Jumbo Rocks & Skull Rock
Joshua Tree National Park · near Twentynine Palms · California Desert
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- beginner
- Grade range
- Bouldering V0-V5; roped 5.6-5.10
- 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
- bouldering · top-rope · trad
- Rock type
- Quartz monzonite
- Route count
- ~96 roped routes plus abundant boulders
- Signature routes
- Colorado Crack · Skull Rock Highballs · Conan's Corridor
- Intl tip
- Family-friendly beginner bouldering and scrambling around iconic Skull Rock, with the classic Colorado Crack (5.9) nearby. Great rest-day or intro terrain steps from Jumbo Rocks Campground. Fall-spring only; expect tourist crowds.
The guide
Jumbo Rocks is Joshua Tree's family-friendly playground - a vast jumble of photogenic boulder piles beside one of the park's mo…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Jumbo Rocks & Skull Rock — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.9908, -116.0592