Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

Comparing Cellphone Reception in National Parks

Now that it's officially summer, Californians are running for the hills, mountains, deserts and oceans for a bit of vacation time. But if you're one of those people for whom vacation means obsessively checking Gmail on your BlackBerry, the time away can be maddening.

That cottage in the mountains is charming enough until Day 3 without cellphone reception.

So we did some homework for those of you considering excursions into the boonies this summer. We compared the coverage maps of the big four cellphone providers (available on their websites) with the boundaries of five of California's most popular national parks: Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Sequoia, King's Canyon and Yosemite.