Twentynine Palms & the Oasis of Mara

Twentynine Palms is the high desert's other gateway town — the one on the park's north side, about half an hour east of the house. It's home to the park's headquarters and a downtown park visitor center, a genuine 9,000-year-old oasis, a downtown covered in murals, and the huge Marine base that shapes the town's character.

The Oasis of Mara

At the park headquarters in Twentynine Palms lies the Oasis of Mara, a spring-fed grove of California fan palms that has drawn people for more than nine thousand years. The Serrano and later the Chemehuevi lived here, and the name and the palms both come down from them. An easy, paved half-mile loop runs through it, shaded and flat, with interpretive signs. Part of the trail has been closed after flood damage, so check the park's alerts before you go. The old Oasis Visitor Center here closed in 2022. The park's visitor center in town is now the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, downtown on Freedom Way, with exhibits, a bookstore, flush toilets and a water bottle filling station.

The Oasis of Murals

Downtown Twentynine Palms is an open-air gallery. The Oasis of Murals project has painted dozens of large murals on buildings around town, depicting the area's history and desert life, and a printed or online map leads you between them. Add the town's small galleries and public-art installations and you've got an easy self-guided afternoon on foot.

A Marine town

Twentynine Palms grew up around the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, one of the largest Marine bases in the world. You'll notice it in the diners and shops and the young families around town — it's part of what makes Twentynine Palms feel more lived-in and less boutique than the town of Joshua Tree. If you hear distant booms from training, that's the base, not a storm.

Make a morning of it

Twentynine Palms pairs perfectly with the park's north entrance: walk the Oasis loop, head out for a hike like 49 Palms Oasis (October through May, since the trail is closed June 1 through September 30), then come back to town for the murals and lunch. It's also the jumping-off point for the remote country to the east — see our guide to Wonder Valley and the jackrabbit homesteads.