Shuttle from Las Vegas: 4-hour drive

Hiking Mileage: 3 miles

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1,000 feet

Our four-day Joshua Tree Basecamp Tour begins with your morning hotel pickup in Las Vegas. Leaving the bustle of the city behind, we’ll soon find ourselves on a scenic drive through sparsely populated desert expanses, including Mojave National Preserve where we’ll get our first enigmatic taste of Joshua tree groves. We’ll stop at the historic Kelso Depot Visitors Center to stretch our legs and then continue south past the Kelso Sand Dunes, skirting a teaser of iconic granite monoliths, Amboy Crater, and bisecting gypsum-laden, dry Bristol Lake before arriving in the military town of Twentynine Palms.

After a rendezvous with additional members of our group at the park’s Oasis Visitor Center, we’ll drive into the heart of the park to reach our campground. Nestled into the surrounding rock formations, this will be our basecamp home for the coming days. We’ll enjoy a delectable lunch together before hiking right from our campground to summit Ryan Mountain. At first wrapping our way around its base, we’ll then ascend as piles of boulders shrink below us, becoming like distant drip sand castles. The stunning 360-degree summit vista is reminiscent of something Salvador Dali might have painted – granite rock piles seem to melt into the surrounding plateau while otherworldly Joshua trees spread out in the broad valley bottoms, forking and sprouting at odd angles. Having let our first hike, we’ll descend victoriously back to camp and enjoy a celebratory dinner and campfire before tucking ourselves in beneath the Milky Way.

With the setting sun comes the stirring of much desert nightlife. Keep your eyes peeled for the scampering of a kangaroo rat gathering food or a jackrabbit bounding into the brush as you slumber off to the soulful hoots of a great-horned owl.

Drive Time: 2 hours

Hiking Mileage: 8 miles

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1,000 feet

Today we’ll rise with the sun to share in a wonderful outdoor breakfast and hot coffee or tea. Our first stop will be at the charmingly unique Teddy Bear Cholla Garden, where we’ll stroll among a family of deceptively inviting cacti. Dropping down through an ecological transition zone where the lower Colorado Sonoran Desert meets the Mojave, we’ll make our way to our main hike for the day: The Lost Palms Oasis.

Sustained by water seeping up through fault lines, five oases can be found within Joshua Tree National Park. Today we’ll visit two! Beginning at Cottonwood Spring Oasis, former home to the Cahuilla Indians, we’ll meander our way over arroyos dotted with ocotillo and through sandy smoketree washes to reach at last the largest group of California Fan Palms in the park. After a delicious lunch in this remote desert oasis, we’ll wind our way back to the trailhead, soaking in views to the south of California’s largest lake, the Salton Sea.

While options for stops on our return to camp are numerous, we’ll likely embark on a pleasant walk and/or scramble to Arch Rock, a monzonite granite natural arch set amidst a playground of jumbo boulders. Back in camp, we’ll enjoy a toasty campfire and a delectable dinner before turning in for the night.

Drive Time: 30 minutes

Hiking Mileage: 6-8 miles

Elevation Change: 400-500 feet

Perhaps already awakened by a dawn song of coyotes, you may decide to indulge yourself in rising just before breakfast today. Soaking in the sight of Joshua trees silhouetted against the break of day, or climbing to the top of one of the monoliths surrounding camp to greet the morning is an experience you’ll not soon forget.

Our first hike today will loop us through Barker Dam. This valley is rich with petroglyphs, bouldering problems and tall tales from the days of gold mining and cattlemen, as well as lush with plant life thanks to the precious reservoir of water.

We’ll then embark on a journey into another portion of the famed Wonderland of Rocks: The Maze. This trail will weave us through a jungle of spires, granite monoliths and delusionary rock formations, opening up to tantalize us with breathtaking views of the National Park. Returning back to camp, we’ll enjoy one last evening of fine dining, good company, and a campfire beneath the desert sky.