Explore! Joshua Tree National Park: A Guide to Exploring the Desert Trails and Roads

This book covers all the basics of Joshua Tree. I found the writing more engaging than the writing in James Kaiser's book (Joshua Tree, the Complete Guide) but the Kaiser book is packed with color photographs and has an excellent reference section on Joshua Tree wildflowers. On the other hand, this book has much more detailed info on various hikes, and a brief writeup on the incredible stargazing you can do out there away from civilization. The maps could have been done better and been made more easily referenced from the text, but that's true of both books.