But this secret desert hideout isnt so secret anymore.
Time, in the high desert, moves more slowly.
It certainly feels that way in Joshua Tree.
From left: No Contest, by the late sculptor Noah Purifoy, at the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum; accommodations at AutoCamp Joshua Tree include 47 refurbished Airstreams (A/C included).Yasara Gunawardena
As a writer, I find the area both intimidating and beguiling a heady, inspiring combination.
Others have felt the headiness, too.
Across generations, Joshua Tree has drawn waves of film people, music people, fine artists.
The edge of Joshua Tree National Park, as seen from the bar at the Copper Room.Yasara Gunawardena
Ann Magnuson, Jim Morrison, Ed Ruscha.
Lately, though, the desert is becoming less empty.
House prices have exploded.
From left: Sculptor Sarah Vanderlip’s CA.Truckheads on the grounds of A-Z West; at A-Z West, the former home of artist and Joshua Tree icon Andrea Zittel is available to rent.Yasara Gunawardena
People are worried about overtourism.
What had the desert offered them in the first place, and what had changed?
About a two-hour drive from Los Angeles, the region runs along Highway 62 for 30 or so miles.
From left: A hot toddy for all seasons at the Copper Room, established in 1957; Pioneertown’s Red Dog Saloon is a favorite for tacos and tequila.Yasara Gunawardena
What had the desert offered them in the first place, and what had changed?
Cocktails were excellent; same for a bowl of duck-confit nachos.
It felt like all of us were getting away with something, hiding from the sun in the dark.
From left: Lunch at La Copine, in Yucca Valley, includes green beans with tahini, gem lettuce salad, artichoke toast, and a cake of Pacific rockfish; guests at the Tiny Pony Tavern before things get busy.Yasara Gunawardena
There were gleaming silver trailers everywhere we looked.
They want to have space.
I ordered a barbecue kit from reception: New York strip, potato salad, mac and cheese.
From left: Sunset at California’s Joshua Tree National Park; inks and other printmaking supplies in the studio of artist Kyle Simon.Yasara Gunawardena
We grilled the steaks over a fire and opened a bottle of wine.
Many firepits flickeredfamilies cooking, couples laughing.
Then the real showpiece arrived: thousands of stars began to illuminate the sky.
From left: The Integratron, created as a sort of alien-medicine laboratory by a local “UFOlogist,” is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Joshua Tree–based sculptor Dan John Anderson with one of his signature wood pieces and his dog, Rookie.Yasara Gunawardena
Joshua Tree is known for stargazing; the total canopy was mesmerizing, and my neck started to ache.
Ive got an idea, Rachel said.
When we got up an hour later, it felt like just minutes had gone by.
What we discovered was an extraordinary acoustical experiencean hour-long sound bath inside the buildings gigantic wooden dome.
At times it was incredibly loud, oscillating in my head.
Other points, it was so quiet, I could hear someone snoring.
I cant remember the last time my body felt this relaxed, Rachel said.
We stopped afterward at the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture.
There was a tower of toilets and a train assembled from old kegs.
There was a cabin built from wood scraps, large enough to live inside.
We grabbed lunch at the Joshua Tree Saloon, a weathered haunt for burgers and beer.
Its the kind of place where it wasnt a surprise to hear the Grateful Dead when we walked inside.
At the same time, it was slammedhardly a relic.
And now a newer wave was making its way.
Donovan, the folk musician, later raised his family there.
Others currently working in Joshua Tree include the assemblage artist Bobby Furst and the architect Linda Taalman.
He invited Rachel and me to his Yucca Valley studio, which was brimming with saws and hand tools.
Anderson is known for large wooden sculptures, some resembling modern chess pieces, others abstract stools.
For him, the desert provides a harsh beauty and an enticing sense of limitlessness.
The nature here, its not a Disney show, he told me.
Theres a psychological space, a general freedom, that gives me the room to explore.
I was introduced to Anderson through one of his close friends, the painter Lily Stockman.
Stockman bought a homestead cabin in Joshua Tree in 2013 and has lived there part-time ever since.
Id felt something similar during previouscamping trips in the area.
To absorb the grandeur of the landscape, to feel its age, can expand ones sense of scale.
Pappy & Harriets Pioneertown Palace, the venerable club-slash-barbecue joint, today books big acts like Belle & Sebastian.
In May, just before my visit, Pioneertown had hosted an international film festival.
Anderson voiced his concerns for the region.
Mainly that young artists were struggling to find and afford adequate space to live and work.
At the end of the day its a feeling, he said.
In the desert, youre in it.
Youre so in it.
Theres something grounding about that.
Of course, the success of the French brothers and others represents a double-edged sword.
On Anderson’s recommendation I reached out to Kyle Simon, another high desert artist.
Simon is a Master Printer, formerly of Pace Prints, the New York City fine-art publisher.
He agreed to show us where he and his wife, Sarah, were homesteading in the mountains.
But, he says, I was ready for a big change.
Now the artists come to him.
Id felt something similar during previous camping trips in the area.
To absorb the grandeur of the landscape, to feel its age, can expand ones sense of scale.
Simon asked me and Rachel to keep his sites location private.
Simons home and studio are located on several acres overlooking a long valley.
Its such a lunar landscape, he said.
Its unlike anything Ive ever really been in.
Simon showed us prints that the artist Ryan Schneider had made with chainsaw-cut woodblocks.
All of this with miles of scrub and boulders and endless sky right outside the door.
Equally important was the pleasure of spending time with people who approached art and life the same way.
Perhaps the person most strongly associated with the latest wave of contemporary art in Joshua Tree is Andrea Zittel.
Zittel moved her studio from New York City to the desert in 2000.
She has become known for an eclectic oeuvre that includes paintings, experimental shelters, and furniture.
Zittels role in the community has been enormous, people told me.
Andreas influence here is incredible, Anderson said.
Even on the Airbnb-ers, and they dont realize it.
Our home for the night was a one-bedroom house with big views.
It struck me that the desert was an archive of geological moments, but also human ones.
Clientele were desert rats, young and old, some long-haired and scruffy, some clean-shaven with cowboy hats.
A man next to us ordered a couple of martinis and a glass of milk.
(His martinis, which contained maybe six shots of gin each, were served in margarita glasses.)
Another guy asked for a Diet Pepsi and a Ding Dong; the bar had both.
As the sky blackened, we made one final stop.
We drove north for several miles on sand.
There werent any lights, no structures, just rutted roads and a bright moon.
I started to worry about getting a flat tire.
Rachel said: Whats the worst that happens?
Then, suddenly, there were cars and lights.
And yet, all booms go bust.
It struck me that the desert was an archive of geological moments, but also human ones.
The property also has a general store (with cooking kits and premade meals) and a swimming pool.
Sibling owners Matt and Mike French completed a full renovation of the 19-room inn in 2016.
Order the Gram-arita: a margarita the way Gram Parsons liked it, with a half salted rim.
Joshua Tree Saloon:Burgers, beers, and live music in an old-timey wooden watering hole.
Red Dog Saloon:This movie-set saloon in Pioneertown is now a destination for tacos and agave spirits.
These days, the structure he built is a venue for guided sound baths.
Wine & Rock Shop: Natural wine and New Age crystals.
Need we say more?
