New Year’s Family Road Trip in a campervan: Vegas to Palm Springs to Joshua Tree
Hey I am Travis, the owner of Titus Adventures. Late last fall we launched a new rental location in Las Vegas as a great place to continue the camping adventures during the winter months. While Vegas itself may not be best known as an outdoor Mecca, it is such a great start placed to hit popular (or undiscovered) desert highlights. For the last several months we have been offering one-way trips to Vegas from Denver and several of our vehicles have been making their way down to Vegas. Over the Christmas Holiday my family and I wanted to take the opportunity to experience Vegas and explore some areas we have not been before. When I learned that Joshua Tree and Palm Springs were less than 4hrs away, the seed was planted and we got to work planning.
None of us had been to Palm Springs or Joshua Tree before. Our kids had not been to Vegas before either (Stella is 9 and Austin is 6) so we decided to do a little “surf and turf” meaning we would take in the Vegas scene but then also head out into desert for some outdoor adventures as well. Below is a rundown of our trip day-by-day.
For more resources, head to the bottom of the blog for our clickable map, menu and also a video from the trip.
Enjoy!
DAY 1: Denver to Vegas
Our first day was an easy travel day from our home in Denver and flying to Las Vegas. It is a short 90min flight and in the air we were treated to great views of the landscape below.
Once in Vegas, we headed to our rental office just south of the airport to pick up our Glamper Van “Trisha” then it was off to the strip for a night on the town! We were staying at the Excalibur hotel and seeing a show that evening called The Tournament of Kings. This is a medieval dinner show with horses, swords, and Cornish game hens (apparently this show is the #1 buyer of Cornish game hens in the country!). The show is very entertaining for kids and was a great start to our trip.
The Colorado River flowing through Moab and Arches National Park
Checking in at the Excalibur
The Tournament of Kings
Zion National Park
A royal feast and show!
Day 2: Vegas to TwentyNine palms
Our first full day in the desert! First we headed to the grocery store to provision for the trip. Victoria had planned out all our meals (see our menu at the bottom) and was armed with a shopping list so we could be pretty efficient with the stop. Our grocery cart was very full but thankfully Trisha had lots of great storage space and we got everything loaded in the van.
Now it was time to shove off from town and we headed south on I-15, crossing the state line into California pretty quickly. The Mojave Desert was all consuming as we made the 3.5hr drive towards the Joshua Tree area. We did catch our first glimpse of Joshua Trees. Our destination for the night was outside of the town of Twentynine Palms, a small town on the northeast border of Joshua Tree National Park. I had mapped out a BLM area a few miles up a dirt road where we arrived around sunset. Tonight was New Years Eve and we knew the camping could be a little busy (and maybe rowdy…) but thought we might be able to find a quiet spot. Our worst fears were realized unfortunately as we rolled into what looked like a mini Burning Man. Hundreds of cars, trucks, campervans, RVs and all other vessels you could think of were in the very large flat, sandy camping area.
We pulled off to camp at a what felt like a mile away from the biggest crowds but as soon as we stopped, we were hit with the booming tones of massive subwoofers. Not wanting to push on in the dark through the desert sand, we called it a day and did our best to tune out the thumping that felt like it was vibrating deep in your body. Fortunately, the kids slept just fine and earplugs were deployed for us adults. We also got treated to our own fireworks show from some campers nearby setting off a good show.
This will be a New Year’s Eve we will all remember! Probably another night that is not the holiday, this would be a perfectly fine spot to camp for the night.
Well provisioned
Keeping our eyes peeled for the Desert Tortoise
Sunset in the Majave
Trisha’s private fireworks show
Fun with lights and a long exposure while the techno music thundered in the background.
Day 3: Twentynine Palms to Palm Springs
The music from the night finally stopped at about 8am (thanks for that!) and we mustered our positive energy knowing this was just a quick stop over spot and we were headed to greener palm trees. It was a nice 45 minute drive going west circling around the national park (which we would hit last on our trip) to Palm Springs. In town we wanted to grab the tram up Mt. San Jacinto (which is 8,000 feet above the valley floor) but when we got up to the tram parking area, we were told it was a 3 hour wait! Apparently we were not the only ones with this idea on New Year’s Day. We vowed to catch it next time.
We enjoyed driving around town, seeing the architecture, orange trees, Bougainvillea bushes and stopped for a picnic lunch at a central park. After lunch we headed a little south of town to Indian Canyons (fee required) and hit the jackpot with this very fun area to explore on foot. There are a series of lush canyons with water flowing through them that are chock full of huge palm trees. It felt like a Dr Seuss drawing. We spent a few hours here and then went back into town for some killer Mexican food at Blue Coyote and then we headed for our RV park for the night.
When researching camping options in Palm Springs, a lot of RV parks pop up and while that is not normally our scene, I wasn’t opposed to finding something that seemed fun. After realizing that most places in town were 55+ RV resorts where you book a place for the season, I found Sam’s Family Spa and RV Resort which has a great swimming pool and mineral pools. We enjoyed a soak that night (and the next morning).
