Bars and Saloons in the High Desert

The high desert's bars run from Old West saloons in Pioneertown to a 1950s airport lounge, a jazz room, a brewery beside the park's visitor center and a bar alone on the Wonder Valley flats. They're listed below by town, each with its approximate drive, followed by the practical part: who's open late, which places are 21 and over, and getting home.

Yucca Valley

Yucca Valley's bars are about 15 minutes from the house.

The Tiny Pony Tavern (57205 Twentynine Palms Highway) keeps late hours: 11am to 1am on weekdays and 9am to 1am on weekends, per its site, with a scratch kitchen that stays open late. Tuesdays are karaoke, DJs play often, and it puts on drag shows. The Infatuation's review calls it the main gathering spot for the high desert's growing queer community. The backyard is dog-friendly.

The Copper Room (57360 Aviation Drive) sits at the Yucca Valley Airport and dates to 1957. Its own site promotes creative classics and ice-cold martinis, and The Infatuation notes the restoration and the several dining areas. Happy hour runs 4pm to 6pm on weekdays, and it closes at 10pm. Local radio reported in early 2025 that the Hard Bop Ensemble played there on Sunday evenings, but the restaurant's own site doesn't list music, so ask when you book before planning a night around it.

Snake Bite Roadhouse (55405 Twentynine Palms Highway) is a cocktail bar in the Old Town arts district, with a patio and live entertainment that it posts on its Instagram. It opens at 4pm on weekdays and noon on weekends, and the kitchen closes an hour before the bar does.

Pioneertown

Pioneertown's two bars, roughly 18 minutes up Pioneertown Road from the house, both come with history; our Pioneertown guide covers the film-set town around them.

Pappy & Harriet's (53688 Pioneertown Road) is a restaurant, bar and music venue with indoor and outdoor stages. Shows are all ages unless noted, children under 3 get in free, and the show spaces are general admission and standing room, with ADA seating set aside at both stages. Leave folding chairs in the car, because they aren't allowed in the outdoor show area. We wrote about a night there, and our live music guide covers the wider scene.

The Red Dog Saloon (53539 Mane Street) dates to 1946, the year Pioneertown was built as a film set. Its website describes a contemporary Tex-Mex menu and a drinks list built on agave spirits and whiskey, with cocktails batched from fresh, organic produce, and it takes bookings for live bands. It's open from 10am on weekdays and 9am on weekends, until 10pm Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Joshua Tree village

The village bars are about 20 minutes from the house, around the Park Boulevard junction and a few miles east of it.

Joshua Tree Saloon (61835 Twentynine Palms Highway) has been a village bar since 1984 and is open from 11am until 11pm Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Weekday happy hour runs 3pm to 6pm (not on holidays), bands play on the outdoor patio Friday through Sunday, and in the summer season there's an open mic on Sunday evenings from 5pm. Unlike most bars on this page, it admits all ages.

East of the village toward Twentynine Palms, Más o Menos (66031 Twentynine Palms Highway) pours coffee from 8am and cocktails later on, with a DJ by the indoor bar, bands on its outdoor stage and visiting food vendors. Its site lists a daily afternoon happy hour. It stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays but shuts at 5pm on Tuesdays. The Infatuation noted in 2025 that its free wifi draws people working remotely in the afternoons, so the evening crowd is a different one.

Z Club (61877 Twentynine Palms Highway) is a jazz lounge in the courtyard of the Shops at Zanney's in downtown Joshua Tree, opened in the fall of 2024 by Susan Henry, a longtime local jazz performer. Guitarist Doug MacDonald's trio has run a jazz jam there, and his own site lists it for the first and third Wednesdays of the month, 7pm to 10pm. Directory listings also describe comedy nights, and the club's Instagram posts its calendar and nightly food pop-ups. Hours vary by night and listings show it closed on Tuesdays, so check the lineup before you go.

Twentynine Palms

Twentynine Palms, the farthest of the highway towns at around 40 minutes, has a brewery, a gastropub, cocktail bars and neighborhood bars, most of them along the highway downtown.

29 Palms Beer Company (73565 Twentynine Palms Highway), next to the park's visitor center, brews its beer on site, and its owners are the same ones who opened grnd sqrl. Its site lists a drink-and-draw night on Wednesdays and trivia on Thursdays. It's open until 9pm most nights (8pm on Sundays), and the kitchen closes half an hour before the taps do.

grnd sqrl (73471 Twentynine Palms Highway), the owners' gastropub, keeps an extensive beer list with rotating drafts and cans from Southern California breweries and farther afield, plus seltzer, kombucha, cider and wine. It's closed Sundays.

Snakes & Stars (73529 Twentynine Palms Highway) is a newer bar that the city's tourism site announced in August 2025, with specialty and seasonal cocktails and comfort food such as burgers. Its site lists the all-day menu Thursday through Saturday from 5pm until late, plus weekend brunch, and the patio faces the mountains of the park. It's 21 and over and cashless, and pets can join you on the patio.

Two more for a casual night: The Cactus Bar (5670 Adobe Road) pours beer, wine and cocktails in front of big screens, with a pool table, and the Back Alley Cocktail Lounge inside the Bowladium bowling center (73768 Gorgonio Drive) mixes cocktails beside sports on TV and pool tables.

Wonder Valley

The Palms (83131 Amboy Road) is a bar and restaurant about 14 miles east of downtown Twentynine Palms, roughly an hour from the house. The city's tourism site says food is served on Friday and Saturday evenings, with breakfast on Sundays, and that it hosts live entertainment and special events, so check its hours before you set out; in April 2025 it held its 10th annual All Summer's Eve Desert Rendezvous, a weekend of music. Our Wonder Valley guide covers the homestead cabins along the way. It's a long drive back in the dark, so it's a night for a sober driver.

Morongo Valley

Morongo Valley is about 25 minutes from the house, on the way toward Palm Springs.

Spaghetti Western (50048 Twentynine Palms Highway) is an Italian restaurant that calls itself a saloon, with amaro, whiskey, mezcal and tequila on its bar list. Happy hour runs 4pm to 6pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and the Pioneertown Gazette's directory lists a house band and visiting acts.

Highway 247

Giant Rock Meeting Room, on Old Woman Springs Road a few minutes from the house, takes its name from Giant Rock out on the Landers flats. What started in 2018 as a coffee house has turned into a night spot serving pizza, drinks and live sets, and its patio faces west toward the sunset. It keeps a short schedule, so confirm it's open the day you plan to go; our Giant Rock and Landers guide tells the story of the rock.

A week of nights out

Pulled from the schedules above, here is roughly what each night offers. Programs change, so treat it as a starting point and check the week you're here.

• Weekdays. Happy hour at The Copper Room from 4pm to 6pm and at Joshua Tree Saloon from 3pm to 6pm.
• Tuesday. Karaoke at The Tiny Pony Tavern. Más o Menos closes at 5pm, and Z Club's listing shows it closed.
• Wednesday and Thursday. Happy hour at Spaghetti Western from 4pm to 6pm, drink-and-draw on Wednesdays and trivia on Thursdays at 29 Palms Beer Company, and the Z Club jazz jam on the first and third Wednesdays. Snakes & Stars opens for the evening on Thursdays.
• Friday and Saturday. Bands on the Joshua Tree Saloon patio, the Wonder Valley drive to The Palms, and the latest closings: midnight at the Red Dog, Más o Menos and Joshua Tree Saloon, and 1am at The Tiny Pony.
• Sunday. Patio music at Joshua Tree Saloon and its open mic in the summer season. Ask The Copper Room whether its Sunday jazz is still on.

Getting back to the house

Every bar on this page is a drive from the house, from a few minutes to an hour. Agree on a driver before the first round, and keep in mind that the towns are spread out: Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree are seven miles apart, and downtown Twentynine Palms is more than 20 miles east of Old Town Yucca Valley.

The house is set up for a nightcap closer to home: the boulder-ringed fire pit runs on gas, so there's nothing to chop or carry, the hot tub is open all year, and the car bed has a custom stargazing roof. See fire and stars. Two house rules matter after a night out: quiet hours begin at 10pm, and glassware has to stay away from the pool and hot tub, so pour into something unbreakable. The full list is on the house rules page.

Know before you go

• Age rules. Snakes & Stars is 21 and over. Pappy & Harriet's shows are all ages unless marked, and Joshua Tree Saloon serves all ages. Bring ID either way.
• Cash and cards. Snakes & Stars doesn't take cash.
• Late closings. The Tiny Pony stays open to 1am; most others close between 9pm and midnight.
• Music changes weekly. Check Instagram or event calendars for Z Club, Más o Menos, the Red Dog, Pappy & Harriet's and The Palms before you choose a night.
• Bottles for the house. For wine and spirits to take back, see our groceries and supplies guide.
• Hours. They come from each bar's own site or a current listing; confirm before you drive.

Plan your nights out around a stay at the house, and check dates.