Reddit reviews Rock Climbing Joshua Tree, 2nd (Regional Rock Climbing Series)

There are a lot of them out there, REI has a good selection to start with.

Climbing guides are very expensive, but there are COMPLETELY worth it! I recommend searching out different books and then buying used off of Amazon. Pro-life tip. Purchase from smile.amazon.com and they donate a tiny bit of your purchase to a charity of your choice! :)

I have these books and they're fantastic:

• Shuteye Ridge, which is just outside of Yosemite. It's more of a local hot spot because they're out of the way but when I lived in this area for two summers I spent a lot of time with my nose in this book and my hands on these climbs. But I'm not sure it's worth the cost and the of full day it takes to get to these climbs. I recommend the beautiful Tuolomne area north of the Yosemite Valley and Shuteye, but you'll run into more crowds.
  
• This bouldering book for Yosemite valley is fantastic. If you enjoy bouldering it's helpful to get bouldering specific books because most climbing books only briefly mention bouldering areas.
  
• I love this particular Joshua Tree book but it is missing some fantastic recent sport routes. Talk to a lot of people before hitting up Joshua Tree. There's some incredible bouldering, sport, and especially trad in J-tree. There's also some cheaper places to camp than the main campsites. There's some government land outside of the park that is free (but it's not close to the climbing so it racks up gas mileage to drive in and out of the park) and you can "backpack" in the park for free. So I'll sometimes "backpack" camp when I can't get a site.
  
• And then this book I have no experience with, but it seems kinda like a great overview for a lot of the area you'll be visiting. I'm sure that there are a lot out there similar. I know that I have another great book that gives an overview for all of California, but I can't find it right now. Maybe I'll find it later and send its name your way.
  
  Well, that was a word vomit response about Climbing guides. As you can see, these guide books can get expensive, especially if you're visiting a lot of different locations. But they can really make your trip rock because you can map out great climbing spots ahead of time. I use them to pick the best spot for a morning of climbing by picking an area with several climbs that I'm stoked to try out.
  
  edit: OH and if you're planning on stopping in multiple National Parks (which I highly recommend stopping at as many as possible!) then I'd just go ahead and get a National Park year pass. They're $80 and you can go in and out of National Parks for free. It normally costs $20/vehicle for parks like Yosemite and Joshua Tree so it gives some extra freedom to get a pass if you're traveling. Plus you're supporting the park systems which is always a plus.

The most popular area of the park is Hidden Valley/Real Hidden Valley. One of the most famous rocks is Intersection Rock. It is right off the park road you can't miss it.

Randy Vogel: Rock Climbing Joshua Tree (Falcon Guide) is the old bible for the park.

Robert Miramontes Joshua Tree Rock Climbs The new best book. This book may be out of print. But if you go to Nomad Ventures in the town Joshua Tree they may still have it. They will also have any climbing gear you need.

Mountain Project list of routes by difficulty

You should also bop on over to /r/Climbing and ask them for the best spots.