Joshua Tree camping for newbs

My girlfriend and I are planning a quick trip to visit her brother in L.A and plan to camp at Jtree on the night of thursday Oct 23rd. Neither of us have camped nor climbed there before, so I got some info on the camping situation there.

Were planning to climb friday so I was looking around at what areas may be best for easy trad climbing (up to 5.6 probably) but I was also wondering how busy Joshua Tree is on a thursday night/Friday morning. I would love to camp somewhere near a high concentration of easy climbs, but I thought those areas may be uber busy with newbs like myself haha

I also plan to buy a good guidebook for the area, so if you have any suggestions on that please share!

thanks in advance.
dave

ought to be open sites avail Thu eve or Fri morning at Hidden Valley, where there are many routes within walking distance, and at nearby Ryan campground. and it shouldn't be crowded on Fri at the popular moderate walls that are usu inundated on the wknds with big groups

some good easy ones around HV:
Upper Right Ski Track on Intersection Rock, 5.3, straightforward, rap
Mike's Books on Intersection Rock, 5.6, heady traverse at start, rap(s)
The Eye on Cyclops, 5.3, somewhat R but all there, walk off backside
The Bong on The Blob, 5.4, downclimb to climber's left via exposed but juggy wraparound
Toejam on Old Woman, easy 5.7, gear anchor, avoid the "death belay" off of the rap station to climber's right

Thin Wall in Real Hidden Valley:
Ain't Nothing But A JTree Thing, 5.6, scramble off to climber's right
Hidden In Plain Sight, 5.6
easy to toprope others

Atlantis Wall in Lost Horse:
Solar Technology, 5.6, walk off toward back and to climber's left
Men With Cow's Heads, 5.5, meh but easy
Unwiped Butt, 5.5, meh too but easy
easy also to toprope others

plus many others

Theres a book that is trad specific range 2.5-5.9 i think that are the authors favorite. which is a good, compiled list imo

thecmacattack wrote:Theres a book that is trad specific range 2.5-5.9 i think that are the authors favorite. which is a good, compiled list imo

There's this one:
amazon.com/The-Trad-Guide-J…

I have it and I like it as it is a nice selection of mostly classic climbs.

There is lots of good info here too:
joshuatreeclimb.com/members…

Steve_Sil. wrote:There's this one: amazon.com/The-Trad-Guide-J… I have it and I like it as it is a nice selection of mostly classic climbs. There is lots of good info here to: joshuatreeclimb.com/members…

Ryan is a very nice campground! don't forget to drive in with a few gallons of water into the park, there's no running water anywhere!

ok cool, I had been looking at the ryan campground area and the sheep pass area.. the Cap Rock area seems to have a few low rated trad routes with stars.. what a bonus!

Any info on Top rope 5.5-5.8 and camping
I am passing through with wife and baby on way to SF, from colorado, and would love to do a quick climb. I have no real partner, besides a wife who can offer me a spotty belay. Any advice on a good campsite close to some easy set up top rope with a safe place for my wife and baby to chill while they belay.
Sorry to be a high maintenance pain in the butt, but this is my situation.
thanks for help.

Craig this might help
joshuatreeclimb.com/TopRope…

very helpful thanks!

Literally 37,656,234,860,654,812,325,193,284,354,210,654,230,354,100,468 people have started this same thread. I recommend a quick search of the links above and you can find a plethora of information on this same topic. Furthermore Jtree is pretty noob friendly, you don't have to worry too much.

dave higdon wrote:ok cool, I had been looking at the ryan campground area and the sheep pass area.. the Cap Rock area seems to have a few low rated trad routes with stars.. what a bonus!

Alex May wrote: Sheep Pass requires reservations and the campground is usually booked well in advance.

I would highly recommend backcountry camping, its an amazing experience this time of year and you can usually get away with no tent. The whole place is like a giant boulder theme park and there are good camping spots all over. Its free, just register at one of the back country take off boards that are listed in the brochure they give you at the gate. I'd specifically recommend the Boy Scout trailhead, its just a mile or so from the center of the park and there are tons of great camping spots of the trail.

Only down side is no fires are allowed and technically you should be a mile from the road and 500feet from the trail. Its well worth it though, a night in the desert under stars with no light pollution is not to be missed.