Palm Springs & Joshua Tree — the guide

Palm Springs & Joshua Tree

Two deserts an hour apart, treated as one trip. A planner that writes the days around you, the one-day loop, thirteen beds narrowed to yours, and a verdict on every place in it.

$59

Private mobile guide, updated as things change · 2026–27 edition

Not on sale yet. Finished — on sale soon. Leave your email and we'll tell you the day it is.

A mid-century modern house in Palm Springs standing behind desert boulders and an agave.
Living SpreePalm Springs & Joshua Tree
What this is

A set of decisions, not a list of everything.

Tell the planner how long you have, what you came for and where you want to sleep, and it writes the days, picks the bed for each night and flags what sells out. Save places as you read and it tells you whether your list actually fits the trip you built. Every place carries a verdict, and everything we would skip comes with a named replacement.

What's inside, section by section

10 sections
  1. 1

    Start here

    What the trip is, how to use it, and the first real decision: which desert to sleep in.

  2. 2

    The planner

    Two days to a week, for art, design, the desert or food. Pick one base or both, and the days rewrite themselves around your answers.

  3. 3

    The desert road trip

    The ready-made day. One 180-mile loop, nine stops, a drawn map, and it runs in either direction.

  4. 4

    Where to sleep

    A finder that narrows thirteen properties to the two or three that fit you.

  5. 5

    Where to eat and drink

    Forty-six places, a picker for the night that matters, and the summer closures nobody warns you about.

  6. 6

    After dark

    Where to stand for the stars, when to go, and the night programmes from free to $129 — with the $20 one to book first.

  7. 7

    Desert X

    Free, outdoors and valley-wide. The next edition runs six months, from October 2027, and this is how to time a trip around it.

  8. 8

    Before you go

    Six things to settle, starting with the month. Half of Palm Springs shuts for the summer.

  9. 9

    Maps

    Four zones, one saved layer, and every place as a Google Maps link, for the long stretches with no signal.

  10. 10

    The index

    Art, design and the desert, A to Z, searchable — plus what we would skip, each with a better use of the hour.

This is for you if

  • You want Palm Springs and Joshua Tree as one trip, not two guides stapled together.
  • You would rather be told where to sleep, and what to skip, than handed every option.
  • You care about the architecture, the outdoor art or the dark sky more than the pool party.

Skip it if

  • You came for a food trip. This is a dozen good rooms and a better bar scene, not a destination for eating.
  • You want the desert without a car. Almost everything worth seeing here is a drive apart.

One format, built for the road

Private mobile guide

For when you're standing there.

The planner, the hotel finder, every place with its verdict, a Google Maps link and a tappable phone number, and a Save button on all of it. Your saved list is checked against the trip you built. Save the maps on hotel wifi and they still show when the signal goes.

Edition2026–27 edition
Last updated8 November 2026
CoversPalm Springs, the Coachella Valley, Joshua Tree, the high desert, the Salton Sea, Desert X
FormatMobile guide

Questions

How do I get it?

Checkout is handled by Lemon Squeezy. Straight after payment you'll get a receipt email with the private link to your guide.

Does it work offline?

Each guide shows you how to save its maps in Google Maps on hotel wifi, so they still work when the signal goes. The guide itself needs a connection to load, so open it once before you lose signal.

What if something changes after I buy?

When a guide is updated, the mobile guide shows the new edition and the date it was updated.

Can I get a refund?

See the refund policy.

Is any of it sponsored?

No. Nothing in a guide is a paid placement. Where a link earns a commission, it's disclosed, and it never changes a recommendation. How we recommend.

Palm Springs & Joshua Tree

$59

Not on sale yet. Finished — on sale soon. Leave your email and we'll tell you the day it is.