Joshua Tree Backpacking & Rock Climbing for Adults
Enjoy dark starry skies and rejuvenate your senses as you backpack through the rolling expanses of the Mojave Desert and rock climb the boulders and tangled granite that rise from the earth.
During this adventure, you’ll backpack through the vast expanses of the Mojave Desert and enjoy dark starry skies. The ruggedly beautiful Joshua Tree National Park receives more than a million visitors each year, but only a handful of those venture more than a mile from the parking lot. With this immersive experience, you’ll make deep connections with your crew and travel through the rich ecosystem. Beyond the parks’ namesake Joshua Tree, the park is home to many birds, animals, cholla cactus and palms. The demanding and beautiful desert offers the opportunity to challenge your personal limits, refresh your leadership skills and rejuvenate your senses while finding time to reflect.
UPCOMING COURSES
Course # XJAE-2421
Age 18 and up
Days 7
Cost $2,540
Dates 12/27/2024 - 1/2/2025
JOIN WAITLIST
Once a course has reached capacity, three waitlist positions become available. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. A $500 deposit is required. This $500 deposit includes a $150 non-refundable application fee and a $350 tuition payment. The $350 tuition payment is refundable only if you cancel your waitlist application or if an open position does not become available. If a position does become available, the applicant will be applied to the open position and the Application and Cancellation Policies of the Regional Outward Bound School will be followed, including forfeiture of the $500 deposit if you cancel 90 days or less prior to the course start date.
Waitlist applicants are encouraged to complete all required admissions documents while awaiting an open position. Positions may become available up to two weeks prior to the course start date. Applicants may only apply to one course. We recommend applying to a course with open positions instead of a course that is accepting waitlist applications. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.
Course # XJCE-2521
Age 18 - 25
Days 7
Cost $2,540
Dates 12/27/2025 - 1/2/2026
APPLY NOW
This means a course has several open spots and is actively processing applications.
APPLY NOW
This means a course has several open spots and is actively processing applications.
APPLY NOW – Almost Full
This means there are three or fewer currently available spots left on a course. To secure your spot click Apply Now to begin an application!
JOIN WAITLIST
Once a course has reached capacity, three waitlist positions become available. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. A $500 deposit is required. This $500 deposit includes a $150 non-refundable application fee and a $350 tuition payment. The $350 tuition payment is refundable only if you cancel your waitlist application or if an open position does not become available. If a position does become available, the applicant will be applied to the open position and the Application and Cancellation Policies of the Regional Outward Bound School will be followed, including forfeiture of the $500 deposit if you cancel 90 days or less prior to the course start date.
Waitlist applicants are encouraged to complete all required admissions documents while awaiting an open position. Positions may become available up to two weeks prior to the course start date. Applicants may only apply to one course. We recommend applying to a course with open positions instead of a course that is accepting waitlist applications. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.
CALL TO APPLY
This means a course is very close to its start date. Although it is unlikely to secure a spot this late, you can call the National Admissions office at 866-467-7651 to discuss your options.
COURSE IS FULL
When a course has reached maximum capacity, meaning all spots and the three waitlist spots are occupied, a course will read “Course Is Full.” This means applications are no longer being accepted.
CLOSED
As a course nears its start date, the availability status may read “Closed.” In this event, a course roster has been finalized and applications are no longer being accepted or processed.
We hiked to the highest peak in the park. On our way there, we slept over and did the solo. That was one of the biggest impacts on me – it was a night all by myself to reflect. I connected with nature. It was a clear night sky with no distractions from anyone. I’ve never had that much connection to nature. Just silence all around – I could hear the wind moving. There was a point in the evening, where I got up and meditated on the view before the sun went down.
This course is designed for those either new to backpacking, or who have some experience and are interested in exploring the desert environment. The low elevation and high chance of encountering unique wildlife as students travel off the tourist track, will provide a rare experience and set of challenges.
Crew members will begin by learning foundational skills such as camp setup, cooking and navigation. As students learn these crafts and develop trust with their group, Instructors will step back and transfer ownership of the course to the students. By the end of course the crew will manage their own routes, daily schedule, navigation and other necessary skills for expeditionary travel. Each day presents opportunities to learn new skills and work closely with teammates to travel efficiently and become self-reliant in the desert.
The rocks section of this course is designed for all levels and will teach students the skills necessary to be effective top-rope climbers. The first lessons will set the foundation for belaying and movement on rock and progress toward more advanced skills, including rappelling. Students build trust and motivational leadership as they belay and are belayed by their crew in this base camping section of the course.
Service to others and to the environment are core values of Outward Bound and they are integrated into each course. Participants follow Leave No Trace ethics as part of their service to the environment. Students develop an ingrained appreciation of service, seeing the impact of their actions firsthand, by multiple small acts of service with and for their crewmates while leading and supporting each other throughout the journey.
