Planning a wedding, let alone a fun adventurous elopement can seem daunting so let’s put those fears and stress at ease through this all encompassing blog about how to elope in Joshua Tree National Park. I’ve captured love at Joshua Tree, California before and I’ve actually bouldered and camped there for a week too; so I’ll give you all the hot tips, tricks to save money, and the best of the best activities to do and visit in this guide to eloping at Joshua Tree National Park. We’ll go through permits, locations, guidelines in the park, vendors, camping tips, best food in the area, and where to find the gear you need if you’re going to the National Park not only for getting married but also an adventure. At the end you’ll receive a little freebie of a PDF downloadable checklist on how to elope at Joshua Tree National Park from an elopement photographer.

1. Elopement Permits, Reservations, Fees, Requirements for Eloping at Joshua Tree National Park

Let’s get the biggest part of stress inducing planning out of the way and talk a bit of the legal things first. I promise it’s not as hard or scary as it seems. As of right now (January 2023) there is not a requirement for reservations to get into the park. YAY! However there are fees to get into the park and permits needed in order to elope in the national park.

• FEES – There is a $30 entrance fee you pay at the gates that allows you to enter in that day and 6 more days after. However if you are big adventurers like me and plan to visit other national parks in the year, then I highly suggest buying an America the Beautiful Pass. This is an annual pass that’s $80 and will get you into majority if not all National Parks in the U.S. You can buy these online but will need to wait for your card to get mailed to you or you can purchase one at your local REI.
• PERMITS – There are TWO permits you will need if you plan to elope at Joshua Tree National Park and have a videographer/photographer with you. The first permit being the one that allows you to elope on the land and is $120 and the second permit is what allows for professional photographers/videographers to be taking your photos and is $315. They are super easy to acquire too! All you need to do is download the application from the permit link above and email it back to the Special Park Use Coordinator and she’s super nice! She’ll answer any questions you may have.
• REQUIREMENTS – You should know that there are certain things that are not permitted on the land for your elopement. You can find the official list here, under “what can i have at my wedding”. But generally the things NOT permitted are: Drones, dried flowers, non-battery powered candles, bubbles, any live animals, confetti, rice, birdseed, balloons, and smoke bombs.

2. Locations to Elope in Joshua Tree National Park

There are multiple beautiful locations you can use to elope in the National Park. Here’s an elopement photographers hot tip on location scouting – look at the locations on Google Earth. You can see more in person what the location looks like and what the vibes of the place is if you’ve never been there before. So here’s the running list all with the link to Google Earth in order for you to take a look around:

• Indian Cove Amphitheater: No more than 100 people total and only 1 vehicle. You must shuttle your guest in and out of this location.
• Hidden Valley Picnic Area: No more than 35 people total and up to 8 vehicles.
• Turkey Flats: No more than 35 people total and up to 8 vehicles.
• Cap Rock: No more than 25 people total and up to 8 vehicles.
• Rattlesnake Picnic Area: No more than 20 people and 8 vehicles.
• Quail Springs Picnic Area: No more than 15 people and 8 vehicles.
• Split Rock: No more than 15 people and 5 vehicles.
• Porcupine Wash: No more than 12 people and 4 vehicles.
• Queen Valley Mine Intersection: No more than 10 people and 5 vehicles.
• Lost Horse Parking Lot: No more than 10 people and 5 vehicles.
• Live Oak Picnic Area: No more than 5 people and 3 vehicles.

If you need help with suggestions and timing many photographers will help you find the perfect location for the vibes and the photos that you are looking. Things to keep in mind while picking your location is sunlight – for those golden photos, background – what you want mainly in your photos, and how many tourists will be there – in order to be aware of how to keep them out of the photos.

3. Affordable and quick vendors in Joshua Tree National Park

When I was creating a styled shoot in Joshua Tree, I was looking to support local and also to stay within the area of the national park. When you are in the park a lot of things are quite far away, so I was looking to stay close. I actually ended up getting everything I could need at the farmers market on Saturday morning. They had GORGEOUS flowers, sweet treats, and hors d’oeuvre type food. I ended up bringing some beautiful ribbon to add to the bouquet I made from the market. You could also bring your own wooden serving boards and utensils to really pull together a whole beautiful array of items to have on your elopement day.

Something my couples always love is my vendor recommendations I give them once we officially book. And this always goes into more detail depending upon the day you are creating and what you need in order to make the day as you envision your wedding day.

4. Best Airport to fly into for Joshua Tree, California and Tips on Cheap Flights

The closest airport to fly into for Joshua Tree National Park is going to be Palm Springs International Airport, which is about a 45 minute drive to the National Park. However because it’s a smaller airport they do tend to be a bit more expensive with flights, so I would suggest to look around at other airports especially if you are planning on making it a full adventure! It could be fun to explore other locations in California if you’re wanting to make the most out of the full trip. So below is a few other airports with how long it takes to get to Joshua Tree (sourced from Destination Parks).

