Joshua Tree National Park 2004 Visitor Study

---

Social Science Program
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

Visitor Services Project

 

Joshua Tree National Park
Visitor Study

 

Spring 2004
Report 152

 

Park Studies Unit

 

---

Social Science Program
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

Visitor Services Project

 

Joshua Tree National Park

 

Visitor Study

Spring 2004

 

Yen Le
Margaret A. Littlejohn
Steven J. Hollenhorst

Visitor Services Project
Report 152

December 2004

 

Yen Le is a Research Assistant for the Visitor Services Project (VSP), Margaret Littlejohn is the National Park Service VSP Coordinator, and Dr. Steven Hollenhorst is the Director of the Park Studies Unit, Department of Conservation Social Sciences, University of Idaho. We thank the staff and volunteers of Joshua Tree National Park for their assistance with this study. The VSP acknowledges the Public Opinion Lab of the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, Washington State University, for its technical assistance.

 

---

Visitor Services Project
Joshua Tree National Park
Report Summary

 

• This report describes the results of a visitor study at Joshua Tree National Park (NP) during April 3-9, 2004. A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed to visitor groups. Visitor groups returned 525 questionnaires for a 75% response rate.

• This report profiles Joshua Tree NP visitors. A separate appendix contains visitors’ comments about their visit. This report and the appendix include summaries of those comments.

• Forty-five percent of visitor groups were groups of two and 25% were groups of three or four. Fifty-three percent of the visitor groups were family groups. Fifty-nine percent of visitors were age 26-60 years and 19% were age 15 or younger.

• International visitors, comprising 8% of the total visitation, were from Canada (29%), Germany (21%), England (19%), and 15 other countries. United States visitors were from California (76%), Washington (4%), 31 other states, and Washington D.C.

• Prior to this visit, visitor groups most often obtained information about Joshua Tree NP through previous visit(s) (52%), friends/relatives/word of mouth (43%), and internet-NPS or Joshua Tree NP web site (39%). Eight percent of visitor groups received no information before their visit. Most groups (90%) received the information they needed about the park.

• Eighty-five percent of visitor groups’ primary reason for traveling to the Joshua Tree NP area (including Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and Twentynine Palms) was to visit Joshua Tree NP. On this visit, the most common activities while visiting Joshua Tree NP were sightseeing (83%), visiting visitor centers (58%), and dayhiking (56%).

• The average visitor group expenditure in and outside the park (including Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and Twentynine Palms) was $254. The average per capita expenditure was $78. The median visitor group expenditure (50% of group spent more, 50% spent less) was $115.

• In regard to use, importance, and quality of park services and facilities, it is important to note the number of visitor groups that responded to each question. The most used information services/facilities by the 454 respondents included park brochure/map (93%) and park newspaper (63%). The information services/facilities that received the highest “extremely important” and “very important” ratings included park brochure/map (86%, N=408) and self-guided trail brochures (83%, N=135). Assistance from visitor center staff (92%, N=164) is the service that received the highest “good” and “very good” quality rating.

• The most used visitor services/facilities by the 476 respondents included directional road signs-in park (86%), restrooms (85%), and paved roads (81%). The visitor services/facilities that received the highest “extremely important” and “very important” ratings included campgrounds (96%, N=189), trails (92%, N=296), and restrooms (91%, N=391). The service that rceived the highest “good” and “very good” quality rating was trails (87%, N=286).

• Most visitor groups (93%) rated the overall quality of visitor services at Joshua Tree NP as "very good" or "good." Less than two percent of visitor groups rated the overall quality of visitor services as “poor” or "very poor."

For more information about the Visitor Services Project, please contact the University of Idaho Park Studies Unit—visit the VSP website: http://www.psu.uidaho.edu [1]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page⁠
INTRODUCTION		1
METHODS		2
RESULTS		5
⁠	Visitor groups contacted	5
	Demographics	5
	Visitor awareness of Congressionally designated wilderness areas	10
	Sources of information	11
	Visitor awareness of issues facing Joshua Tree NP	14
	Visitor travel plans	16
	Primary reason for visiting the area	17
	Length of visit/number of park entries/number of vehicles	18
	Activities	21
	Overnight accommodations/campsite reservations	23
	Sites visited	28
	Park entrance used	32
	Information services and facilities: use, importance, and quality	33
	Visitor services and facilities: use, importance, and quality	52
	Importance of selected park features/qualities	67
	Importance of selected services to visitor enjoyment	69
	Total expenditures	71
	Expenditures inside the park	74
	Expenditures outside the park	79
	Visitor opinions about fees	86
	Visitor opinions about safety in the park	88
	Visitor opinions about safety in the town/city closest to home	92
	Visitor opinions about wildlife in the park	94
	Visitor support of a trash-fee environment in the park	96
	Future preference for camping	98
	Overall quality	99
	What visitors liked most	100
	What visitors liked least	102
	Visitor opinions about national significance of the park	104
	Planning for the future	105
	Additional comments	107
ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS		111
QUESTIONNAIRE		113
VISITOR SERVICES PROJECT PUBLICATIONS		115