The Old Schoolhouse Museum in Twentynine Palms displays a list from a 1950s edition of The Desert Trail newspaper titled “29 Reasons for Living in Twentynine Palms.” The list highlights, among other attributes, “no fog, smog, smudge”; “glorious sunsets — star-studded nights”; “good hotels, motels, trailer courts, restaurants, nightclubs”; and the area’s reputation as a “paradise for artists, outdoorsmen, rockhounds.”
Those claims still stand. Twentynine Palms, known as the northern gateway to Joshua Tree National Park and home to the world’s largest Marine Corps training base, has built its reputation as a small-town cultural destination that’s sophisticated yet doesn’t take itself too seriously. New shops and eateries are attracting visitors beyond the park.
A trip to Twentynine Palms, about an hour northeast of Palm Springs, can easily fill a day — even if you never set foot on a trail. Here’s a suggested itinerary.
10 a.m.
The Jelly Donut
You might drive right past this unassuming spot on state Route 62 (Twentynine Palms Highway, the town’s main drag) because it looks like an abandoned gas station, but the vintage pump outside is part of the charm. The menu is a creative mashup of doughnuts and Vietnamese food. Grab an apple fritter or a jelly-filled doughnut to start your morning, then return later for pho (options include the veggie Pho Ever and the customizable Pho Me).
11 a.m.
29 Palms Visitor Center
The city’s official welcome center offers maps and friendly guidance. Inside, a rotating gallery showcases works by local artists. Outside is the tiny Jerry Bucklin Park, where you’ll find picnic tables surrounding a trio of modern vertical metal sculptures by Steve Reiman, part of a series of 40 public art installations in the city. Painted on the center’s western side is “Neighbors in Nature II,” a dreamy desert landscape with the names and likenesses of local flora and fauna along the bottom; it’s one of 24 walls in the city’s Oasis of Murals project. Maps of all the city’s murals and art installations are available at the center or online.
Hi Desert Times Magazines at Corner 62.
PHOTO by Brandon Harman
11:30 a.m.
29 Palms Farmers Market
If you travel to Twentynine Palms on a Saturday, the weekly farmers market at Freedom Plaza, next to the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, serves up the area’s most eclectic eats, all in one place. In addition to fresh produce, dig into Thai, Ethiopian, Japanese, Jamaican, Italian, Mexican, and Hawaiian cuisine. Try a Spam and egg musubi from Hawaiian BBQ (salty), Jamaican jerk chicken with seasoned cabbage from Alkhemets Kitchen (bitter), lavender lemonade (sour), and pecan cranberry brittle from Desert Brittle Candy (sweet).
1 p.m.
Corner 62
This renovated 1962 building houses a collective of small, well-curated shops. Among them, Very Very stocks shelves with desert-inspired art and design objects from local makers, plus popular “Other Desert Cities” T-shirts (the phrase is a play on Interstate 10’s dismissive highway signs) created by owners Dana Longuevan and Rich Good, a graphic designer who’s also the guitarist of The Psychedelic Furs. The couple opened the store “to showcase our friends’ work as well as our own,” Longuevan says. Good’s photos and screen prints, and Longuevan’s colorful rock paintings, are for sale along with guitar picks, clay jewelry, Death Valley Nails black glitter polish, ceramic cactuses, and more.
Hi Desert Times Magazines displays an intriguing inventory of independent magazines and local zines focused on art, style, literature, and culture, such as Eaten (food history) and The Gentlewoman. “I’m determined to do whatever I can for print,” owner Liz Lapp says. The store also sells vintage magazines and posters, local artwork, and décor. Monthly collage workshops feature themes like “mothering” and “aliens.”
Corner 62’s Scorpion Lollipop sells craft beverages (wines, beers, sodas, kombuchas, coffees, teas) and kitschy gifts — plastic glow-in-the-dark witch fingers, nail art stickers, irreverent greeting cards, and yes, scorpion lollipops with real scorpions entombed in candy, if you dare.
3 p.m.
The Historic Plaza
About eight blocks north of Route 62, at Adobe and 2 Mile roads, is The Historic Plaza, where in the 1920s, early settlers Frank and Helen Bagley established Twentynine Palms’ first general store, which became the community hub until the town’s retail scene moved closer to Route 62. A mural honors the Bagleys, and a public art sculpture in the middle of the plaza, “Chain of Life,” honors the city’s connections to water. A nonprofit group has worked to maintain the plaza’s historical look while also welcoming new businesses and hosting community events. Two new stores in the shopping center are especially worth a visit.
Immerse yourself in zen and desert fragrance at Mojave Moon Apothecary. Co-owner Heather Basile started out selling perfume oils she makes at home, then decided to open a storefront where she could also sell herbs, teas, crystals, rocks, lavender, and petrified wood. “I enjoy natural and old things,” she says.
Two doors over is Sun of the Desert, a warm and earthy retail man cave that’s both old-fashioned and contemporary. Products include black pine tar soap, beard balm, a tattoo dictionary, vintage Levi’s and work shirts (in prime condition), and sriracha margarita mix, with many items displayed in vintage fishing tackle boxes.
4 p.m.
Raven’s Book Shoppe
On Route 62 at the western edge of Twentynine Palms, look for the large white wooden sign with orange painted letters proclaiming “Books.” Raven’s Book Shoppe is a one-story building packed from floor to ceiling and front to rear with stacks of used and rare books in all categories. The selection of science fiction and metaphysical books is especially robust.
Sun of the Desert at The Historic Plaza.
PHOTO courtesy Sun of the Desert
6 p.m.
GRND SQRL or Kitchen in the Desert
For dinner, consider the vowel-challenged but culinary-forward GRND SQRL gastropub. The SQRL Burger (beef, cheddar, caramelized onions, bacon, and tarragon aioli) and Dank House Salad (romaine lettuce, beets, Brussels sprouts, apples, walnuts, blue cheese, and horseradish vinaigrette) are popular, along with any of the local beers.
Or try Kitchen in the Desert, which serves Caribbean-inspired, sustainable, locally sourced dishes like coconut rice, chimichurri lamb pops, and jerk chicken alongside burgers and tacos, served with guasacaca and pickled condiments.
Did You Know?
The Story of the 29 Trees
Twentynine Palms gets its name from an oasis of 29 palm trees that, according to Native American legend, were planted by members of the Indigenous Serrano to represent each baby boy born during the tribe’s first year in the area.
