Our Programs
Friends of Joshua Tree is a grassroots access group for Joshua Tree National Park representing all those who love nature’s wild places to explore and recreate responsibly in Joshua Tree National Park.
Climbers, hikers, wildlife viewers, night sky enthusiasts, trail runners, backpackers and campers are all part of our community.
We work to ensure that future generations of climbers and other park enthusiasts will be able to enjoy the park. The following are our areas of focus:
Climb Smart
Climb Smart is an annual 3-day event running all day Friday – Sunday, featuring climbing and educational clinics, catered dinner, entertainment, vendors and more.
NATIONAL PARK LIAISON
Over the past twenty years, Friends of Joshua Tree has established a proactive dialogue with the National Park Service to ensure continued climbing access in the park. Through collaborations with the park administration, Friends of Josh has had a guiding hand in the Backcountry and Wilderness Management Plan, and is playing an integral part in the writing of the new Joshua Tree National Park Climbing Policy. We are the first climbing advocacy group in the country to secure a Memo Of Understanding (MOU) with the National Park Service.
REBOLTING PROGRAM
Historically, Joshua Tree local advocates have contributed mightily to the safe replacement of fixed anchors in the Park. Friends of Joshua Tree established a paid rebolting program in 2026 to fully support the route maintenance needs within the Park, both inside and outside of designated wilderness areas. We ask climbers to report bad bolts so we can plan future work and apply for rebolting permits with the Park. We remind climbers that rebolting in JTNP needs to go through a lengthy special use permit process. Climbers should not attempt to tighten bolts without specialized knowledge and tools.
JOSHUA TREE CLIMBER STEWARDS
Started in 2016 with one active part-time steward living in the Park, this cooperative agreement with JTNP now hosts several in-season full time stewards living in the Park and helping visitors practice desert-aware behavior, recent Park updates like raptor closures, and to stay found. Climber Stewards are representatives of the best the climbing community has to offer and frequently participate in stewardship projects with Park staff, as well as drum up and support other volunteer efforts.
Climber Coffee
The most visible to you is Climber Coffee every Saturday 8:30 am at Intersection Rock parking lot in Joshua Tree National Park, during the climbing season. We’ve been supporting this program for over 10 years and the original sponsor of Climber Coffee in the Park.
TRAIL RESTORATION
Friends of Joshua Tree works with the Access Fund and the National Park Service to establish and maintain trails in the park, and urges climbers and others to approach crags only via designated trails. Several times per year FOJT musters a strong volunteer corps to effect positive impact in the Park’s myriad trails and damaged or sensitive natural areas.
DESERT ECOLOGY
Friends of Joshua Tree advocates Leave No Trace practices, urging climbers and others to respect the sensitive plant and animal life flourishing in the fragile desert ecology. Joshua Tree sits at the ecotone of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, and at an average of 5000 ft elevation, is home to a number of endangered and unique flora and fauna that every visitor would want their great grandchildren to experience firsthand… that means being sensitive and very gentle on the terrain wherever one goes.
LITTER-FREE DESERT
Friends of Joshua Tree urges climbers and others to pack out all trash, and to use designated bathrooms whenever available. When using dumpsters or vault toilets, make sure there isn’t anything a critter can get into spilling over or outside of the specially designed bins (over 100 in the Park!).
GYM TO CRAG
Gym to Crag is the FOJT program that tours SoCal gyms with the goal of meeting climbers face-to-face and answering questions, educating folks and creating relationships with important local climbing resources (including local ethics, safety protocols, Park services, and local cultural information). G2C has been running for close to 10 years, and as gyms expand and propagate through the region, so has interest in getting into the vertical realm of the high desert. This program focuses on climber safety, protecting sensitive resources and driving awareness of challenges to access and healthy wild ecosystems in the high desert and beyond. The vision of our program is to build up a corps of educated and informed climbers who will willingly step up to protect access to healthy desert communities.
PARK IMPROVEMENTS
Friends of Joshua Tree provides input on various park issues such as automobile parking, raptor nesting protection, various user trails and environmental impact, and others important to climbers and other visitors. We also work directly with climbers to educate them on important park issues. Through events, slide shows, public gatherings, and town hall meetings, climbers learn about issues ranging from crag access and bolting policy to park preservation and desert plant & animal protection. FOJT keeps its members up-to-date through this website and the newsletter published three times a year.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Friends of Joshua Tree actively communicates with the local Joshua Tree business community, advocacy network and the tribal leadership who all consider Joshua Tree National Park and environs extremely important. Through events, collaborations, meetings and activations online, FOJT brings together the people who share the incredible natural and cultural resources of the area. Our Local Area Advisory Group, Joshua Tree Facelift, the Tribes Forum and Climb Smart bring together diverse minds to work out solutions and inform decision-making in the various organizations and communities of Joshua Tree.