Joshua Tree Backpacking for Adults
Re-energize as you backpack through the famous Joshua Tree wilderness.
During this adventure, you’ll backpack through the vast expanses of the Mojave Desert. 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 up-close view, you’ll travel through the rich ecosystem of birds and animals beside the parks’ namesake, the Joshua Tree, cholla cactus and palms. The demanding and beautiful desert, offers the opportunity to challenge your personal limits and refresh leadership skills while finding time to reflect.
NOTE: Outward Bound strongly recommends that all students be vaccinated against COVID-19 and up to date as defined by the CDC prior to arriving to their course start. For all open enrollment courses beginning on or after April 15, 2023, Outward Bound will no longer require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19. For questions regarding this policy please see this page or call us at 866-467-7651.
UPCOMING COURSES
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For detailed information on course availability statuses and what they mean, click here.
Course # XJRB-311
Age 30 and up
Days 4
Cost $1,540
Dates 1.13.23 - 1.16.23
Course # XJRB-321
Age 30 and up
Days 7
Cost $2,425
Dates 3.5.23 - 3.11.23
Course # XJRB-2421
Age 30 and up
Days 7
Cost $2,425
Dates 3.4.24 - 3.10.24
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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.
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.
Outward Bound courses vary in length from four (4) to 85 days. On shorter courses, participants will receive an introduction to leadership skills, strength of character and a desire to serve while activities fill most of the time and the pace is quick. With longer courses, the same outcomes and benefits are achieved with the opportunity to reach a more profound level of mastery as there are more chances to develop technical skills, receive and implement feedback and further personal development. However many days the expedition lasts, the strength and impact of the experience lasts a lifetime.
Backpacking and wilderness navigation techniques are great practice for the essential skills and habits that help prepare for new challenges at school, work, home and in the community. Outward Bound expeditions encourage students:
- to remain engaged and present, giving every challenge the best effort, even when the goal seems beyond reach.
- to form a team and focus on the team effort.
- to share responsibilities, communicate and lead. Leadership roles are shared within the group, and responsibilities rotate each day.
- to find reserves of tenacity and compassion. Outward Bound courses are designed to expand and stretch your limits so that every expedition is a true accomplishment and a memorable journey.
Joshua Tree National Park
Welcome to the high desert moonscape, where rugged mountains and desert plateaus have been 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. Participants 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.
The Mojave Desert’s sunny fall 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, and sometimes persistent thunderstorms do occur. Temperatures can vary, averaging 50 to 80 degrees during the day to a cool 30 degrees at night and potentially hitting 100 early or late in the season.
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.
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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.