Yucca Valley, CA

Yucca Valley is an incorporated town in the Mojave Desert, about 20 miles north of Palm Springs and directly north of Joshua Tree National Park. It sits around 3,300 feet in the Morongo Basin, with the San Bernardino Mountains to the west and desert hills around much of town. Yucca Valley has a practical gateway-to-Joshua-Tree role, but it also has its own oddball landmarks, including Desert Christ Park and the Atlatl geoglyph. Grubstakes Day adds a small-town parade tradition to the desert setting.