Palm Springs aerial Tramway & Joshua Tree National Park
 

Good morning Dibbers

I’m currently idea planning for next summer. This will be a first trip to California and there should be 5 of us travelling. I’d like to visit both the aerial tramway and the Joshua Tree Park and have been looking out for ideas in trip reports. For those that have been, I’m interested to know how long would you allocate for these activities? Is there any possibility I could do both in one day? We think we can squeeze 16 days annual leave (fingers crossed) and would be visiting n ext summer during school break and there is so so much we want to see!

Any help or ideas would be gratefully received.

It’s a while since we went but we devoted a day to each - we don’t like to rush things and don’t forget in summer it’s baking hot! We enjoyed the respite from the heat at the top (Mt Jacinto State Park) and did one of the hiking trails.

We spent three days in Joshua Tree two years ago - loved it. Have a look at my SoCal report in my signature. We went in December so the weather was ideal.

Please shout of you have any more questions.

Hi a morning would be good for tramway but it's an hour dr to the edges of Joshua tree park so in reality not enough time to do both

You could do it, but wouldn't do either of them justice. It would be a drive thro the Joshua Tree Park, and an up the tramway, quick look at the view, and back down again. Would help if you based yourself at one end to get an early start. We did Yucca Valley then drove south, but even then we spent over 4 hours along the route. Once on top of Mt Jacinto there is a lovely walking trail to follow with spectacular view points over the valley. So much cooler on top too!
Both attractions can be busy, especially on weekends so could be a slow drive thro the park and you may be best booking a time for the tramway. Stayed in Palm Desert the following night, plenty to do in the area, some ideas here if you didn't get to view my report hot springs/joshua tree/ tramway pics

Thanks all will check out those trip reports to get a feel for ideas and the area. There is so much to try and squeeze in! The idea is to definitely base ourselves at one end and get an early start.

Joshua Tree is vast and you drive for an hour from Palm Springs before you even get to it. It will take three or four hours to drive through it, but that won't allow time for stops and sight seeing. Then another hour to get back. As for the aerial tramway, it is a half day adventure, but be aware that it closes for maintenance every Summer, usually for a month over late July and most of August.

This is very helpful. We will be travelling mid to late August so something to bear in mind.

We were there in July and didnt have a lot of time in Palm Springs but we drove there from San Diego, got checked in and headed to the Aerial Tramway for late afternoon/evening before driving back to Palm Springs for dinner. I was a bit nervous about the height but the others took some pictures. We werent there long as we werent interested in hiking and I wouldnt have wanted to stay for food there due to the nerves lol

Joshua tree we drove to the next day and we only got out for a 1 mile walk at one spot due to heat. Drove through park and stopped and got out at a few spots for photos and have a quick look around. We had wanted to stay in the area to see stars at night but decided just to head back to Palm Springs about 4ish. Enjoyed the day but it is a fair bit of time in the car driving there and back and then during the day itself. We definitely felt it was worth it and felt we saw enough but again we werent into hiking due to heat in July! DH did a bit of research beforehand and knew where he wanted to stop in the park which definitely helped.

We were leaving the next day for Anaheim and went to the Living Desert for a few hours that morning before doing the drive in the afternoon and getting there in time to check into hotel for Disney

This is really helpful, I have a feeling we will be the same next year that’s why I wondered if we could do both in one day!