Barker Dam Area
Joshua Tree National Park · near Joshua Tree · California Desert
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- all-levels
- Grade range
- 5.7-5.12d; bouldering V0-V10
- Best season
- October-April (summer dangerously hot)
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Joshua Tree NP entrance fee (~$30/vehicle, 7 days); no climbing permit required for day climbing. Watch for seasonal raptor closures (typically Feb-June) on some formations - check the NPS Joshua Tree climbing page.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Rock Climbing detail
- Climb types
- trad · sport · top-rope · bouldering
- Rock type
- Quartz monzonite
- Route count
- ~181 routes plus dense bouldering
- Signature routes
- Gunsmoke · Chemical Warfare · More Monkey than Funky
- Intl tip
- J-Tree's bouldering hub - home to the famous Gunsmoke traverse (V3) - plus easy trad and top-rope with short approaches, making it a great teaching and beginner zone. Adjacent to the Barker Dam trail; fall-spring only.
The guide
The Barker Dam area, clustered around the little reservoir that gives it its name, is Joshua Tree's premier bouldering hub and …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Barker Dam Area — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.03069, -116.146