Las Vegas makes a fantastic hub for a lot of road trips. I’ve spend ten days exploring the national parks of Utah, along with the Grand Canyon, from Las Vegas. But this trip isn’t about heading east. This is heading west toward the national parks of California. With just seven days, you’ll visit two of California’s national parks, while getting some free time to tweak this Death Valley and Joshua Tree itinerary to your own preferences.
7 Day Death Valley and Joshua Tree Itinerary
While there are plenty of national parks in California (9 in total!), this itinerary is going to focus on just two parks: Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks. Again, these parks are in California, but it is actually more convenient for this itinerary to fly into and out of Las Vegas, NV.
Day 1 – Arrive in Las Vegas
Your Death Valley and Joshua Tree itinerary technically starts today, but there’s not much scheduled for today. The real fun starts tomorrow, so today, all you need to do is arrive into Las Vegas.
On my trip, I didn’t arrive until 9:00 pm, which didn’t really leave any time to do anything in Las Vegas. That’s ok for my mom and me, but if you have the time, you could consider arriving earlier in the day. Whether you arrive earlier to spend a little time in Las Vegas or later (and skip all of Las Vegas), the choice is yours.
Sleep: Las Vegas, NV
Day 2 – The Trip Really Begins
As mentioned, today is when your national park road trip really begins. To make the most of your day, I recommend an early start. You’ll need to pick up your rental car before hitting the road (assuming you didn’t pick it up yesterday) and then you’ll still have a two hour drive to Death Valley. Make sure to take all of that into account. We picked up our rental car just before 8:00am and after a quick stop at Walmart for a few things we forgot to pack, we made it to Death Valley shortly at about 10:00 am.
Start at Dante’s View since it’s the furthest away from your hotel for the night (and the closest to Las Vegas). Then do the Twenty Mule Team Canyon Scenic Drive before visiting Zabrinske Point. Next, head down Badwater Basin Road to see Badwater Basin (the lowest point in the United States at 282 feet below sea level), Devil’s Golf Course, and Artist’s Palette on the scenic Artist’s Drive.
I’d recommend keeping your hiking to a minimum as it gets later into the afternoon, especially if you’re here during the warmer months. Down at Badwater Basin, it can get incredibly hot and water is scarce. Make sure to plan ahead.
In the evening, head to your accommodation. You have two options for staying in the park: Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. Furnace Creek is closer to a lot of the sights you likely want to see, but it’s a bit more expensive. We stayed at Stovepipe Wells simply for the cost savings.
While you’ll find restaurants at both locations, I recommend looking at them ahead of time. When we visited, the restaurant at Stovepipe Wells was converted to buffet only (at $25.99 per adult for dinner).
I’m not sure if this is temporary or permanent, but the website still lists a “normal” menu. The only other option was overpriced sandwiches at the General Store. Had we known this ahead of time, we would have brought our own food for the night. So my advice here is to look and plan ahead to make sure that you’ll be satisfied with your food choices (if not, you’ll end up like my mom and I and have some “hanger” issues).
Later in the evening, consider going out for some stargazing. Death Valley National Park is a protected dark sky, meaning on a clear night, you can get some incredible views.
Sleep: Stovepipe Wells (in Death Valley)
Day 3 – Death Valley and a Drive South
If you’re up early today, consider getting dressed and finding a place to watch the sunrise. While the National Park Service recommends Zabrinske Point and Dante’s View, it’s a bit of a drive from Stovepipe Wells. Another area is at Mesquite Sand Dunes. This can be ok, but you’d have to be far out on the sand dunes to really make it worth coming out here. My mom and I just drove up a little bit and found a pullout near Devil’s Cornfield. We watched the sun rise up over the mountains and it was great (although I’m sure Zabrinske Point or Dante’s View would have been better).
As far as breakfast, we ate at the buffet at Stovepipe Wells. The breakfast buffet was only $10 per adult which we found to be completely reasonable.
Today’s main goal is to start the drive to Joshua Tree National Park, the second major stop on this national park road trip. But before you leave Death Valley, there’s a few more sights to consider. If you didn’t visit Mesquite Sand Dunes at sunrise, visit now. Or if you’re up for a hike, head down Badwater Basin Road and hike Gower Gulch, Golden Canyon, or a loop containing both. Or, if the trail is restored during your visit, you can exit out of the western entrance of the park and visit Darwin Falls. The morning is yours to explore at Death Valley.
