Joshua Tree NP and Nearby

Wildflower Reports

Plan your trip with our Joshua Tree NP Introduction Package

We'd like to see your pictures too. E-mail your digital photos and reports to Jim@desertusa.com. Use Wildflower Report as the subject of your e-mail. Let us know where you took the photo and the date.

Back to Main Wildflower Page

Maps, places to stay and other information about the park.

2019 Joshua Tree National Park and nearby

Feb 16, 2019 Michael reports: These were taken last Sunday 2/10/2019 off the 10 Fwy at Red Cloud Mine Road, then on to Gas Line Road where most pictures were taken.  Walking up larger canyons crossing the road produced a lot of flowers.

Feb 15, 2019 Joshua Tree NP reports: Areas of the park are flooding due to excessive rain. Please use caution when visiting! Crews are out assessing damage. There is running water on most of the paved roads and all dirt roads remain closed.

Park Photo  

Feb 14, 2019 DesertUSA reports: Lot rain in the park today, all dirt road closed, and flash flood on some road.

Feb 13, 2019 Ann reports: Joshua Tree area between I-10 and the South entrance of the park.
Fields of lupine and poppies and multiple small flowers mixed in.

Feb 11, 2019 Don reports: Wildflowers - Cottonwood Bajada Trail - February 8, 2019 Snow-covered San Bernardino Mountains in the distance.

Desert Lupine

Desert Blazing Star

White and pink Desert Pincushion on same stalk

Canterbury Bells only beginning to bloom

Road damage from recent rains.

Feb 6, 2019 Joshua Tree NP reports: Due to heavy rain on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019, all dirt roads in the park are closed until further notice.

Feb 4, 2019 Mary reports: North of I-10 freeway off Cottonwood Road between freeway and Joshua Tree Park entrance. Flowers are extremely plentiful for approximately the first ¾ mile north of the freeway but become scarce as you continue driving. Map Link

Jan 30, 2019 Tom reports: The park has a green floor virtually all over.  There were at least a few belly-flowers to be found wherever I went.  Along the roads, bladderpod and brittlebush are in bloom.  There are early flowers of indigo bush, desert lavender, and other shrubs. South of Cottonwood Visitor Center all the way to the 10, the bloom is well underway — the nearer to the 10 you get, the more you see fields of Lupine, Mojave Gold Poppy and Desert Dandelion.  I also saw the start of some ocotillo, and thickleaf ground cherry, chuparosa, globe mallow, Mojave suncups, Booth’s evening primrose, brown-eyed primrose, chia, desert pincushion, notch-leaf phacelia, sand blazing star, and many others species.  I even found a mature-sized white-lined sphinx caterpillar (the early worm avoids the bird, maybe…?).  The predicted rains should keep things rolling, let’s hope.

Jan 30, 2019 Meir reports: There are a lot of flowers along I-10 E  from Indio all the way to Chiriaco summit. Also on the south entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.  South entrance to Joshua Tree off I-10. Lots of lupine and other types of wildflowers.

Jan 28, 2019 Robert reports: In Joshua Tree National Park on the West Side Loop Trail, Manzanita are blooming with white flowers. January 23rd.

Jan 22, 2019 Jeffrey reports: Light rain falling as we arrived at the southern entrance to Joshua Tree on Tuesday, January 15. Many brittlebush, bladderpod and ocotillo in bloom.  Chuperosa about to bloom.  We saw indigo bush, lupine, brown-eye evening primrose, Spanish needle, apricot mallow and sand verbena.  Very little in bloom in the vicinity of the Cottonwood Visitors Center. 

Jan 14, 2019 DesertUSA reports: More rain is on the way. Three to four days of rain is in the forecast for the area. Wildflowers have already started. This should help a lot in the southern half of the park.

Jan 10, 2019 DesertUSA reports: Visited the south entrance of the park which is off of I-10. I was surprised by the number of wildflowers in bloom at this date and more rain is on the way, looks like it's going to be a good wildflower year.

Jan 1, 2019 Mike reports: The attached pictures were taken yesterday near the west entrance of Joshua Tree National Park, about a mile after entering the canyon heading towards the park.

Jan 1, 2019 DesertUSA reports: Could be a good year for wildflowers, there has been rain in the area and there's more in the forecast.

2018 Joshua Tree National Park - Wildflower Reports

Dec 26, 2018 Mike reports: Sunday, for the third time I tried going from Mecca through Box Canyon to Joshua Tree and out your side of the park.  Ever since the big downpour, in October the road has been closed.  

I hadn’t checked Google Maps to see if the road had opened until I got to Mecca because I was already out in the area.  The mapstill showed just the beginning of the canyon closed so I figured I’d go see what it looked like since I was so close.  Being the law abiding citizen I am, I followed the dirt road that has been created around the barricades, past the people killing cans and who knows what else to quickly discover flowers blooming in December!  Driving my off-road worthy VW Jetta, I decided to continue on and see what else I’d find, after all the map showed just the beginning of the canyon closed.  Turns out the barricades at the other end were up by the 10 freeway, rightly so since most of the road is gone, or at least in pieces here and there.  There was a lot of water that went down that canyon!  I found parts of trees washed up side canyons five or more feet higher than what is now the canyon floor.

Anyway, the few flower pictures I took probably would have been better taken with my phone.  Below is a link to a few flower pictures and of the canyon, and if you look closely in some of the pano shots you can see pieces of the road here and there.

I’m pretty sure it is going to be a good desert wildflower year!

 

Spring Blooming Periods

Lower Elevations: 1,000 – 3,000 feet

Yuccas—March and April
Annuals—February, March, and April
Cacti—March, April, and May

Higher Elevations: 3,000 – 5,000 feet

Joshua Trees and Yuccas—March and April
Annuals—March, April, and May
Cacti—April, May, and June

Wildflower field guide ebook
find the wildflowers by color - Kindle, iPads and Smart phones. $4.99

---

 

 

For other state reports click on link below

Arizona| California| Nevada| New Mexico| Texas

Southern CA Wildflowers | Anza-Borrego DSP | Death Valley NP | Mojave NP

Back to Main Wildflower Page | Wildflower Field Guide

Mojave Desert Wildflowers book 200 color photos

 

 

 

---

DesertUSA Newsletter -- We send articles on hiking, camping and places to explore, as well as animals, wildflower reports, plant information and much more. Sign up below or read more about the DesertUSA newsletter here. (It's Free.)

The Desert Environment
The North American Deserts
Desert Geological Terms