Indian Cove Campground

Indian Cove Campground was amazing! The sites are large and well dispersed. Private and surrounded by beautiful boulders! We had a great time bouldering here and would definitely return. That being said, the pit toilets were awful. Broken locks, dirty.. like really dirty and not well maintained. The camp host, who obviously saw us walking around in need of assistance, went into his camper and never came out. 11:00 am on a Friday and the ranger station was closed. Out site was not marked “occupied” and we had no way of checking in. Many people circling the campground (like vultures) waiting for someone to leave so they could snake a spot.
But the area itself? Amazing! Even with the difficulties with finding someone to help with questions, and the substandard pits, this is a gorgeous place. I highly recommend!

One of the best campgrounds I've ever stayed at. There are ample bouldering opportunities, and both sunset and sunrise and the stars were phenomenal.
We also stayed at Ryan Campground, and while it's a cool experience to be in the center of the park, this site was really a unique and amazing experience. Unforgettable, and would recommend to anyone.

The rocks at each campsite are amazing. The campground was clean and quiet. Site 66 was smaller than most, but we made it work.

Beautiful campsite, quiet at night, great hiking nearby.

Loved this spot, very convenient for park access and access to the town. Tons of beautiful rocks to climb for views. Climbers come around early in the morning so be prepped that you’ll have some fun company near by once the sun comes up :) 10/10 would stay here again.

Clean, quiet, & awesome location

Clean pit toilets. Small site but epic views thatll make you feel on another planet. Climbing routes within walking distance to all of the camp spots. Not ideal for your 10 person coleman tent, but perfect for a small 2 person backpacking tent.

We stayed at the RV campsite and loved it next to the rocks, well located near the visitor center, the only thing missing was a place to connect a hose with fresh water and a dumpstation.

Campground is awesome and beautiful; however, our neighbor was not. We had campsites 87 and 88 for four nights. First two nights neighbors in 89 were fine, plenty of space between us and their two cars parked in the designated driveway. They departed after two nights. We came back after an all day hike the next day to find the new tenants of 89 had parked their huge truck and camper 3 feet from our vehicle in 88, they were clearly far behind their parking space that the previous tenants used. We asked nicely if he could please move up into his designated parking space and he flatly refused, not in the least friendly nor apologetic. So we did not pursue the issue nor report to a park ranger for fear of retaliation. Also, their other vehicle was a camper van parked fully into the campsite not even near the parking area, space 89 specifically states "Do not drive into the campsite." While aware of the shortage of park rangers, I understand it might not be feasible to "patrol" the campsite daily. (We have visited other national parks in recent months where the campgrounds are patrolled by wonderful rangers, this made the stay so very pleasant as nobody was out of line. ) Subsequently, we moved our vehicles as far as possible into space 87 for the remaining two nights. We would greatly appreciate if the beautiful Indian Cove campers could be advised by rangers if they are out of line and outside of their designated parking areas. Otherwise our visit to Joshua Tree was very pleasant. Thank you!

Awesome place to camp. It’s just outside the park and next to Twentynine Palms. We were able to visit the park for most of the day and returned in time to set up camp and hike around for a bit. The campsites are a bit more spacious than those inside the park.