Joshua Tree National Park temporarily closes busy west entrance 8/25 to 8/29

The heavily-trafficked west entrance of Joshua Tree National Park will be closed to inbound and outbound traffic beginning the morning of Monday, August 25 and lasting through Friday, August 29. 

In addition, Park Boulevard will also be closed to vehicle traffic for six miles from the west entrance into the Quail Springs Picnic Area, according to a press release sent out yesterday from the National Park. The closure includes the Maze Loop and Bigfoot trailhead which won’t be accessible via vehicle. During the closure crews will be laying down new pavement on the stretch of road, and all other park roads are expected to remain open.

Visitors wanting to enter the park will need to use the Twentynine Palms or Cottonwood entrances. The Twentynine Palms entrance is frequently less-busy than the popular west entrance, which is what the construction is about in the first place. In 2023 the entrance saw over half a million cars enter the park through it. 

While park attendance is a little slower in the summer months, the west entrance can frequently back up for miles on weekends in spring and fall, creating gridlock for residents on Quail Springs Road. The Twentynine Palms entrance is located about 20 miles east of the entrance in Joshua Tree – but it’s anything but isolated. The less-traveled entrance to the park usually has zero-wait time, and is adjacent to a visitor center and the bustling downtown Twentynine Palms scene, which is always worth a walk through.

The new west entrance in Joshua Tree hopes to alleviate some of that traffic pain, and will be located about a half mile inside the park and will have four fee booths, two inbound lanes, one outbound lane and a bypass lane in both directions.

Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Jane Rodgers says that she and park staff look forward to welcoming visitors at the new entrance station in the next few months. 

You can keep up on the west entrance construction at this page on Joshua Tree National Park’s website.

Anytime you head into the park, go prepared! Download the NPS App for trip planning and park alerts at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/digital/nps-apps.htm

You can also checking the park website for current conditions, restrictions, closures, and more at http://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/conditions.htm