Free camping, easy dog friendly walks.
This site was ideal for my needs. The southern end of the park seems a lot quieter- away from some of the more tourist-visited spots. The location is just prior to the the Joshua Tree Park Entrance sign - you get off 10 at cottonwood springs rd. I got there in the dark so it took me a minute to find it. There are sand road loops to the left and right of main road. Bumpy but fine in my station wagon with low clearance and no awd. Scout sites - some have soft sand or rocks. Heavy rains started as we were leaving after two days and I can imagine that would make navigating parts of this camp into a 4wd affair. The first site I pulled into was really covered with dog poop so kept going and found a cleaner site. There is a ton of space so easy to find your own area that feels close enough to feel not completely isolated but private. No shrubbery. It’s not as picturesque as some areas but for my needs - free, plenty of soft sand road to walk the dog and close to the park - it was great. Another dog note - no dogs on trails in Joshua Tree but they are fine on all dirt roads!