• Ontario International Airport: 1 hour 45mins
• John Wayne Airport: 2 hours
• Los Angeles or San Diego: 2½ hours
• McCarran International Airport (LAS): 3½ hours
• Phoenix: 4½ hours

Tips to flying cheap:

• Checkout Kayak for cheap flights – you can see certain dates that are green (the cheapest) to fly and if you’re nervous about booking through a third party, then for the most part the deals can usually be found on the direct airlines website too. I mainly use it as a search engine to see what deals are out there. But I have bought through Kayak before and they are pretty reliable and have decent reviews
• Check on Google Flights – again this will show you the best deals out there on certain dates. They unfortunately don’t show the cheapest days to fly in their calendar view, so you do have to play around with dates here a bit more. But Google Flights is amazing for booking a trip if you don’t care on where you go because they show a lot of just generally cheap flights available.
• Check Southwest individually – their airline company doesn’t show up on ANY type of deal search engines, so you do need to look at them separately just to make sure. They are personally one of my favorite airlines to fly with, especially if you plan on bringing luggage because you get two free checked bags. Where as other airlines you have to pay for your bags separately nowadays.

5. Joshua Tree National Park Camping

If you’re planning on making the whole trip an adventure and plan on camping and exploring while in Joshua Tree, then first of YAY! I’m so excited for you because it’s going to be an incredible time. Honestly, some of my favorite camping I’ve done – the stars are gorgeous, there’s bouldering everywhere, and lots of land to explore for days!! Secondly here’s where to start for looking into camping spots and some hot tips for camping in Joshua Tree National Park.

Camping in Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree is very busy in the spring season; since it’s a desert most people like to go when it’s not too hot and it doesn’t get too cold at night. Their peak season is from November to May, so it’s highly recommended to reserve your camp spot in advance; otherwise it is a first come first serve bases but most of the time there won’t be any spots available in the peak season. Here’s a list of all the campgrounds in the National Park along with price per night and available spots (sourced from National Park Service, also where you can reserve your spot).

• Black Rock – 99 sites. $25 per night. Water, flush toilets, tables, fire grates, and a dump station.
• Cottonwood – 62 sites. $25 per night. Water, flush toilets, tables, fire grates, and a dump station.
• Indian Cove – 101 sites. $25 per night. Pit toilets, tables, and fire grates. No water.
• Jumbo Rocks – 124 sites. $20 per night. Pit toilets, tables, and fire grates. No water.
• Ryan – 31 sites. $20 per night. Pit toilets, tables, and fire grates. No water.

6. The Gear I Recommend for Your Joshua Tree Camping Adventure

If you are looking to rent out some gear for your camping adventure then I HIGHLY recommend Joshua Tree Outfitters, they use to be a brick and mortar store but closed for the pandemic. So if you Google them they’ll come up as permanently closed, however they rent out gear still by appointment. You can just email or text the lady and she’s super friendly and accommodating. When I went I rented a crash pad, water jug, a guide book, and a cooler. All the prices and way to contact are available with the link above. I believe she is the only one in the area that rents out crash pads too, so keep that in mind.

Here’s a list of specific gear I recommend to bring or rent when camping in Joshua Tree National Park:

• 1-2 Water Jugs – some campsites have water fill ups but others don’t and the closest water fill up is at the entrances which is about a 15-20minute drive. So it’s convenient to have as much water as you can on the campsite, especially with it being a hot desert.
• Cooler – this is an obvious if you plan to have fresh produce, eggs, or any type of meat. But make sure to buy ice at the grocery store on the way into Palm Springs otherwise you’ll have to drive 20-30 minutes back in order to get the ice.
• Camping Stove – this will be hard one to fly with so I recommend renting one. Most of the local food is pretty amazing, however it is a bit further away than I originally planned – about a 20-30 minute drive. So I would mostly plan on making your own food, unless you hope to drive into town majority of days.
• Fuel – Unfortunately you can’t fly with fuel, so you will need to buy some when you arrive. You can buy it from Joshua Tree Outfitters or from one of the local gear shops.
• Sun Protection – sunscreen, sun shirts, rain fly for your tent (for shaded area), sunglasses, hats. It gets very hot in the middle of the day (specifically when I went in May) and for the most part there is no shaded areas.
• Warm Clothes – Even when I was there in May, which is getting closer to it’s hotter season, the mornings and nights were pretty brisk and so I definitely recommend bringing some socks, a hoodie, and some comfy pants for those mornings and nights.

7. Best Food in Joshua Tree, California

• Crossroads Cafe – this is a very crowded classic diner food that’s pretty good for breakfast. The nice thing about the place is that it’s air conditioned and they have wifi if you need to get some decent service.
• The Natural Sisters Cafe – they offer high quality plant based food that’s absolutely delicious!
• Jelly Donut – I’ve heard amazing things about this place but unfortunately it doesn’t acomodate to my dietary restrictions. But they serve donuts and Vietnamese noodle soups!!
• Pie for the People – If you love pizza then this is a great place to try!
• Joshua Tree Coffee Roasters – If you need your fixin for coffee then this will totally do and it’s super close to the national park. However, the coffee snob in me needs to warn you that personally I didn’t find their coffee to be that impressive and found it to be more about the branding than anything else. But I’m sure their speciality drinks will hold anyone over for that coffee fix, plus their pink bags and stickers are iconic.

And there you have it all from a destination elopement photographer! Majority of everything you need to know and plus some in order to have an incredible, adventurous elopement in Joshua Tree National Park, California! I absolutely love helping and serving my couples as much as possible through the planning process in order to help alleviate any stress, so that way you can enjoy the engagement season you are in even more. So with that being said, here’s a free Joshua Tree Elopement Checklist that you can download and use in order to make sure there is NOTHING you are forgetting in all the elopement planning.

And if you’re looking for an elopement photographer for your Joshua Tree elopement and love all the information I gave you above, then let’s freaking chat! I would be honored to help you through dreaming and planning a perfect day for you and your love!