at midnight and parked next to a fire pit. Roads bumpy going in but small cars can make it. No amenities whatsoever. 5-bars AT&T that wouldn’t load somehow, I think the marine base interferes with cell reception, I had issues all over town as well.

I would actually give this campsite a 3.5 just because it is so barebones, no privacy, and where the pavement turned to dirt there was a huge hole that I hit just right and it was nasty - so heads up! On the other hand, it’s got lots of spots, it’s free, close to the north end of the NP, spacious, and I actually got pretty god internet out there! It is hard to see where spots are at night, but the sky is gorgeous out there at night. The roads aren’t horrible if you go slow (just watch out for that first hole!). Nothing fancy, but gets the job done.

As others have noted, this a giant dry lake bed. There is tons of space, plenty of room to spread out and not be near other campers, which there are many on the weekends. The location is very convenient for accessing Joshua Tree and the surrounding areas. 

I was able to access the whole lake in my compact sedan. Just had to drive a little slowly at the entrance, where it is pretty rutted out, but not impassible. Easy to access in the dark too. 

Very reliable cell phone connection. Full service on Verizon LTE. I worked remotely during the week here.

This place smells like poop. Couldn’t stand the smell and left

This is just a dry lake bed not far from Josh Tree National Park. It’s just a dry lake bed on BLM land.

Camped overnight in a Tesla Model 3.

Cons: Very hard to navigate at night - can't really see anything. Dusty

Pros: Lots of space - never too close to anyone Starry sky

Thoughts: I’ve read that you can camp in the parking lot of the nearby casino where the superchargers are, maybe that would have been a better option.

My girlfriend and I loved it here. Tons of space, and a beautiful view of the sky at night. It may not have Joshua trees but it’s not far from them.

I wouldn't say this was top three camping locations for me, mainly because it feels like you are on Mars and it's super dusty given it's the bottom of Lake. It's a good fall back if you can find any spot at the campgrounds.

I’m fairly new to tent camping, city boy type. I had a pleasant experience over Memorial Day weekend. The dirt bikes and sand rails didn’t make much noise late in the night. But you choose where you camp. There’s so much distance I think you could walk around nude and nobody would notice 🤷🏻‍♂️

The only con and reason I took away a star is because there was no signage with directions from the main roads, at least none that I saw. And no signage where the lake bed begins because as I approached from cascade road there were a bunch of private property signs so I trusted that the few other tents I saw meant I was good.

Neutral: it was a bit windy that the darn Bug OFF candle would never stay lit which was a pain because there was ample bugs flying around. The wind comes to an almost standstill at night. It was cool seeing the bats out at dusk.

Other than that, it’s exactly as expected and it’s free!

So…if you camp here you may be surprised to see 40 fters out in the middle of nowhere. Just be careful of the sand. We got stuck with our camper and had to call AAA, luckily they got us out just fine:) but save yourself the trouble and watch out for soft sand…other than that, the location is right outside of Joshua Tree and makes it super easy to get to the park! Great spot, lots of space and good for large groups!

Good home base for Joshua Tree is NP campgrounds are full. Pretty barebones. A few weirdos, but enough space to steer clear of them. The wind can be brutal if you’re tent camping. Have large stakes.

Typical BLM land, not far at all from Joshua Tree Park. Open and spacious, was able to dig my daily fox hole butt naked in broad daylight without being spotted. Very dispersed, road wasn’t too bad either. I’ll stop by again if I can’t get a reservation in Joshua Tree Park next year. Thanks BLM!

started off great, then some local kids ended up terrorizing us with there off road vehicles, kicking up dirt.. when we asked them to stop,we found out they were young adults who then proceeded to assault me and fracture my skull. I will not be going back here. Also the Deputy Sheriffs were young and unprofessional.

Camping inside Joshua Tree was impossible for us, so we spent the night here. If coming in at night, just keep going down the road until it opens up and pick a spot. Road is pretty rough. Free is always good

Free camping just outside Joshua Tree. No amenities or designated campsites. Large open area where you can camp wherever you'd like. Previous campers have built fire pits from the rocks laying around. Beautiful views, off road vehicle recommend.

March 11-12, 2021

We headed out for a family b-day trip and wanted to see if we could get a spot inside Joshua Tree. When we learned that all the camping (including the disbursed sites) were full IN JT, (which we honestly expected) this was the closest place to stop for the night. It's a huge dry lake bed and not much to do but it was nice for the kids and dogs to run around and not have to worry about scorpions or snakes where we were. We were able to find a pretty level spot regardless and made it a fun evening. We were pretty far from anyone else and didn't hear people during the night. A regular RV made it in fine. It's bumpy due to the dry dirt, but not a challenge. Verizon cell service was perfect and no trash lying around. It's nothing fancy but a free place is better than no place. Pack it in, Pack it out. Happy Camping!

This camping site came in really handy for us as the official campgrounds in Joshua Tree park are closed due to Covid-19 regulations. We arrived right before sunset and were able to get a nice spot pretty distanced from other sites. The road in is VERY uneven so caution is advised. We drove in a Ford Explorer with a cricket trailer and managed fine but keep your eyes peeled and take it slow. There is little to no shade in the lakebed and there are lots of burrs and prickly things which should be kept in mind if you plan to bring your furry friends. There are some campfire rings in some of the sites which is nice and it seems that people have been very good at packing in and packing out. The sites were clean, although we did find some shotgun shells lying around. Cell reception was good for T-Mobile and Sprint. Would definitely come back, although probably at a warmer time of the year.

Words Can’t Describe...How amazing the evening colors are over Joshua Tree as the sunsets. The entire lake bed area and well beyond into the desert N.E. is dispersed desert camping. This spot specifically is close to the motorcycle track and 4x4 area. If your into off roading this is a fun place to check out while exploring Joshua Tree National Park. Be prepared but Walmart is like 15min away and Joashua Tree RV/camp is 3.5 miles further up the road passed Broadway and they only charged me $3 for 45 gallons of potable water that I took back to the desert. Score in a pinch.

During COVID, many campgrounds are shut down making social distance travel challenging. This campsite is great for a short weekend trip. We went to this site when it’s pitch dark. The unpaved road was a bit bumpy however our kids enjoyed the “roller coaster”. We went in our RV and though there wasn’t any hook ups, it was a quiet location to be away from the city.

Depending on where you camp the roads go from semi rough to very rough. Tough if it rains. Lots of established camps at the beginning with a wide spread of space. Great for RV or none tent campers all around. I'm tent camping so drove to the outskirts and decided that the softer sand at the beginning was more suitable than the cracked surface of the once was lake. Lots of space between camps but not many high trees so isolated but in sight. That and the rougher roads plus high traffic led to the 3 rating. Free is free and no one within 100 ft so 3 is what it is for me. Not bad. Not good.