Just before lunch time, you’ll want to start to make your way out of the park. Regardless if you exit on through the west or through the east, you’ll have an approximately three and a half hour drive to the town of Barstow. There’s plenty of other places to stay, but the drive from Death Valley to Joshua Tree is about five and a half hours, so I found it ideal to break up the drive. Plus, it gives you just a little more time in Death Valley.
Sleep: Barstow, CA
Day 4 – More Driving and a Peak at Joshua Tree
You’ll have a little bit of driving this morning, but you’ll also get your first taste of Joshua Tree National Park. From Barstow, it’s a two hour drive to Joshua Tree National Park. Try to leave Barstow early in the day as hiking can become uncomfortable, and even dangerous, later in the day. Additionally, for my first hike, I recommend the 49 Palms Oasis Trail. It’s not recommended that you start that trail after 11:00am. So keep that in mind.
Once you arrive at Joshua Tree, the choice is yours for how to explore, but for the purposes of this itinerary, I’m going to use the Joshua Tree schedule that my mom and I used.
We started at 49 Palms Oasis, which turned out to be our favorite hike of the park. Hike up and over some mountains to reach a small palm tree oasis in the middle of the desert. From there, head into the main area of the park and cross a few more things off your list. Head to Hidden Valley to hike a one mile trail, then head to Keys View for some views of the San Bernardino Mountains. And on your way to or from Keys View, stop to do the short Cap Rock Nature Trail.
When you’ve had enough hiking and sightseeing for one day, head back to Twentynine Palms and settle into your hotel for the night.
Sleep: Twentynine Palms, CA
Day 5 – Joshua Tree National Park
You have another full day at Joshua Tree National Park. Like with the prior day, it’s up to you how to spend your time, but I’m going to go in the order I visited.
We started at Skull Rock and hiked the Skull Rock Trail before visiting Arch Rock and Heart Rock. If I were to do it again, I’d consider swapping Arch Rock and Heart Rock with the Skull Trail. You’ll get the best photos and have the best experience at Arch Rock with fewer people, so try to visit early in the morning.
If you like cacti, head to the Chollo Cactus Garden for a short loop through the cacti. Take a break for a picnic lunch before heading on to two more short trails. The Hall of Horrors Trail can be fun for adventurers, but it does feature a narrow canyon that requires some rock scrambling. Admittedly, I skipped the actual Hall of Horrors because I saw pictures of the canyon and my claustrophobia said “Hell No!”.
Instead, I just walked part of the trail to take in the scenery. However, I should mention that I’ve read recommendations about doing the Hall of Horrors earlier in the day as there are less people in the canyon. If you’re not as claustrophobic, consider swapping your itinerary around to visit Hall of Horrors early in the day.
You can hike to Barker Dam, but honestly I think this trail is only worth it if the dam is full of water. It wasn’t on our visit, so the payoff wasn’t quite worth it. That said, we found some fun rock scrambling near the trail and took our time taking some fun pictures that we couldn’t get the day before (as it had been a free entrance day and the park was absolutely packed!).
We returned to Twentynine Palms and made a quick stop at the Oasis of Mara. It’s ok, but if you also hike Forty-nine Palms Oasis, I don’t think you’ll be missing much by skipping this hike.
After a long day out hiking, take some time to relax at your hotel.
Sleep: Twentynine Palms, CA
Day 6 – Return to Las Vegas
Today it’s time to work your way back to Las Vegas, where you’ll end your Death Valley and Joshua Tree itinerary. It’s a four hour drive, so that still leaves you with at least half a day. The way to spend it is up to you, but here’s a few options.
Option 1: Head back to Joshua Tree for anything you may have missed.
Option 2: Visit the Mojave Desert National Preserve to do some more hiking. This was on our list, but due to warnings for damaged roads because of a hurricane (yes, I realize how ridiculous this sounds!), we skipped this.