In order for profound learning to take place, there must be time to reflect on the experience. Solo is that opportunity, and that time can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. It is a chance to experience solitude in the wilderness without distraction while also taking a break from the physical rigors of activities. Students experience short periods of time away from their group throughout the course for reflection. These “mini-solos” are at solo sites chosen by Instructors to provide as much solitude as possible (within emergency whistle-signaling distance of other group members). Participants have all necessary equipment, food and water during their Solo time, and safety is always the top priority.
Outward Bound expeditions encourage students to grow into the best version of themselves. Compassion for self and others is foundational to our educational approach. Students work collaboratively with their peers and as individuals to navigate challenging circumstances and the everyday harshness of the natural environment. The physical and mental challenges students experience on course allow them to discover their strengths and build authentic connections. Through intentionally tiered technical skill instruction, students also gain self-efficacy in outdoor competencies related to their course. Consistent and cultivated space for introspection or interactive reflective processes supports students making connections between their experiences and their life back home Whether the expedition is a few days or a few months, students realize that they are stronger than they know, and develop confidence and perseverance that will last a lifetime.
Some of the social and emotional learning outcomes students can expect include:
- Belonging – a sense of connection in the group founded upon respect, inclusion, empathy and compassion
- Courage – catalyzing strengths in order to persevere and take on challenge and risks
- Physical Engagement – develop body awareness and confidence through sensate and bodily experiences
- Self-Regulation – the ability to counter distraction and strong emotions by calming, refocusing, and turn-taking
- Reflection – examination and questioning of actions, roles, relationships and assumptions
Joshua Tree National Park
Welcome to the high desert moonscape, where rugged mountains and desert plateaus were sculpted by wind and rain. Three distinct ecosystems come together to form this land of extremes: the dark, cold, star-filled nights against warm sand and boulder-filled days. Students will travel through granite monoliths and through narrow canyons that have attracted travelers from around the world long before the park became a national park in 1936.
Temperatures can vary widely in the desert, averaging 50-70 degrees during the day to a cool 30 degrees or lower at night. The Mojave Desert’s sunny fall, winter and spring weather is perfect for a week on the trail or basecamping below the next climb. Weather in the park is generally dry and rainfall is sparse, though unpredictable, irregular, and sometimes persistent thunderstorms do occur. Rare winter snow storms are possible and it is a unique experience to see this commonly dry environment blanketed in white. The wind can often make you grateful for your cozy sleeping bag and hot drinks each night.
Travel in the desert takes careful planning to ensure an ample water supply. Logistics staff place water and food caches around the park to enable extended backcountry travel in this unique wilderness.
These regions are the ancestral lands of the Yuhaviatam/Maarenga’yam (Serrano), Cahuilla, Newe (Western Shoshone), Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute and Cocopah (Xawiƚƚ kwñchawaay) nations. We acknowledge them as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land, and also pay respect to their elders, both past and present. We recognize and continually support and advocate for the sovereignty of the Native nations of this territory and beyond. By offering this land acknowledgment we affirm tribal sovereignty, commit to working to support these tribes, and commit to holding Outward Bound California accountable to this work.
Course Stories
We hiked to the highest peak in the park. On our way there, we slept over and did the solo. That was one of the biggest impacts on me – it was a night all by myself to reflect. I connected with nature. It was a clear night sky with no distractions from anyone. I’ve never had that much connection to nature. Just silence all around – I could hear the wind moving. There was a point in the evening, where I got up and meditated on the view before the sun went down.
As an adult with a job and family, mortgage payments, and retirement planning, it can be difficult to not feel stuck, Stuck in the repetition of redundancy and stuck in the area of personal growth and development. As a child, your main job is to learn and grow about yourself and the ways of the world; as an adult the opportunity to work on yourself is easily diminished by other priorities. It becomes such a foreign concept that you can get lost in who you think you are and will always be. Thank you Outward Bound for providing a framework for me to rediscover myself and a safe place to uncover new things I have been hiding from. I am, in some ways, heartbroken to leave the course, but have no fear in returning to my life because I know that it will be forever changed for the better.
“In stillness, I find my true self.
And I’m looking for space and to find out who I am.
And I’m looking to grow and understand.
It is a sweet sweet dream.
Sometimes I’m almost there.
Sometimes I fly like an eagle.
Sometimes I’m deep in despair.”
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Getting Started
If you are ready to enroll on a course click the enroll button next to the course you wish to select or you can enroll over the phone by speaking with one of our Admissions Advisors (toll-free) at 866-467-7651.
To secure your spot on a course you must submit an enrollment form and $500 deposit that is applied toward the total cost of the course and includes a $150 non-refundable enrollment processing fee.