I have been in Joshua Tree a couple of times for day trips. This was the first time I planned to spend any sort of quality time. I took the 3 day weekend for Presidents day and visited the park. This winter had been a wet one for us, but this weekend was sunny and dry.
The park was very busy. I talked with a ranger and she indicated that she thought the reason it was crowded was more that it was the first clear weekend in sometime than it was a 3 day weekend.
I stayed in Twentynine Palms and used the east entrance for the first time. The western entrance is located in the town of Joshua Tree.