A couple weeks ago, Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith was on the Z107.7. Up Close Show. During the COVID-19 shutdown, so many people from out of the area were going to Black Rock Canyon campground that park officials made a portion of the equestrian parking and camping area a parking lot for hikers’ vehicles, much to the chagrin of horseback riders. Smith spent some time on the show reassuring residents that equestrian usage at the park’s Black Rock Canyon campground would continue and they would not be displaced by new parking lots for hikers. Managing editor Tami Roleff fills in the rest of the story…
“I fear that I opened up a bit of a can of worms when I was trying to solve a problem.”
Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith said this spring, it seemed like everyone from Los Angeles was going to Black Rock Canyon to hike, causing significant parking issues for the area.
“During the initial phases of the shutdown, when we were closing access to the park, Black Rock was a place, it seemed like everyone from Los Angeles was going there to go hiking, and we were having some significant parking issues in the neighborhood…. So we used the portion of the equestrian lot as an emergency kind of parking area.”
But he added that making a portion of the equestrian parking area a parking area for hikers made things difficult for those with horses.
“Once we were re-opening again, I thought we’d throw in a few more spots there when the equestrian lot is not being used. Not realizing that where we were putting those [parking] spots is one of the ideal camp spots that equestrians like to use because there’s a little bit of shade they get from those Joshua trees there. And also, it’s difficult to maneuver a rig in that area. It’s difficult for the horses to have cars that are coming up and folks that aren’t familiar with horses.”
Smith added that equestrians don’t need to worry about the park closing off Black Rock Canyon—or any part of the national park—to them.
“I want to make it super clear: horse users are a part of Joshua Tree’s history. They’ve been using the park forever, and we will continue to have equestrians inside of Joshua Tree as a legitimate user group. We just have to kind of fit it in with hikers, climbers, and everyone else that wants to use the park as well. So there’s no secret agenda to remove horses from the park, because they’re part of the park.”
But he is still searching for a permanent solution to the parking issue.
“We’ve got four major trail heads that emanate from Black Rock, and not enough parking for it. Black Rock is our number one priority, to actually do some significant work in establishing new campsites there, hiking campsites, RV campsites. Taking care of equestrian area, putting in sewage that hooks up into the new sewage system in Yucca [Valley]. It’s a big infrastructure package that will deal with a lot of things. But I’m going to see how that parking lot issue works out over the next few months and into the fall, and if it doesn’t work out, I’m going to pull it.
“It’s a temporary thing. We’ll just have to figure out another solution for people’s vehicles.”
