Joshua Tree National Park in February

Joshua Tree National Park in February suits desert walks before the stronger spring visit peak. Higher areas can still be cold, and early flowers depend on rain and elevation.

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The sky turns hues of pink and purple over a field of Joshua trees.
Quail Springs Area at SunsetNPS / Emily Hassell
Joshua trees grow on a flat plain with boulder outcrops and mountains in the distance
Lost Horse ValleyNPS/Brad Sutton

Conditions

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What to see and do in Joshua Tree in February

Choose a February outing that fits the route, weather and effort involved.

The sky turns hues of pink and purple over a field of Joshua trees.
Quail Springs Area at Sunset · NPS / Emily Hassell

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.

February · Quail Springs

NPS Quail Springs picnic area
night scene showing stars of the Milky Way over a sign saying "Entering Joshua Tree National Park"
Stars Over the Park Entrance · NPS/Lian Law

Dark-sky viewing

Plan around the Moon and forecast. A winter month alone does not guarantee clear or moonless skies.

February · Dark-sky viewing

NPS Dark-sky viewing guidance

Joshua Tree weather in February

February’s normal high is 67°F and low is 44°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
NOAA climate normals · 1991-2020NPS weather and forecast

Joshua Tree crowds in February

February averages 294,966 recreation visits, 72% of the peak monthly average in March.

LowestLowModerateHighPeakAverage month: 255,294February
NPS visit averages · 2021–2025Full crowd calendar

Tips for your February visit

Check the approach before choosing the rest of the day.

Joshua Tree entrances and selected paved roads A: West Entrance from Joshua Tree. B: North Entrance from Twentynine Palms. C: South Entrance from Interstate 10. Highlighted NPS road geometry shows Park Boulevard, Pinto Basin Road, Keys View Road and selected campground approaches. Road lines show geography, not current conditions. Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Keys View Rd Keys View Rd Black Rock Campground Pinto Basin Rd Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Cottonwood Springs Rd Park Blvd Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Black Rock Campground Barker Dam Rd Barker Dam Rd Indian Cove Rd West Entrance StationA North Entrance StationB South Entrance (Cottonwood)CN
AWest Entrance StationBNorth Entrance StationCSouth Entrance (Cottonwood)
  • Selected paved park roads
  • Park boundary
USGS topographic basemapNPS roads and park mapsEntrance points: OpenStreetMap
Joshua Tree overviewVisitation history

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.
NPS recreation visit dataNOAA climate normalsNOAA daily weather recordsNOAA data documentationNPS park information and conditionsJoshua Tree annual visit history