Hiking to Lost Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park

Hiking to Lost Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park is a great way to check out what the southern portion of the park has to offer. Lost Palms Oasis Trail is also a great option if you’re looking for something longer and rewarding. The trail becomes less busy after the turnoff for Mastodon Loop Trail which can be added on to the Lost Palm Oasis Trail if you’ve got extra energy. Lost Palms Oasis trail is a moderately difficult trail to a steep descent that leads to palm oases.

The trail itself is long but engaging with beautiful views all around so it truly is about the journey not the destination! The terrain and scenery continue to change throughout the hike keeping things interesting. Once to the palm oasis there is plenty of scrambling further up the canyon to check out. This area is also gorgeous during wildflower season.

In short, this hike offers a beautiful journey through the desert to a palm oasis with rock scrambling opportunities, features shaggy California Fan Palm Trees as well as numerous cacti and wildflowers, and gorgeous views! Read on to learn more about what to expect on this adventure!

Basic Info

Directions: From Cottonwood Visitor Center at the south entrance of Joshua Tree National Park, turn left onto Cottonwood Oasis Road for 1.2 miles.

Distance: 7.2 miles roundtrip; the Mastodon Peak trail branches off from Lost Palms Oasis trail and can be added on or done separately.

Difficulty: Moderate

checking out the ocotillo while hiking to lost palms oasis

Hiking to Lost Palm Oasis

From the parking area, we descended the concrete steps and followed the trail to the Cottonwood Springs Oasis. Here we checked out the shaggy California Fan Palms.

shaggy palms at the start of lost palms oasis hike

From here the trail is well defined and well marked as it leads through the beautiful desert scenery.

After about 0.7 miles the trail branches off for the Mastodon Peak Loop. This loop can be done on its own or in addition to hiking to Lost Palms Oasis. The loop trail climbs to Mastodon Peak, allowing for great views, and passes Mastodon Mine ruins. We continued on to Lost Palms Oasis. In the spring this hike was relatively busy but we noticed that after the turnoff for Mastodon Peak the traffic really thinned out.

The trail rose and fell as it passed several different kinds of cacti, numerous types of wildflowers and stunning desert landscapes.

Even though the trail was pretty easy, the beauty surrounding it kept our attention. The stunning scenery and its flora continued to change the further we hiked and it motivated us to keep on, curious what the desert was going to reveal next!

Liking this article? Pin it!

save this hiking to lost palms oasis article to pinterest

After passing cool rock formations, crossing several washes and passing areas with pretty vistas the trail steeply descended. After we made it down the descent we reached a flat, beautiful overlook. From here we could see several oases with clusters of palms as well as gorgeous views into the nearby canyon.

Since we were hiking to Lost Palm Oasis, we decided to scramble down further to actually reach the clusters of palms.

After checking out the palms of Lost Palm Oasis we scrambled up the dry falls to the next cluster of palms at Dike Springs. Here we had some lunch, scrambled a little further before heading back on the trail.

at the base of the palms at lost palms oasis

Thanks for Reading!

We loved hiking to Lost Palms Oasis! It was not only a beautiful trail but also a very adventurous one. In addition to having the option to add on Mastodon Loop Trail or scrambling to the oases there is also further exploring to do here. For example, backcountry camping is available in this area allowing for deeper exploration as well as hiking further through the canyon that Lost Palms Oasis was in.

after hiking to lost palms oasis you can continue scrambling

For more fun desert adventures, check out these articles:

We live on the road full time while going on these adventures! And to sustain our travels, we create hand painted longboards and screen print our own t-shirts. Head over to our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop to check them out!