Borrego Springs vs. Joshua Tree: Which California Desert Is Right for You?

Joshua Tree gets roughly 3 million visitors a year. Anza-Borrego gets about 600,000 — across an area that's twice as large. That ratio explains most of what's different about the two trips.

Joshua Tree is closer to LA, more developed, and culturally louder — the town has restaurants, art, and weekend crowds. Borrego Springs is two hours from anywhere and has, essentially, one intersection.

If you want rock climbing, an Airbnb scene, and easy day trips from the city: Joshua Tree.

If you want a darker sky (Bortle 2 vs Bortle 3-4), wildflowers, slot canyons, palm oases, and the kind of silence that makes your ears ring: Borrego.

We're biased. But the Milky Way over Anza-Borrego is one of the last truly dark night skies in Southern California, and once you've seen it, the comparison stops being close.