Getting Here: Airports & the Drive Up Highway 62

Stargaze Escape sits in Yucca Valley, up on the high-desert side of Southern California, and getting here is easy once you know the lay of the land. Here's where to fly, how far the drive is, and what the road up Highway 62 is like.

Which airport

• Palm Springs International (PSP) — by far the most convenient, about a 50-minute drive from the house. If you can fly here, do.
• Ontario International (ONT) — roughly an hour and forty minutes west, and often better for connections and rental-car prices.
• Los Angeles (LAX) — about two and a half to three hours away; the biggest airport, but the longest and most traffic-prone drive.
• San Diego (SAN) or Las Vegas (LAS) — both are long hauls of roughly three hours or more, but doable if the fare is right.

Yucca Valley has a small general-aviation airport, but no commercial service — everyone flies into one of the above and drives the rest.

The drive up Highway 62

However you come, the last leg is Highway 62, the Twentynine Palms Highway. From Interstate 10 near Whitewater, the road climbs the Morongo grade — a steady, curving ascent out of the Coachella Valley — before leveling into the high desert through Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley and beyond. It's a genuinely pretty drive, and you'll feel the air cool and dry as you gain elevation.

Rent a car — you'll need one

There's no way around it: the high desert is spread out, and there's essentially no public transit or rideshare once you're here. Pick up a rental at the airport. Nothing fancy is required for the paved roads to the house and the park, though a little extra ground clearance is nice if you plan to explore dirt roads out toward Wonder Valley.

Before you arrive

Fuel up and grab groceries in Yucca Valley or the town of Joshua Tree on your way in — options thin out fast past town, and there are no services inside the national park. Then follow the check-in details we send you; the house has self check-in from 4pm, so you can arrive on your own schedule.