You’re Welcome: I Found the Cutest Airbnb in Joshua Tree, California
Let me subject you to a boring personal story real quick. (I promise it’s relevant.) My boyfriend and I attended a wedding in Sonoma, California, over Memorial Day Weekend, which we wanted to use as a launchpad for a mini vacation. Hawaii was a tad too far and a tad too expensive for our time constraints, and Seattle sounded too...rainy. Which is how we came to fly into Palm Springs and jaunt over to Joshua Tree for a few days.
Until this trip, my primary impression of Palm Springs was “the airport you fly into for Coachella,” and I didn’t really know what to expect from Joshua Tree. (When I told my boss where I was going for vacay, she literally said, “Are you an influencer now or something?” LOL, Jess, no!) But guys, it was truly sooo magical. Joshua Tree National Park looks like a completely different planet—the trees themselves are gorgeous in a haunting kind of way, the sky is huge and ideal for stargazing, and the whole terrain had me questioning everything I thought I knew about the state of California.
See? How is this place even real??
But before I get into the nitty-gritty of how to do Joshua Tree and Palm Springs *right* (and how to fill your Insta with envy-inducing content along the way), here’s a quick packing list:
You really can’t visit Joshua Tree without renting a car. As far as I know, Ubers aren’t available and bus service looked inconsistent at best. Three towns surround the park—Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, and Joshua Tree—and you’ll probably want to visit ’em all. Plus, the park itself is ginormous (nearly 800,000 acres, according to National Geographic) and it’s suuuper fun to drive through:
If you feel like treating yourself, I recommend renting a convertible because (a) the wind in your hair and the sun on your face and all that and (b) you’re gonna have to soak up some of the park from your car (you can’t hike through all of it, unless you’re Superwoman!), so going sans roof is at least kind of like being outside. Also, is there anything more photogenic than a cute convertible?
We rented through Turo, which is basically like Airbnb for cars. I’ve never really liked renting cars the traditional way—I always end up waiting in line forever and then talking to a surly employee—so I was keen to try out a ~modern~ method. Say hi to our sweet li’l two-seater Fiat:
Or if you’d rather, rent a car the regular way.
You, my friend, should book the same exact Airbnb that I did. No, it’s not weird. A friend of mine (hi, Julia!) recommended the place to me, and I’m so glad I took her word for how dang cute it is.
It has two bedrooms, a full kitchen and eating area, a living room, and a huge sunroom that we didn’t use nearly enough. My favorite part, though, was the backyard situation, which has a comfy hammock and patio/grill area perfect for cocktail/Bananagrams hour and stargazing before bed.
The house was super easy to find (the hosts were very communicative), yet it still felt like my own private oasis. I didn’t expect to pick up decor ideas while on vacay, but the space itself was just so charming that I found myself photographing every nook and cranny. If you’re still not convinced, here are a few pics from the listing:
We had the whole place to ourselves, but it would have been a fun spot to share with another couple or a group of friends. Do it!
I love going out to eat, but I had a hard time getting a sense of the restaurant scene in JTree before I got there. I had read about Pappy & Harriet’s, a restaurant with a mesquite grill and live music plopped down on an abandoned Western movie set. It’s definitely worth a visit—if only for the backyard scene, where you’re bound to strike up a convo with another vacationer who will offer to take a pic of you and bae for the ’gram:
But if you take away only one thing from this guide about Joshua Tree, it’s that you Need. To go. To La Copine. Please don’t disappoint me. Just do it. It’s a small restaurant off the side of the road in Flamingo Heights with strange hours (it’s open Thursday through Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and a guaranteed wait.
But! There’s an outdoor bar where you can get a glass of natural wine while you eye the clock, and a cool pop-up shop called Teocali is parked next to the restaurant and filled with artisan goods from Mexico. In other words, the wait is pretty painless.
La Copine’s food is amazing—the menu changes seasonally, but we shared mushroom toast, juicy chicken thighs, and a BLT, all excellent—but the hospitality is what struck me most. Unlike some restaurants where the hostess tells you the wait time like you’d be an actual idiot to stick it out, we were treated warmly by every staff member we interacted with—from the bartender outside, who encouraged us to taste his new favorite pinot noir, to the owner of Teocali, who recommended her favorite menu items.
Vegetarians, avert your eyes:
Hiking, or “hiking,” is the main activity at Joshua Tree. When you first get to town, stop by the visitor center so you can pick up trail maps and a parking pass, which you need to enter the park by car. There are tons of hikes for different skill levels, or you can pull your car over on the side of the road and strike out on your own. (Seriously, it’s encouraged, even by locals.)
My boyfriend and I did the Panorama Loop trail and the Lost Horse Mine trail, both are considered “difficult” but were actually pretty manageable—and I’m not an avid outdoorswoman or anything. We also checked out the Cholla Cactus Garden, which looked extremely extraterrestrial and ’gram-friendly:
Besides hiking, make time to visit the Noah Purifoy outdoor museum, which looks like Mad Max come to life, and cap off your day with—and I’m sorry in advance that this sounds so cheesy—stargazing.
The visibility is just so good there! I saw a shooting star within seconds of looking up at the sky after the sun had set. That doesn’t happen in New York City. Ever! I also fully recommend taking advantage of the fact that you’re pretty much off the grid in JTree by hitting the hay early. I think I got 10 hours of sleep every night while we were there.
Unless Joshua Tree is a pit stop on your road trip, you’ll likely fly in and out of Palm Springs, a funky little city where Old Hollywood starlets used to hang out when they wanted to get away from the bright lights of L.A. It gets incredibly h-o-t—it hit 95 degrees when I was there, which locals insist is “nothing” compared to summer’s usual temperature of 110—so you’ll want to stay someplace with a pool.
We stayed at the Rowan, a Kimpton hotel, and posted up by the rooftop pool for lit-er-al hours. I mean, can you blame us? Book Now
Maybe now’s the time to remind you that, um, weed is legal in California. Tons of dispensaries are in Palm Springs, so we picked up a few supplies—mainly various CBD products, because we were curious about all the hubbub—which made our pool afternoon extra relaxing. (Psst—if you’re just looking to chill out, I recommend trying vape-able CBD oil.)
The only time we left the Rowan was to check out another pool/bar situation at the Ace Hotel, where we drank cocktails and played a few ruthless rounds of ping-pong. Sadly, I did not win. Book Now
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