The best places to stay at Joshua Tree National Park
In addition to camping in the national park, visitors can also check into luxury camping sites, short-term vacation rentals, or iconic desert motels.
During its long tenure as a national monument (1936-1994), Joshua Tree was largely a do-it-yourself park where visitors had to fend for themselves, especially when it came to accommodation.
Park brochures at that time explicitly stated, “Neither meals nor lodging are available in the Monument.” Campgrounds didn’t appear until the 1950s and they were very primitive, little more than a patch of sand with a picnic table.
The turning point was Joshua Tree getting upgraded to national park status in 1994. Ever since, the accommodation situation has continued to improve. Camping is still the only way to sleep inside the park. But the range of overnight options in the gateway towns of Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and Twentynine Palms has undergone a quantum leap.
