By Cheri Sicard
Joshua Tree National Park is one of the most popular in California and offers visitors breathtaking desert vistas. In the video below, Lou and Melody from LivingOurDreamNow, a YouTube channel that specializes in ferreting out great free camping spots, show you some amazing free BLM land Joshua Tree camping that’s just a mile away from the park.
In the video, we get to vicariously visit the Joshua Tree North dispersed camping area (GPS: 34.1716, -116.2291), which is the closest free camping area to the park itself.
The video begins with Lou turning on the dash cam to show you what it’s like to get into this off-road camping area. While it’s a dirt road, it seems well-graded and within the capabilities of almost any vehicle.
The road leads to a large, flat, dispersed camping area that Lou says is probably your best bet in the area, although there are pros and cons to camping in this spot.
To be sure, the area is both big-rig and solar-friendly. You’ll find lots of room to spread out. You might see neighbors, but you won’t need to be close to them. At least not when Lou and Melody visited. You can expect excellent cell service from all the major carriers, too.
On the negative side, there are a few campers on the way in that appear to have long overstayed the 14-day limit, although most are before you get to the actual BLM land. The dispersed camping area itself looks clean.
Be sure to watch the video as Lou shows where the private property ends and BLM land begins.
Learn more about Joshua Tree National Park here.
##RVDT2280
I’ve camped there several times in the past in our 34ft 5th wheel, once for the full 14 days. The mountains surrounding the area are fun to hike in also.
Some additional cons to camping there are:
The locals come out on weekends & race across the flats raising dust clouds & sometimes creating a lot of noise.
The whole area becomes a quagmire if you get caught in there during or after a rain. You can see deep ruts in the middle where 4 wheelers have torn up the area after a rain.
If you’re driving across the area, you have to watch out for past campfire spots that frequently have a lot of nails & broken glass in them.
The area can get pretty trashy.
Finally some real info
Thank you, Cheri! Thank you, too, for the overview of the video. Merry Christmas! 🙂
Merry Christmas Neal!
Great video. Thanks.
I like the south BLM dispersed camping area, for the view of the mountains and numerous streams to explore, not flat and “some” trees and bushes. Plenty of large spots to place your rig. I have stayed there 3 times in the last 4 years with our 24′ TT.
Sounds kinda nit picky