Things to Do

Your High Desert Host

When you stay with us, you have a full-time team available to help craft your visit. We provide hotel-level amenities and concierge services, and can coordinate a wide range of unique experiences tailored to your preferences. Dinners prepared by a private chef, guided goat hikes, private yoga classes, and healing sound bath rituals are just a few of the options.

Each of our Joshua Tree vacation rentals comes with resort-quality linens and bath products, a full complement of kitchen supplies and cookware, and in-home technology for comfort and security. This guide helps you navigate the home and the high desert, but there is an enormous amount of additional information, enhancements, discounts, and gift shop items in our digital guest app.

Please reach out if we can help make your trip as effortless as possible. We are accessible via email, text, or your booking app.

Local Recommendations

We are a proud sponsor of the California Welcome Center in Yucca Valley and an active participant in the Desert Regional Tourism Agency. These organizations promote mindful tourism in the area and help educate visitors about the High Desert's offerings. The California Welcome Center maintains an up-to-date website with information on activities, dining, entertainment, and shopping at californiawelcomecenter.com.

Eating and Drinking

Dining options are limited in the desert, but the ones we have are fantastic. Grab BBQ, beer, and live music at Pappy and Harriet's, or French-inspired California cuisine at La Copine Kitchen in Flamingo Heights. The Red Dog Saloon (an icon in Pioneertown since 1946) serves cocktails, tacos, and fried cinnamon sugar tortillas. Giant Rock Meeting Room is a preferred local watering hole in Landers with pizza, pop-ups, and live music. The Dez dishes out the best coffee and picnic supplies. Both Country Kitchen and Crossroads Cafe have a great diner-style breakfast. The Copper Room is a recently renovated historic airport bar, the closest thing we have to fine dining. Grab a steak, a martini, and take over the dance floor most nights of the week.

Homestead Modern can also arrange for a private chef (with advance notice), or stock your fridge with BBQ supplies, cocktail ingredients, and wine so you can orchestrate the perfect meal without leaving your Joshua Tree vacation rental.

Yucca Valley and Flamingo Heights

Mojave Gold: Desert inspired food and live music
Yucca Tree Eatery: Fresh juices and vegan sandwiches
The Tiny Pony Tavern: Karaoke, craft cocktails, and fantastic food
Frontier Cafe: Coffee, sandwiches, and salads
La Copine: Best lunch and brunch in town
Giant Rock Meeting Room: Live music and pizza
Luna Sourdough: New sourdough-focused bakery

Pioneertown

Red Dog Saloon: Tacos, cocktails, outdoor seating, and music
Pappy and Harriet's: Live music, BBQ, and beer

Joshua Tree

Farmers Market: Saturdays with coffee, treats, and outstanding produce
The Dez: Espresso, charcuterie, catering, and picnic supplies
Crossroads Cafe: Diner-style breakfast

29 Palms

29 Palms Inn: Historic restaurant and organic farm
Kitchen in the Desert: Desert Caribbean food and a chill outdoor scene
Campbell Hill Bakery: Best loaves, muffins, and sandwiches to go
Grnd Sqrl: Largest selection of craft beer in town, with DJs and sandwiches
Out There Bar: Shuffleboard, cold drinks, and good music

Shopping and Delivery

There are plenty of galleries and locally owned shops for antiques, vintage clothing, and home goods along Highway 62, mostly in Joshua Tree Village or around Old Town Yucca. Some favorites: Mojave Flea Trading Post and Hoof and the Horn for vintage-meets-new. The End Vintage is eclectic, and Cactus Mart in Morongo Valley is a must-stop on your way out of town. The Station is a kitschy gift shop in a former gas station in Joshua Tree, with gifts, cacti, coffee, and a shaded back seating area. The adjacent Wonder Valley Oil Shop (open weekends) sells their namesake olive oil and skin care.

For home decor, don't miss Acme 5 and Geode and Gypsum. Pioneertown hosts weekend markets on Mane Street. For wine, beer, and spirits, Wine and Rock Shop carries a strong natural selection. Desierto Alto is a must-stop on your way into town for wine, cheese, and snacks. Instacart delivers to most areas in the high desert. Joshua Tree and 29 Palms both have a weekly Saturday farmers market, adjacent to the better bakeries in the area (Boo's and Campbell Hill).

