Is Joshua Tree National Park open during the government shutdown?

Good question. 

We called the National Park to ask if the campground at Joshua Tree was open during the shutdown; but of course no one was working at the visitor center, so no response.  So we decided to spend an extra night at Buckskin Mountain and then drive to JT and check out the status.  One thing for sure was that if the National Park campground was open, there would not be a problem getting a camp site.


Arrived at a very quiet Joshua Tree NP in the morning....no one at the check in station, no one at the visitor center, but.............the campground was open, and even the bathrooms (although unmaintained) were unlocked and available.  And we had a plethora of camp site choices.  There were maybe a half dozen other campers who took a chance like us.

Camping at Cottonwoods campground was a little challenging, as all of the inside loop sites were too short and very unlevel, and the outside loop sites were just pullouts where it would be a kamikaze move to open the slide outs on the loop drive.  Morey figured out we could drive the wrong way on the one way (which he relished) and we found a level site on the outside where we didn't extend our "couch" slide out.  Whew!  We're here.

Now for the hikes..............First the Mastodon loop hike that goes by an old mine, 4.5 miles.  And the next day to the Lost Palms Canyon, 8.3 miles.  Both were great hikes, but the final tenth of a mile to the Lost Palms Oasis (which we found) was treacherous........... 

Yep, Morey slipped and scraped up his knees pretty good on the very abrasive rocks, but he did not fall into the nearby canyon......Phew!  Both hikes were good, but maybe not a repeat in future years.

 

This is serious desert landscape.

 The night skies here are incredible!  The Milky Way is in full glory.