Joshua Tree National Park is crowded, but those in the know can get into the park during off-hours for a better experience. The Park’s Chief Ranger Eric Linares was on the Z107.7 Up Close Show where he spoke with Gary Daigneault about crowds at the park and the best times to visit.
“The first thing is, if you can make a mid-week trip, you’re going to be a lot better off. You’ll be able to see a lot more of the park, and you’ll be able to park your car at a lot more places, have better access to trails, and enjoy a lot more of what the park has to offer.
“Unfortunately, if you’re here on the weekend, you should plan for crowds. There is going to be a lot of people here. People come from all over to see this amazing place. You can just show up here and see that it’s an amazing place and its beautiful. If the best you can get from it on a busy weekend is just driving through and looking at the landscape… I think it’s still worth it. The ideal scenario is that you are coming mid-week. We’re a weekend park, we are slammed on the weekends.”
On the weekend, because of the high number of visitors, parking in designated areas at the National Park can become difficult and even impossible. The term “drive-thru” park has been used to describe Joshua Tree on it’s busiest days, leading to frustration among visitors who did not plan ahead.
“It can be super frustrating. I can see why; people come from all over to see this amazing place. You can just show up here and see how beautiful it is. And if the best that you can get from it on a busy weekend is just driving through and looking at the landscape, well I think that’s still worth it.”
“Again, we’re a weekend park, we are slammed on the weekends. But if you come on the weekdays you are going so if you can come on the weekdays you are going to have better luck finding something.”
You can listen to Gary Daigneault’s full conversation with Ranger Linares by downloading the Z1077 Up Close Show as podcast.
