Jason Heidemann

If you find yourself curled up and snoozing peacefully atop an outdoor ‘stargazing’ bed as passing breezes perfume the air with the scent of cedar and sagebrush (an intoxicating fragrance that should be sold in candle form at gift shops) and baggy-skinned chuckwallas scamper across the landscape, you could be forgiven for thinking you were dozing off under a starry night sky within Joshua Tree National Park. You practically are. Sacred Sands is a dashedly charming inn, and its footpath-connected guesthouse Lobo Luna sit together on 10 acres of mountain-facing land a mere 2 kilometers from the park’s West Entrance Station. It’s like overnighting inside the park but with a ‘treat yourself’ mentality for people who want crisp linens instead of shaggy sleeping bags (and the promise of a tarantula-free night’s sleep). Why stay at Lobo Luna at Sacred Sands? California’s Hi-Desert, the area north and west of the park which includes communities like Yucca Valley, Pioneertown, Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree, has largely eschewed big-box hotels (though a few familiar US chains can be found along Twentynine Palms Highway). Instead, homestays heavy on desert swagger which have been designed to lure drive-market weekenders, plus cowboy-curious travelers from elsewhere in the US and around the world, dominate.  Lobo Luna at Sacred Sands delivers boho chic vibes in spades and its proximity to the park makes it the envy of other vacation rentals. Current owners Keith and Kaylee Niemann Ham