Official Program and Activity Booklet

NATIONAL PARK

JOSHUA TREE

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK
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Joshua Tree National Park is an amazing place that needs 

to be cared for by amazing people like you. National 

parks belong to everyone in the United States. We have set 

them aside forever, for as far as we can see into the future, 

as outstanding national treasures. Each park is unique and 

teaches us something important about what it means to be 

an American, whether the site is related to people who lived 

there long ago, to historic events that took place there, or 

to the different natural environments in this vast nation.

Amazing Places Need...
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Joshua Tree was established as a national monument in 1936 

when President Franklin Roosevelt signed a proclamation 

protecting this part of the desert. In 1994, under the California 

Desert Protection Act, the monument became a national park. 

Today, Joshua Tree National Park contains about 800,000 

acres of unspoiled desert. Two deserts, in fact-the Mojave, 

or high desert, and the Colorado, or low desert- meet here. 

Because different kinds of plants and animals live within each 

desert area, the park has a wide variety of living things.

...Amazing People!
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Have you noticed those incredible rock formations? 

Scientists come to Joshua Tree National Park to learn 

more about geology, and visitors come from all over the 

world to photograph, sketch, or climb the rocks. Human 

history is also an important part of the Joshua Tree National 

Park story. There is evidence that humans have lived in this 

area for about 10,000 years, including American Indians, 

cattlemen, miners, and homesteaders. It’s no wonder Joshua 

Tree National Park is a special place, worthy of protection. 

You can help preserve Joshua Tree and other national parks 

for future generations by becoming a junior ranger.

* Leave only footprints, take only pictures and memories.

* Let animals find their own food; do not feed them.

* Help litter find its way to trash cans & recycling bins. 

* Do not pick the plants; they provide food for animals. 

Have You Noticed?

Keep in mind while you visit:
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1. Write your name here:

2. Dates of your visit:

3. Complete the activities on pages 6 to 9 and page 30.

4. Open to the page for your age level and complete two 

activities. 

How many days were you in Joshua Tree National Park?

Find the page for your age level:

 a. Ages 4 to 7: go to page 12 ~ Lizards

 

 b. Ages 8 to 10: go to page 18 ~ Roadrunners

 c. Ages 11 to 14: go to page 24 ~ Coyotes

5. Attend a ranger program or visit an exhibit in a visitor 

center. Have a ranger initial here:

6. List three ways you can help to protect and preserve 

Joshua Tree National Park:

 a.

 b.

 c.

7. Check off the places you visited on the map on page 10.

8. Take your completed workbook to any visitor center, 

entrance station, or ranger program and receive your junior 

ranger badge! The Junior Ranger booklet counts towards 

the scout badge for national parks. It is worth three hours 

towards the badge. 

Becoming A Junior Ranger
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Check off the animals you have seen.

Butterfly

Bat

Lizard

Bighorn Sheep

Kangaroo Rat Gambel’s Quail

Scorpion

Darkling Beetle

Wildlife Watch
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Check off the animals you have seen.

Ground Squirrel

Cactus Wren

Jackrabbit

Tarantula

Desert Tortoise

Roadrunner

Coyote

Gopher Snake

Wildlife Watch
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Check off the plants you have seen.

Scrub Oak

Beavertail Cactus 

Chia Joshua Tree

Brittlebush

Cholla Cactus 

Plant Checklist
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Check off the plants you have seen.

Sacred Datura Mojave Yucca

Creosote Bush

Juniper Barrel Cactus

California Fan Palm 

Plant Checklist
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Joshua Tree Visitor Center Oasis Visitor Center

Black Rock Canyon

Covington Flat

Indian Cove Fortynine 

Palms Oasis 

Keys Ranch

Keys View 

Cholla Cactus Garden

Skull Rock

Hidden Valley Arch Rock

Jumbo Rocks

Cap Rock

Barker Dam

5 miles

Where have you been in Joshua Tree National Park 

during your visit? Circle on the map the places 

you have visited. If you went someplace that is not on 

the map, write it in.

Where Have You Been?
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Cottonwood Visitor Center

Cottonwood Spring

Lost Palms Oasis

Where Have You Been?
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Lizards are reptiles, cold-blooded animals that have to 

bask in the sun in order to warm their bodies. That is why 

you will often see them sitting on a rock, allowing the sun 

to heat them from above, and the rock to warm them from 

below. The largest lizard in Joshua Tree is the plant eating 

chuckwalla. 

Lizards
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During winter, most lizards including the chuckwallas, 

brumate, saving their energy for spring when it warms up 

again. Then they can spend their days hunting for insects or 

nibbling wildflowers. Chuckwallas get all the water they need 

from the food they eat. Watch for lizards on top of boulders 

and along the side of the road. 

