Ride Review: Joshua Tree National Park

I've been going to Joshua Tree for as long as I can remember.

Most of those trips were to go rock climbing but I have brought my mountain bike a couple of times to ride the Geology Tour Road route. This was the first time I've brought both bikes and really explored what the park has to offer cyclists.

Joshua Tree National Park showing my rides.

The best thing about riding in any of the National Parks is the scenery. Being able to ride in these spectacular places is always a treat. However, I think that for the most part the Park Service has done a horrible job with making cycling a viable option for seeing the park. There are exceptions to this. Zion, Grand Teton and Redwood have created bike trails and other facilities for cyclists.

Joshua Tree is a good example of what is bad about the parks. The roads are narrow with no paved shoulder even though the ground has been graded on both sides of the pavement. Combined with the twisty road, limited visibility and the fact that for some reason about 90% of people seem to completely lose their minds as soon as they enter any of the parks, this makes for a pretty dangerous ride. I honestly felt safer when I was out on Hwy 62 with a 65mph speed limit than I did in the park where it was 35.

The climb to Key's View.

This park is huge but only a small part on the west side is actually accessible to bikes. On the road I did a loop that did the park loop connected by Hwy 62 with a side trip to Key's View which overlooks the Coachella Valley. I also did most of this as an out and back so I could climb the West Entrance hill.

Both of the hills to get into the park were pretty good. The East Entrance hill was definitely tougher climbing 2400' over 12 miles. The other notable climb goes to Keys View through some of the largest Joshua Trees in the park.

On the MTB side, you are limited to the 4x4 roads that are scattered throughout the park. There isn't anything technically challenging but that isn't to say the riding is easy. The climb back up Geology Tour Road is steep and sandy in places. But like the other riding in the park, the views are awesome.

A good ride would be to start at Hidden Valley CG and ride out Bighorn Pass, do the Geology Tour route and return for about 25-30 miles.

My recommended routes:

MTB - Geology Tour w/Queen Valley Tour

Road - Jumbo Rocks to JTree w/Key's View

Twilight at Joshua Tree National Park.