Option 3: Just slightly west of Las Vegas is Red Rock Canyon National Preserve. There’s a scenic drive, a handful of hiking trails, and some stunning views. Ultimately, this is what we chose to do and we had a great experience.
Option 4: Head back to Las Vegas and spend some time on The Strip.
How you spend your last day of Death Valley and Joshua Tree itinerary is up to you.
Sleep: Las Vegas, NV
Day 7 – Fly Home
The trip is over. Return your rental car and catch your plane home.
Recap and Hotels Needed
Now that we covered all the details, here’s a short recap of my Death Valley and Joshua Tree itinerary.
Day 1: Arrive in Las Vegas. Sleep: Las Vegas, NV
Day 2: Drive to Death Valley and explore Death Valley. Sleep: Stovepipe Wells (in Death Valley).
Day 3: More time in Death Valley and drive to Barstow, CA. Sleep: Barstow, CA.
Day 4: Drive to Joshua Tree and explore Joshua Tree. Sleep: Twentynine Palms, CA.
Day 5: Explore Joshua Tree. Sleep: Twentynine Palms, CA.
Day 6: Traveler’s Choice and Return to Las Vegas. Sleep: Las Vegas, NV.
Day 7: Fly home
Hotels Needed
Day 1: Las Vegas, NV (1 night)
Day 2: Stovepipe Wells (1 night)
Day 3: Barstow, CA (1 night)
Days 4-5: Twentynine Palms, CA (2 nights)
Day 6: Las Vegas, NV (1 night)
Modifications to This Itinerary
In an ideal world, you won’t have to make modifications to my Death Valley and Joshua Tree itinerary, but you may find yourself with more or less time.
With More Time
If you have an extra day, there’s no wrong place to put it. There’s more to see in Death Valley National Park than I covered on this itinerary. You could easily find one more day’s worth of things to do in Death Valley. It’s a similar situation with Joshua Tree National Park.
However, if it were up to me, I’d look into spending more time around Las Vegas. I’d visit the Mojave National Preserve on Day 6, and then do a day trip to Red Rock Canyon on Day 7, before flying home on Day 8.
With Less Time
You have to make some cuts somewhere and on this Death Valley and Joshua Tree itinerary, it’s very difficult. I’d attempt to land early in the morning on day 1, and pick up this itinerary straight from there. Effectively, you’d combine days 1 and 2. Or, I’d skip a fun stop on Day 6 and head straight to Las Vegas for an evening flight home.
I wouldn’t recommend shrinking your time in Death Valley or Joshua Tree. In Death Valley, you’ll want at least one full day (which is two half days on this itinerary). In Joshua Tree, you need at least one and a half days to cover everything.
When to Do This Itinerary
Summers can be not only hot, but dangerous. If you are planning to visit in summer, make sure you are prepared and have plenty of water.
Spring and fall can be a great time to visit. Temperatures are more tolerable, especially if you are hiking. I did this Death Valley and Joshua Tree road trip in mid November and had highs in the low 70s. It felt a touch warm, but it made me thankful that I had visited at this time of the year. I can’t imagine how hot it can get during the summers.
General Tips
Parts of this Death Valley and Joshua Tree road trip are very remote. Keep an eye on your gas tank. Obviously you don’t want to get caught in the middle of nowhere without gas, but also as a money saving tip. Because some of these places are so remote, you’ll find extremely high gas prices in some places. As we drove from Twentynine Palms back to Las Vegas, we passed a gas station that was charging $7.59 per gallon.
Bring more water than you think you’ll need. Both Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks warn of this, but it’s another good reminder. Water is scarce, temperatures are high, and you need to make sure that you are prepared.
Final Thoughts
I loved this Death Valley and Joshua Tree road trip. I found myself surprised with how much beauty is out here. While Death Valley makes me think of a barren wasteland, I found that’s not the case. And Joshua Tree blew me away with how many awesome things there were to do at the national park.
Continue Your Adventure
Death Valley: Learn about the best things to do at Death Valley National Park and check out my 1 to 2 day itinerary.
Joshua Tree: Joshua Tree National Park is full of things to do. For the best trip, check out my 1 to 2 day itinerary.
More From Las Vegas: Head east on a 10 day road trip featuring Utah’s Mighty Five and the Grand Canyon.