Enjoying the sunshine in January
Walking in the canyon
Dialing up a mean picnic lunch
Looking down into Palm Canyon from the trailhead
Trisha backed into our palm tree spot
Enjoying an evening dip at the RV park pool
Day 4: Into Joshua Tree National Park
After another soak in the pools at the RV park, it was time to set off to head into the national park. We had reservations for 2 nights at Ryan Campground, a great spot in the heart of the park. There are very limited services in the park, including no water at the campground, so we topped off on water and gas. There is also very limited cell service in the park.
It’s about an hour drive to the South entrance of the park off I-10. Accompanying us as we approached was our GPS audio guide (called GuideAlong) that we have used with great success at other parks. The audio guide kicks on at a ton of GPS locations and filled us in on the park history, attractions, geology and more. The majority of the “good” stuff in the park is more in the northern part so we were mostly cruising through the huge park making our way North. One fun and quick stop was the cholla cactus garden which is a section that has hundreds and hundreds of these 3 foot tall “fuzzy” cactus that are also nicknamed the Teddy Bear Cactus.
Our next stop was at Heart Rock where we walked around a mile, starting to play on the amazing granite rocks in the park that are just a joy to climb on. There was an arch nearby too. We also found the crowds which were not as present in the southern park of the park. Again maybe not ideal timing to visit during a holiday but we managed fine. We continued on towards Ryan Campground but made a great stop around sunset at the Hall or Horrors rock formation and scrambled around to find this amazing slot in the rocks that we had to ourselves.
We found our campsite a few miles away and lucked into one of the best spots on the loop (number 30A). Clean bathroom was nearby, there were fun rocks to play on right at camp and Joshua Trees tucking us in. The day was capped off by amazing stars.
Packing up from Palm Springs
Cholla cactus garden. Can you see some friends hiding?
Getting tucked in
Playing in the J-Trees
Heart Rock
Sunset
Have to photo bomb the entrance sign!
In the Hall of Horrors
Trisha with fire-lit rocks at camp
Joshua trees at night
Day 5: Joshua Tree
While making breakfast, the kids were out playing on the rocks. We were aiming for an early-ish start as we knew the parking lots would start to fill up later in the day. Yesterday we had seen signs the park ranger put out saying parking lots fill by 10am. Our first stop was at Hidden Valley for an easy loop hike with plenty of rock scrambling available when we wanted. Then we passed the busy Intersection Rock area and parked at the Barker Dam area to set out for another overland hike. We did lots of side excursions, climbing up rocks that looked appealing.
When we got back the parking lot was getting very full and so we went down the road just a minute to the Echo T lot where it was pretty much empty. We had a relaxing lunch and then set out on foot from here making a little loop around one of the domes, watching some rock climbers along the way.
Our final stop of the day was to make our way up to Key Views at sunset. Unfortunately, it seemed like half the park visitors had the same idea and it was a busy mess. Victoria dropped us off and we walked out to the viewpoint just in time for some stunning colors. It was then a quick drive back to our campsite at Ryan.
Morning view from camp
Views at the end of a scramble
Looking down to the Barker Dam area
Coming back down after scrambling up one of the many domes
Sunset
Hiking towards Barker Dam
Opting to find our own path on the boulders
Views from Keys Views, looking back down into Palm Springs
Day 6: Joshua Tree back to Las Vegas
Today it was time to say goodbye to the park and head back to Vegas. We headed out the northeast entrance back to Twentynine Palms, grabbed some gas and then drove the ~3 hours back to Vegas. We took Trisha back to our shop, got her cleaned up and then made our way back to the Excalibur. We caught the afternoon comedy magic show with Mac King which we all found very entertaining. We then took in more of the strip, with the highlight being the fountain show at the Bellagio. Tomorrow we would fly back home.
Our takeaway
We all agree that the trip was a major hit! The kids got a total kick out of Vegas (it is pretty amazing when you are 9) and two nights there on the front and end of the trip was perfect. We then loved the easy access into amazing outdoor locations we had not been to before. Oh, and it was pretty nice to be in 70 degree weather in January when it was snowy back home!
The Glamper van Trisha was a delight for an offseason desert trip. The nights were chilly (in the 40s) but the heater kept us plenty cozy. We were able to eat our meals when and where we wanted, giving us a lot of flexibility in our literary. Finally, we were very grateful to have a smaller camper for navigating the busy parking lots, particularly in the park. We saw plenty of big RVs and they had to pass on many places since they just would not fit. Trisha has no problem popping into a standard parking spot!
The only thing we would change would be not to go over the New Year’s holiday. Our experience in the BLM location was pretty unpleasant and other places like Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park did feel extra crowded. Los Angeles is only a few hours away and so the areas get a lot of weekend action.
Helpful Info
Google Map:
Our Meal Plan
Dinners:
Fajitas we pre-cooked and marinated chicken
Pasta and pesto with salad kit
Red beans and rice with cooked chicken sausage
Lunches
Cold cuts
Hummus and pita pockets
Breakfasts
Breakfast burritos
Granola
Pancakes
Watch it:
