We have always dreamed of going to Joshua Tree to see the super unique, almost Dr Seuss like trees (that aren’t actually trees but Yucca plants!).
Since we get to ride standby for free, we decided to take the quick plane ride from Portland to Palm Springs. We spent 2 days in Palm Springs and a day in Joshua Tree
What to do in Palm Springs:
Let’s start with food! There are tons are delicious food spots in PS. I would recommend making dinner reservations for any restaurant you want to try! Here’s what we recommend:
- Elmers Diner (breakfast)
- Juniper Diner (breakfast)
- Tropical
- Cheekys (brunch, this gets packed quickly)
- Tiki Bar
- Tropicale
- Sandfish
- Copley’s
- Starbucks Reserve
Activities to do in Palm Springs
- Door tour (self guided)
- Aerial Tran (book tickets in advance) and PS visitor center
- Botanical gardens
- Hike Tahquitz Canyon ($12.50 per person)
- Cabazon Dinosaurs
- Palm Springs Art Museum (book tickets in advance)
- Indian Canyon
Joshua Tree National Park
You need to purchase a day pass ($25) or national parks pass ($80 for year…honestly the best deal) to go inside Joshua Tree. You could easily spend a few days inside the park hiking and exploring. We had 1 day here and didn’t haw enough time to see everything. JT gets very hot and has no shade. So make sure you pack sunscreen and lots of water (refill stations only near entrances). Here’s what we recommend doing at JT:
- Keys View
- Skull Rock
- Cholla Cactus Garden
- Lost Horse Mine
- Ryan Mountain
- Baker Damn
- Split Rock
Now Joshua Tree is a super cute town as well. Here’s some food places we recommend and other places you can explore:
- 29 Palms (mural hunt)
- 29 Palms Inn
- 49 Palms Oasis Trail
- Star gaze (we saw so many shooting stars at our airstream)
- The Dez (for breakfast, lunch or dinner)
- Country Kitchen
- Joshua Tree Coffee Co
- Joshua Tree brewery
- Joshua Tree Saloon
If you stay in Joshua Tree, I highly recommend renting an airstream. It’s so fun and very Joshua Tree!
If you want to see a video of our trip, you can watch our YouTube video here:https://youtu.be/7EQ4Z5PJ3BI
You can find us on Instagram at @ lifeofthepilotswife and @ karolisnieska . I hope this helps you plan an epic trip to PS and JT!
Life of the Pilots Wife 