Ages 4,5,6 & 7
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T 

he place where animals live is called a habitat. A good 

habitat will provide an animal with food, water, shelter 

and space. While you are in the park, look for good habitat 

for desert animals. In the spaces below, draw pictures of two 

kinds of food for desert animals, two places where an animal 

has made a home, and two different animals you have seen. 

Food

Home

Animals

Hunting For Habitat
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TRAIL

Go on a scavenger hunt in the park. Look for, but don’t 

collect, the items in the boxes below. Remember to leave 

the plants and rocks where you find them. Place an “X” on the 

items that you find. Find four in a row down, across or diagonally 

in order to complete this activity. Can you find them all?

Rock Climber Bird

Joshua Tree Ground Squirrel Boulder Pile Wildflower

Mountains Lizard

Old Buildings

Tent

Insect Rock Art Palm Tree Trail Sign

Ranger Hat Cactus

Scavenger Hunt Bingo
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Have you ever seen a lizard sitting on a rock, soaking up 

the sun? Sit quietly, and pretend that you are a lizard!

Lazy Lizard Eye

What do you see around you?

How many sounds do you hear and what might they be?

Use your sense of touch. What do you feel?
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Find a spot in the park with many large rocks. Do you see 

any that have unique or unusual shapes? Find your favorite 

boulder and draw a picture of it. If you want to, include 

yourself in the picture! List some of your discoveries below.

Two things I saw:

Two things I heard:

Two things I smelled:

Two things I touched:

Be A Rock Star
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Roadrunners are well-known for their long beaks, their 

ability to run fast, the odd clacking noises they make, and 

their interesting diet. They can use their long, sharp beak like 

a spear, allowing them to catch lizards and snakes. Although 

they are able to fly, they prefer to stay close to the ground. 

Roadrunners
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They use their huge, x-shaped feet to run across the 

desert. By snapping their jaws open and shut, they produce 

an assortment of sounds, allowing them to communicate with 

other roadrunners. Watch for them crossing the road, and 

whizzing across open spaces.

Ages 8,9 & 10
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Desert plants have many different adaptations to survive 

the summer heat. Some plants store water. Some have 

little white hairs on their leaves or white spines to reflect 

heat from the sun’s rays. Other plants have hairs, spines, or 

leaves that provide shade for their stems. Still others have 

a waxy coating on their stems and leaves to prevent water 

loss. Draw plants that you find with these adaptations. You 

can use a plant guide or ask a ranger to help identify what 

you drew so you can label your sketches. Remember not to 

pick any plants inside the park!

This plant stores water

This plant reflects sunlight This plant provides its own shade

This plant has a waxy coating

Plant Sketch
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Walk through a natural area that has native plants. 

Imagine that you are an American Indian child living 

in this desert area and your parents are teaching you to be 

a skilled hunter and gatherer. They give you the list below 

of items that your family needs. Look closely at the things 

around you. Draw pictures in the boxes below of what you 

would bring back. 

Something to grind seeds with Plant with fibers for basket-making

A sharp point for a sewing needle Straight sticks for arrow-making

Dinner (dessert too!) Something for a child to play with

Desert Shopping
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Joshua Tree National Park is full of boulders and rock 

piles that have taken millions of years to form. Magma, 

or molten rock, from deep inside the earth rose towards the 

surface then cooled and hardened while still underground. 

These massive granite rock formations are constantly being 

reshaped by the sun, wind, water, and ice. As you walk through 

the park, check off the following kinds of rocks you see:

a round rock

a flat rock

a tall rock

a striped rock

a rough rock

a jagged rock

a rock bigger than you

a rock with a crack in it

a rock found in a boulder pile

a rock that sparkles

a rock smaller than your hand

a rock that looks like an animal

Rock Ramble

Draw a picture of your favorite rock in the park.

Please leave all rocks where you find them for other visitors to enjoy. 
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D

e

s

e

r

t

For many people, writing poems about the desert helps 

them to express how they experience the desert. Write 

a poem using the letters of the word “desert” to begin each 

line.

Darkening skies:

Evening arrives.

Sunset enters

Every creviceRocks shadowy,

Trees blanketed.

Desert Poem Acrostic
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Coyotes

Maybe you’ve seen them around the Hidden Valley picnic 

area or alongside the road. Coyotes are the largest 

wild dogs that live in Joshua Tree National Park, and they 

may also be the smartest. They have learned that humans 

will sometimes throw them tidbits of food, although that is 

against park rules. Coyotes are omnivores by nature: they 

eat both plants and animals. 
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Ages 11,12,13 & 14

A typical diet in the wild consists of rabbits, other small 

game, berries, grass, and seeds. Being dependent on 

human food is likely to make them ill, and they should never 

be fed. Coyotes are often heard yipping and calling to one 

another in the early evening. Watch for them in the rocks 

and trotting through our desert washes.
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Lots of animals live in Joshua Tree National Park, 

although visitors don’t always see them. If you look 

closely, you may find clues to what animals have been doing. 

