Dispersed Camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness

Following the CA-62 east from Joshua Tree turns into a long desert road scene like from a movie. There are some incredible rocks to explore and a lot of open desert that will make you feel like you’re the only one out there. After about 30 miles from Twentynine Palms lies the Sheephole Valley Wilderness. If being alone in the beautiful vast desert with no others in sight sounds appealing, then dispersed camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness is a great option for you! No service, incredible stars, infinite washes to follow, and the random rock mountains to climb up are a few things that make free camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness so awesome.

Quick Info: Camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness

Cost: Free

Ownership: BLM; 14 day limit

Directions: From Twentynine Palms, follow the CA-62 east for 31 miles. There will be a Sheephole Valley Wilderness sign on the left and this is where you will turn left. Now that you’re in the designated wilderness, follow the dirt road as far as you like to find the perfect spot for dispersed camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness.

Solar: Great

Water: None

Miles From Town: 31

Cell Service: None

Road Conditions: The main dirt road through Sheephole Valley Wilderness is very well maintained, graded and even watered. There is some sort of mining operation located down the road. Which leads me to mentioning the minimal through traffic of trucks hauling to and from.

Check out the video below to find out more about dispersed camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness. And please subscribe to stay up to date with our on the road adventures!

Our Experience Camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness

We find ourselves in the Joshua Tree often when the winter weather hits the mountains. The area is great for finding solitude, sunny skies and random off the beaten path adventures. Heading east from Joshua Tree we’ve found some nice dispersed camping near Old Dale. And then even further east, great dispersed camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness.

We were excited about camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness because of its proximity to the distant, less visited area of Joshua Tree National Park. There is an incredible spot off the CA-62 where millions of Joshua Trees’ perfect granite rocks lay sprawled out across the desert providing opportunities for days of scrambling and exploring!

After turning off of the CA-62, we followed the dirt road for about 3 miles before choosing our camp spot. The views in every direction are great! And this vast desert landscape view gets even more beautiful each night as the sunsets and the colors take over the sky, putting on a show for those lucky enough to be spectating.

Once the awe of the sunset display passes, give it another hour or two before the dark sky puts on its own impressive presentation. The night sky that we got to see while we were camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness was unbelievable! There were so many stars and the milky way lit up a streak across the sky.

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We also loved going on short adventures from our camp spot. There are some fun rocks to climb and washes to follow just to explore the desert a bit further. But as far as adventures while camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness, our favorite was a drive over to the amazing rock scrambling in the secret side of Joshua Tree.

During our stay, we saw very little traffic except the tiny cars we could see in the distance travelling on the CA-62. We saw maybe 2 semi trucks a day and a about 4 random passenger cars while we were here.

One day while we were here, we decided to drive further into Sheephole Valley Wilderness area. We followed the one road until it branched – one led to the mining company and the other paralleled the mountains. It didn’t seem like the road ever led closer to the mountains. We had fun taking that little drive but didn’t find much and didn’t go very far.

Camping in Sheephole Valley Wilderness is very peaceful and beautiful. You can find as many adventures as you’d like or just enjoy the view from camp. And the February weather couldn’t have been better!

Thanks for Reading!

We had a great time camping in Sheephole Wilderness. Since we live and work on the road, we had to get back to having cell service so we could both work and play. So as Tom Petty once said, “It’s time to move on, time to get goin’…”

If you’d like to see some other places that we’ve boondocked, check out the links below:

• Camping and Climbing at Logandale Trails
• Free Camping at Laguna Mountain Recreation Area
• Camping and Exploring at The Buttermilks
• Boondocking Near Laramie in Medicine Bow National Forest

While living on the road and exploring these beautiful places, we’re also working hard creating our hand painted Lost Coast Longboarding longboards! To see our latest lineup, head over to our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop!

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