Yucca Valley and Flamingo Heights

Wine and Rock Shop: Wine, beer, and crystals
Hoof and the Horn: Accessories, jewelry, clothes, and gifts
Desierto Alto: High-end bodega, snacks, beer, and spirits
ZZIEE Ceramics: Ceramics studio and shop
ACME 5: High-end handcrafted decor
Geode and Gypsum: Desert lifestyle shop and interior design studio
Mojave Flea Trading Post: Large marketplace of local makers and merchants

Pioneertown

Stroll down Mane Street on the weekends and be amazed.

Joshua Tree

The Station: Unique gift shop
Matador Art Gallery: Post-modern art
Wonder Valley Oil Shop: Olive oil and skin care
High Desert Test Sites: By appointment, famed artist Andrea Zittel's studio
Studio Night Market: Monthly market with vendors and music

Activities

There are thousands of trails, campsites, and rock-climbing routes throughout Joshua Tree National Park. Make sure you are there for sunset, and don't miss the Cholla Cactus Garden, the Ocotillo Patch, and Cap Rock. The main park entrance is in Joshua Tree; there is an additional entrance in 29 Palms if you want to avoid weekend lines.

Don't miss hiking or horseback riding in The Pioneertown Mountains Preserve, the largest nonprofit nature preserve system in California, and stroll through historic Pioneertown afterwards. Founded in 1946 by a group of Hollywood investors as a living movie set, Pioneertown always has something happening on weekends, and the legendary Pappy and Harriet's is located here.

For art, the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum is a free outdoor collection of large found folk-art assemblages. The Crochet Museum features a huge collection of crocheted animals in a former one-hour Fotomat booth. High Desert Test Sites is a nonprofit arts institution supporting experimental artwork in the Joshua Tree region, with tours, installations, and programming throughout the year.

In the Landers area, visit Gubler Orchids Farm, Giant Rock Meeting Room for pizza and live music, Methods and Rituals Spa for a custom blessing ceremony, or The Integratron, a white domed structure built in the 1950s on an intersection of powerful geomagnetic forces, offering restorative sound baths.

Yucca Valley and Flamingo Heights

Methods and Rituals Spa: Facials, massages, and reiki energy work
Earth Yoga and Spa: Yoga, infrared sauna, and more
Integratron: Sound baths designed by a ufologist
Hi Desert Film Lab: Photography studio, shop, and darkroom
Mon Petite Mojave: Drive-up concerts

Pioneertown

Goat Hike: Take in the views, accompanied by goats
Pioneertown Preserve: Perfect early morning hike
Pappy and Harriet's: Live music, BBQ, and beer
Pioneer Bowl: Vintage bowling alley

Joshua Tree

Healing Arts Center: Pilates, acupuncture, massage, and healers
Joshua Tree Adventures: Park tours and rock climbing with ex-park rangers
Joshua Tree National Park: Of course
Crochet Museum: Open 24/7, free
Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum: Free
Tour of A-Z West: Home base for High Desert Test Sites
JT Retreat Center: Largest collection of Lloyd Wright buildings in the world, with a variety of classes
Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum: Vintage salon chairs, beauty products, and a hairstorian

29 Palms

Saturday Farmers Market: Don't forget to grab coffee and a muffin at Campbell Hill Bakery
Wednesdays at Out There Bar: The owner of a local record store spins vinyl all night long

Day Trips

Amboy Crater, Salvation Mountain, and The Salton Sea are all within a few hours' drive for unique, art-driven destinations. Palm Springs is just an hour away, with eating, shopping, and entertainment. Big Bear is also about an hour away, a scenic drive up to a cooler, mountainous landscape if you want a break from the desert.

About Homestead Modern

Founded in 2014, our goal was to expand the availability of premium vacation rental homes and hospitality options near our National Park. The idea originated from our first house, the iconic Rock Reach House in Yucca Valley. From there, the portfolio grew quickly through word of mouth, and today Homestead Modern manages the largest collection of premium short-term vacation properties in the area. In addition to managing rentals, Homestead also builds and designs new homes, renovates existing properties, and works with investors to engage the booming High Desert economy. In 2022, Homestead Modern opened The Bungalows at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, introducing the first premium traditional hospitality offering in the area.

We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay

Our guests visit for all kinds of reasons: the unique landscape, the local culture, the proximity to countless outdoor adventures. Whatever your reason, we pride ourselves on crafting authentic interactions with the singular setting of the High Desert. Please reach out if we can help make your trip as memorable as possible.