What animal signs do you see? Maybe you see a footprint 

or track, scat or animal droppings, nibblings on a plant, a 

feather on the ground, or possibly the animal itself. In 

the space below, list five signs that you observe. Be sure 

to include which animal you think each sign belongs to and 

what you think the animal was doing. Look closely! You 

might be surprised by what you observe. 

1. Animal:

Activity:

2. Animal:

Activity:

3. Animal:

Activity:

4. Animal:

Activity:

5. Animal:

Activity:

Amazing Animals
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Many people throughout the centuries have made 

their home in the lands now occupied by Joshua Tree 

National Park. Can you match the following sentence clues 

to the scrambled words below?

ncaamtelt, akrp rregna, naamceri ianind, rheodmaeest, dglo rmein

Scrambled words to choose from for filling in the blanks above:

The government said the land was free so I loaded the 

wagon, hitched the team, and headed west.

I am the

I dammed the water so the doggies could drink. The 

grass grew waist high then. There was plenty of food 

for my cattle.

I am the

Where there’s quartz there’s gold, they say. So I 

came with my pickax to make my fortune. It was 

hard work breaking that rock!

I am the

Long ago I hunted for my food and made my clothes 

from plants and animal hides. I left petroglyphs and 

pictographs on the rocks.

I am the

I work to protect the park’s resources and the visitors 

who come to enjoy them.

I am the

Who Am I?
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Joshua Tree National Park, like many other National Park 

Service sites in the United States, is known for its 

spectacular scenery, majestic views, and wilderness areas. As 

you drive or hike through the park, look closely at the natural 

scenery. Find a spot in which to sit and sketch an impressive 

landscape you see.

Landscape Drawing
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Earth-friendly things I want to try.... 

Turn off lights, computers, and stereo systems when not using them. 

Walk, ride a bike or skateboard, or take a bus instead of asking for a 

ride in a personal vehicle. 60% of all air pollution comes from cars. 

Reuse paper and plastic bags and other household items. 

Reuse and recycle everything you can!

Plant native plants like cacti and other low water users in your yard 

instead of grass lawns. Create a native backyard habitat. 

Water plants either in the early morning or the late evening.

Create a compost pile to mulch your yard.

Replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact 

fluorescent bulbs.

Replace old household appliances with energy-efficient ones.

For cooling systems, set the thermostat between 75 and 80 degrees. 

For heating systems, set the thermostat between 65 and 70 degrees.

Use energy-efficient fans to circulate air.

If you are cold, put on a sweater or add another layer of clothing.

On warm days, hang your clothes outside instead of using a dryer.

Reuse grocery bags or use cloth bags when grocery shopping.

Buy recycled products when possible.

Buy long-lasting, durable items rather than disposable ones.

Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones.

Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.

You have probably heard a lot about the many threats the 

Earth’s environment is facing: climate change, air and water 

pollution, loss of critical habitat, etc. Sometimes it may seem that 

you are unable to do anything to help our environment. But, there 

are simple things you can do. Look at the suggestions below and 

check off the things you already do. Then circle the things you 

want to try, and write a few sentences about what you would do. 

Earth Friendly Checklist
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You can be a naturalist! A naturalist is someone who 

observes things in nature. He or she studies plants, 

animals, rocks, soil, or stars to understand them and help 

protect them. Pretend that you’re a naturalist at Joshua 

Tree National Park. Find a quiet spot in which to observe the 

plants and animals around you. In the space below, draw or 

write about what you see. Label your drawings if you know 

the names of what you are observing.

Nature Sketchbook
Certificate of Achievement

Congratulations, Junior Ranger!

Ranger Date

Junior Ranger Pledge

You are an important part of this park and other national parks. Thank you for your hard work! Great job!This certifies that has met the requirements of a Joshua Tree National Park Junior Ranger. 

I, promise to do my best to be a friend to nature and to respect the places and objects used by people long ago. I realize my actions will be an example to other people. I promise to share with others what I have learned and to help them enjoy nature safely. 

NATIONAL PARK

JOSHUA TREE

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NATIONAL PARK

JOSHUA TREE

Written by the Education Staff of Joshua Tree National Park

Graphic design and illustration by Christine Elder

Joshua Tree National Park

74485 National Park Drive

Twentynine Palms, CA 92277

Phone: 760-367-5500

www.nps.gov/jotr

Printed in 2010