Joshua Tree North BLM

Dry lake bed. Lots of room and easy to park with ability to put a lot of space between you and others.

Pros: free, close to the park.

Cons: people are clearly living here. Drug deals going down at night with people sitting on the edges with high beams on. Peoplenliving here running generators from 8 pm until they run out of gas at 3 am. 230 am donuts in a pickup followed by screaming for his dogs he let out of his trailer.

We stayed on the south side of the park first and that was much better.

We tried to get first come first serve sites in J tree but they were all taken. Got here in the dark as a last resort and there was a lot of space, but also a lot of trash and dilapidated cars (which was moderately creepy and unpleasant). There was also a large group of people riding jeeps and dune buggies very fast and late across the land. Like I said, worked for what we needed but wasn’t an ideal spot.

Great spot. Easy access. Windy so check local conditions if tent camping.

Trashes everywhere. Drunk man walking and staring at us. Cars rvs and bikes left over

My favorite place to camp near Joshua Tree. Lots of space. Although one of the nights I stayed there it rained, the water filled the potholes in the dirt road so my ford fusion couldn’t really go through them so it took a while trying to figure out a way going around the holes. It’s great for AWD vehicles though. Other than that it’s directly in the sun, no shade but I like the spacious land it has to offer. Far away from other campers.

Great if your idea of camping is listening to the relaxing sound of ATV's, dirt bikes, and razors zipping across the dry lake bed all day and night. Fireworks are part of the experience and cast an eerie glow across the otherwise pristine night sky. Can't say our dogs liked them though and the show went on late into the night.

Trash everywhere, really, everywhere!

If you're looking to relax, keep looking.

if i could give 0 stars, i would. stayed here in a climbing trip in joshua tree. very very dirty. there was an old toilet on the site with human waste in it and trash everywhere. in the middle of the night a person tried breaking in to our tent. we left immediately. will absolutely not return.

As some of the other reviews have said. It’s a large flat spot. Plenty of people but the space is large enough to give plenty of room for everyone. Close enough to the park to be an option to stay when the park is fulll

Hey. It’s a giant patch of dirt. No services, no hookups, no specific sites marked off, but it’s free and level. It is quiet during the week but on Saturday night there were tons of campers, dirt bikes wizzing by at all hours, and even people setting off fireworks. The dirt roads are passable in 2wd but watch out for some big dips, ditches, and ruts. Driving north on Cascade seemed a lot smoother than heading east on Sunflower but that probably changes up after every rain. I left my trailer here and traveled to the National Park and back during the day without incident. I would definitely stay here again.

Randomly ended up in J Tree, only to find every camp site was booked out. This patch of BLM land has the flat playa vibe with plenty of space to spread out.

As another reviewer noted - this spot is huge so make sure you are staying on BLM land. There is a lot of trash in some areas and there was some dirt bikes but they didn’t bother me. Car camping I found the area I liked best was as follows: off 62 take Sunfair rd, right on cypress rd (dirt road which my GPS thought was Reagan Rd but is marked with a street sign Cypress) - go past ITH coyote ranch (no sign but may show up on map) Then right on cascade - an unmarked dirt rd. Then there is a large flat BLM area where rvs and vans were quite spread out, and a motorcycle with a tent was my neighbor (quite far away). No trash here when I was there. Zero facilities obviously so pack it out. Hot tip - water and restrooms 10 min away at the Indian Cove ranger station near Indian Cove Campground in JT park. I stayed here two nights car camping.

Basic dry lake bed boondocking site. Not too crowded. Quiet. East in and out.

As soon as you get off the asphalt there’s a huge parking lot to camp. You can continue town a few roads to try and get privacy but there’s a lot of trash back there, people are definitely living there, and partiers seem to go further out. I tried to drive out towards the foothills but I heard gun shots? Continuing into the evening. And there was a large capacity party/event tent with 20-30 cars. So I turned back and camped at the first parking lot next to a bush and shrubs. I felt safe there as there were families and other Van and nice trailer dwellers around. I pulled out mid morning.

We drove up to a spot in the dry lake bed area, sat there for a few minutes, and decided to leave. The place was fine, for a different kind of camper or maybe we would have liked it on a different day. But when we were there on a Saturday in mid November, there were so many people and so many ATVs, we just felt like we'd have ATVers zipping around us all night. And there was so much trash! :(

The environment was fine, easy access for our 26ft class c, wide open, flat land, good cell reception, close to town. We just didn't like the vibe. There's zero shrubbery or any kind of division to make you feel like you have your own space. It's just a wide open dry lake bed.

Be sure to keep an eye on the map as you're driving in to make sure you camp on BLM land. There is a lot of non BLM land surrounding this area, some but not all marked with "no trespassing" signs, and some sad encampments set up on the non BLM land. So just because you see an RV or a tent set up, doesn't mean it's BLM land.

This is a great campsite. I would recommend getting there before the sun goes down, especially if your car isn’t 4x4. We have a Prius and it was fine on the roads, but at night it was hard to see where we could camp. We set up fairly close to the paved road by the solar panels. Land was flat, plenty of room for ourselves and quiet.

My Ford Escape got stuck twice coming to the camp spot (I had to get out and push while my wife steered the car out), but once we were here, it was great! Plenty of space, fire pits and a pretty spot for star gazing. Would come back, especially if we get 4 wheel drive.

The middle of the desert in a dried up old lake area. Can be very busy however there is always space to have your own area. A lot of quad riding, and there are of course a few coyotes if you’re more in the brush. Great cell service on ATT 2-3 bars in every area.