AutoCamp Joshua Tree
Fifty-five Airstreams and Acorn cabins on the park's north edge — clubhouse, pool, Brightland olive oil tastings.
AutoCamp Joshua Tree puts 55 polished Airstream trailers and Acorn cabins on a stretch of high desert just outside Joshua Tree National Park's north entrance. The Airstream form factor, the design-forward common spaces, and the kind of bonfire-and-pool program that's now well-imitated. It's part of AutoCamp's small group of similar properties — Yosemite, Russian River, Cape Cod, Catskills, Zion — and the brand is small enough to clear the lehotelist independent threshold.
Joshua Tree itself has shifted dramatically over the last decade, from a fringe-desert destination to a packed weekend market. AutoCamp is part of the wave that built the lodging stock to support it, and the property is one of the more design-conscious ways to sleep within five minutes of the park.
The setting
The town of Joshua Tree sits along Highway 62 between Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms, on the high desert mesa above the Coachella Valley. AutoCamp is on the north side of the highway, with the park's west entrance visible in the distance. From the camp, you drive ten minutes to the entrance booth and another fifteen to Hidden Valley or Skull Rock for the basic-itinerary loop.
Palm Springs is an hour south down Highway 62 and Indian Avenue. LA is two and a half hours west. Most guests are on a Friday-Sunday trip from one of those.
The building
There is no central building in the conventional sense. The clubhouse — a cedar-and-glass pavilion with a saltwater pool, fire pits, and the lobby — sits at the property's center. The Airstreams and the small Acorn cabins are dispersed across the property along gravel paths. Each unit has its own deck and fire pit. The aesthetic is contemporary-minimal-meets-retro: polished aluminum on the trailers, blackened steel and concrete on the common buildings, native plantings.
It photographs cleanly because it's been art-directed cleanly. The architecture is by Klemencic Associates and the brand's in-house design team.
The rooms
Fifty-five units total — about 35 Airstream trailers and 20 Acorn cabins, plus a few "X Suites" that are larger purpose-built tents. Categories range from compact one-bed Airstreams (around $295) up through two-bed Airstreams and the larger X Suite tents. Each unit has a private deck, fire pit, en-suite bathroom (Airstream-style), and air conditioning that does the Mojave's summer heat justice. Beds are queens; linens are good; some units have small kitchenettes.
The Airstreams are climate-controlled but quiet at night; the Acorn cabins are more compact and a value option.
Food & drink
There's no restaurant on-site. A small market in the clubhouse stocks coffee, beer and wine, snacks, and breakfast staples. Daily Brightland-olive-oil tastings and limited food programming run in season. For dinner, the town of Joshua Tree is five minutes by car: La Copine, Pappy & Harriet's (twenty minutes north in Pioneertown), Kitchen in the Desert, Frontier Cafe.
On the property
The amenities are designed for a long-weekend stay.
- Saltwater pool and hot tub
- Fire pits at each unit
- Clubhouse with games, lounge, and small market
- Bicycle rentals
- Bonfire and stargazing programming
- Open year-round
Who it's for
- Couples doing a long weekend in or near the park
- Design-set travelers who want the Airstream form factor without owning one
- Photographers — the property is photogenic by design
- Travelers who'd rather have a private fire pit and quiet than a hotel hallway
Who it's not for
- Travelers who want a full hotel with restaurant and bar
- Light sleepers in summer if you're sensitive to A/C noise (the Airstreams run cooling overnight)
- Families with very small kids — the fire-pit-and-trailer format isn't toddler-tuned
Nearby
Joshua Tree National Park's west entrance is ten minutes; Hidden Valley, Barker Dam, Skull Rock, and the Cholla Cactus Garden are the basic park itinerary. Pappy & Harriet's at Pioneertown — the desert music venue and barbecue restaurant — is twenty minutes north. Integratron sound baths are forty minutes northwest in Landers. La Copine in Yucca Valley is the regional restaurant most visitors return for. Palm Springs is an hour south for the airport, the design-set hotels, and the aerial tram up Mount San Jacinto.
