Joshua Tree National Park Scenic Tour

Our tour guide “Austin” was absolutely amazing!! 5 star tour guide. He was patient & , very knowledgeable. Austin had plenty of fun facts. We loved the open air hummer ride . Felt like the outback. Book this tour you won’t be disappointed! Request Austin😊

If you don’t have a rental car, this is a convenient—and perhaps one of the only—ways to visit Joshua Tree from Palm Springs, especially on a very hot Independence Day. I appreciated having transportation without worrying about driving in the desert. However, the overall experience didn’t justify the price (around $170). The pickup was stressful. I arrived 15 minutes early, but there was no guide or vehicle. Customer service couldn’t reach the guide and even told me the tour might have been canceled. Thankfully, it eventually departed. The pre-trip instructions also told guests to purchase a National Park entrance pass, but July 4 was a fee-free day, so I unnecessarily spent $15. To their credit, after I contacted the operator, they promptly reimbursed the entrance fee. Finally, the guided experience was disappointing. Because of the van’s noise and air conditioning, passengers in the middle and back could barely hear the guide. As a result, most of the explanations were given only after getting off the van, and the total commentary throughout the tour was probably less than 20 minutes. We spent only about 1.5–2 hours inside the park, with much of the tour spent driving. Overall, it’s a convenient transportation option, but I expected a much richer guided experience and better organization for this price.

Firstly a shout out to Viator for allowing the excursion to go ahead despite the fact that only two of us had booked. Thank you - it felt like a private tour! Austin our tour guide/driver was awesome. He was easy to get on with, and his knowledge was excellent. He was able to share anecdotes, history, geology, and information about the flora and fauna we encountered with ease. Joshua Tree National Park is a ‘must see’! It is a truly spectacular park, and Austin played excerpts from U2’s Joshua Tree album as we arrived in the Park, stirring 40 year old memories for me! We had a number of stops during the tour to stretch our legs and take photographs. The walks are on fairly even ground but you can stay in the minibus if you wish (it was 108 degrees and UV factor 13 when we were there…). Water and granola bars are also freely available on the bus. The tour ended with a spectacular view over Coachella Valley, from the Salish Sea (even Mexico) on the left to Palm Springs laid out below. You could even see evidence of the San Andreas Fault from this high vantage point. I highly recommend this tour - and especially Austin our guide, who was both fun to be with, and kind enough to run the trip with just us two tourists!

It was our first trip to Palm Springs and so glad that we went on this tour to Joshua Tree National Park! Austin, our tour guide was very friendly, knowledgeable about the Park and about Palm Springs in general. That day was a perfect day to do the tour and the weather was great! I highly recommend this tour and would do it again when back in Palm Springs!

I had an amazing experience. Our tour guide was prompt, knowledgeable, and helpful during the tour.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history and hiking opportunities in the area. Be sure to ask questions about what you see. It made it interesting for the group when the guide would elaborate on topics because a question was asked.

A great way to see the national park if you don’t have your own transport. Great informative guide.

This was a fun tour and we had a great time!

We chose the meet option at the Welcome Center. It was a great starting point for buying passes and last bathroom break before the tour began. We meet Eddie and all others for the excursion inside the Welcome Center. Eddie has a great personality and shared interesting facts, history and information before, during and after the tour. Eddie offered to take photos with your phone at each stop. Halfway through the trip if you're in the first two rows of the van, you're asked to move to the back two rows. Everyone switches seats so great seats for all. Bottled water and granola bars snacks are available at each stop. Bathrooms are available at each stop we made, note there is no running water and it is a compost toliet. The park does a fantastic job keeping them clean and Eddie has hand sanitizer able. Tour advice: put sunscreen on before the excursion begins, prior to boarding the van. Two members in the tour group put on sunscreen at one of the stops in Joshua Tree, the bees wanted them from that point on. Wear long sleeve sun shirts, pants, hiking boots or sturdy sneakers. Yes it is 100+ degrees however in the elements it's the best way.

Austin was fantastic!! He was extremely knowledgeable about the park and he even took pictures of me at cap rock! Cold water and a granola bar were a nice treat. I would highly recommend booking with Austin for a great JT experience! It’s been on my bucket list after living in Palm Springs for so long and I’m so happy my guide was so great!