Quail Springs
Choose a short rock-and-Joshua-tree outing and bring layers for higher park elevations. Twentynine Palms normals are not a campground forecast.
December · Quail Springs
What to see and do in Joshua Tree in December
Choose a December outing that fits the route, weather and effort involved.
Dark-sky viewing
Plan around the Moon and forecast. A winter month alone does not guarantee clear or moonless skies.
December · Dark-sky viewing
Joshua Tree weather in December
December’s normal high is 62°F and low is 40°F, with 0.56 inches of precipitation. These normals come from Twentynine Palms at about 1,975 ft, outside the park. This is a lower-elevation gateway proxy, not a park-wide average. Higher places such as Hidden Valley and Keys View can be colder, with freezing winter nights. Check the forecast for your stops.
Cooler Hotter
Jan
High63°F
Low42°F
Precip · in0.50
Feb
High67°F
Low44°F
Precip · in0.56
Mar
High74°F
Low49°F
Precip · in0.35
Apr
High81°F
Low55°F
Precip · in0.12
May
High90°F
Low63°F
Precip · in0.05
Jun
High99°F
Low71°F
Precip · in0.00
Jul
High104°F
Low77°F
Precip · in0.40
Aug
High103°F
Low76°F
Precip · in0.65
Sep
High97°F
Low69°F
Precip · in0.34
Oct
High85°F
Low58°F
Precip · in0.15
Nov
High72°F
Low47°F
Precip · in0.19
Dec
High62°F
Low40°F
Precip · in0.56
Joshua Tree crowds in December
December averages 339,772 recreation visits, 83% of the peak monthly average in March.
LowestLowModerateHighPeakAverage month: 255,294December
Tips for your December visit
Check the approach before choosing the rest of the day.
AWest Entrance StationBNorth Entrance StationCSouth Entrance (Cottonwood)
- Selected paved park roads
- Park boundary
West Entrance
Year-round approach from Joshua Tree via Park Boulevard. Weather and incidents can interrupt roads.
How we built this page.
An independent guide using official data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.
- Crowds
- 2021–2025 monthly averages. NPS recreation visits, compared with the park’s own busiest month. Visits are not unique visitors or a count of people on a trail.
- Weather
- 1991-2020 climate normals. NOAA’s Twentynine Palms station. These describe typical weather at the station, not every part of the park or a forecast.
- Roads & lodging
- Normal seasonal schedules. NPS guidance and official operator information. Confirm access, hours and availability before you travel.
Historical records and data-quality checks
- Visit history: 1979–2025 NPS monthly recreation visits.
- Weather history: 1935–2025 daily observations, separate from climate normals. We average daily highs and lows and total the rain for each month.
- Complete months only: every day must pass our quality checks for that metric. Missing or incomplete records stay blank; we never interpolate.
- Excluded measurements: flagged, presumed-zero and lagged values. Trace rain counts as zero measurable rainfall.