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JOURNAL
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE
Pioneertown Road leaves Highway 62 in Yucca Valley and starts climbing. Within a few miles the creosote flats give way to boulder fields, pinyon and juniper, and the temperature eases a little with the elevation. It is a short drive that puts you somewhere that does not look like where you started, which is most of the reason people make it.
The road is paved and two lanes, with curves and blind rises. It is not difficult driving, but it is not a highway either, and it is shared with people who live up there, cyclists on the shoulder, and animals with no regard for headlights.
At the top is a small cluster of places to eat and hear live music, and that cluster pulls people from across the high desert and down the hill from the Coachella Valley on weekend nights. For a settlement this size, the draw is completely out of proportion to the population.
Weekend nights up here are busier than the size of the place prepares you for. Waits are normal, parking is informal and limited, and a headline show fills the road with cars belonging to people who drove ninety minutes to be there. Going early is the whole strategy. Arrive ahead of the dinner rush, eat, and settle in for the music rather than trying to time your arrival to it.
Check hours before you commit to the drive. Businesses up here keep short and seasonal schedules and some close midweek entirely, and turning around at the top because the door is locked is a particular kind of annoying.
The way back down is the part to plan. It is dark, unlit and curving, and there is nothing forgiving about it. If the evening involves drinks, decide who is driving before you leave the house, because rideshare coverage out here is thin and unreliable after dark. Your local manager can tell you what is running that weekend and roughly how long the drive takes from where you are staying, which is usually less than people guess and more than they allow for.