Joshua Tree — Boy Scout & Willow Hole
Joshua Tree National Park · near Joshua Tree / Twentynine Palms · California Desert
Trail Running
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Distance
- 8 miles
- Elevation gain
- 600 ft
- Best season
- October–April ONLY · summer heat is deadly
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No running permit. Joshua Tree NP entrance fee ($30/vehicle). Carry all your water — there is none in the park. Cool-season running only.
What is here
- Features
- Running through the Wonderland of Rocks · Joshua tree forests & sculptural boulders · Sandy washes & desert singletrack · Otherworldly high-desert light
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Trail Running detail
- Surface
- technical
- Intl tip
- Enter via the West Entrance (Joshua Tree town) or North (Twentynine Palms). Combine with the hiking guide's Ryan Mountain and Barker Dam. There is NO water in the park — bring everything. Winter nights are cold; the running days are perfect. Never run here in summer.
The guide
Trail running in Joshua Tree is a surreal, sand-and-granite experience unlike anywhere else in California — moving on foot thro…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Joshua Tree — Boy Scout & Willow Hole — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.021, -116.16