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Joshua Tree National Park Plans To Expand Cottonwood Visitor Center

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Published Date

January 27, 2017

For 20 years, a double-wide trailer has served as the visitor center at Cottonwood Springs near the southern border of Joshua Tree National Park in California. With visitation climbing rapidly, the park hopes to renovate the visitor center and surrounding facilities by 2022.

“The purpose of the rehabilitation effort is to improve the visitor facilities, both to accommodate growing visitation to Joshua Tree and to better interpret the park’s unique ecosystem, within a more sustainable, comfortable, and energy-efficient building,” Superintendent David Smith wrote in a newsletter that introduces the project.

The park wants to replace the modular, temporary structure that serves as the visitor center with a building designed for the site and climate and which incorporates indoor and outdoor spaces that better interpret the story of Cottonwood Springs and the surrounding Colorado Desert. In addition, the parking lot will be expanded.

At Joshua Tree, visitation crossed 2.5 million in 2016, up by more than a half-million people from 2015, which was the first year the park welcomed more than 2 million visitors.

The project is relying on funding from entrance fees, which are channeled back into infrastructure projects or services that directly meet visitor needs. Park officials hope to break ground in the next two to three years, with completion by 2022.

Those interested in learning more and providing input can find the introductory newsletter at the park planning site, or request a hard copy by calling 760-367-5502 or visiting park headquarters in Twentynine Palms. To receive email updates about the project, call 760-367-5680, visit park headquarters in Twentynine Palms, or write to Joshua Tree National Park; Kirk Diamond, Chief of Maintenance; 74485 National Park Drive; Twentynine Palms, CA 92277.

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