Outdoor museum, dedicated to showing the work of Noah Purifoy, a late 20th century LA artist who…read morespent the last years of his life on this property, making sculptures out of recycled everyday materials. His workshop and living trailer are still there, surrounded by his artwork. The grounds are unfenced, and there is a dedicated parking area on both side of the dirt ride, towards the West part of the exhibit (coming from the East, important to keep going until you see a small parking area on the south part of the road...otherwise, you will be parking on private property.) You can get up close and personal, and touch whatever you like (since it's part of how the exhibit's age). But it can also be dangerous, with many pokey and sharp things, so need to watch out while wandering. Art is a subjective thing, and I would not have guessed that I would have enjoyed his exhibit as much as I did (especiallyl the exhibits involving bowling balls and/or toilets as the main materials). But as I continued to look at his pieces, kept wondering 'What was he thinking?....How did he envision this would look 20 years after creation, as the desert enveloped?', both from an overall macro level, but also from a detailed, day-to-day accomplishment perspective. The setting of the desert is as integral as the recycled material itself. And I couldn't help but think...'is this what a end-of-the-world scenario would look like?'. And as certain parts of the exhibit degrades, will the foundation fix it...or is that the natural progression of his art? There is a handout near the entrance that tells the fascinating story of the artist's life. It's well worth reading.

This is a free museum located outside in the desert within the neighborhood. I made the mistake of…read morevisiting during the hot humid weather, therefore we didn't stay long. It is actually a must visit for your Joshua Tree trip because this is quite a unique spot. There was a lot to see and take pictures of interesting sculptures. Installations were made out of scrapped materials turned into unbelievable arts you would never think of. I wish I had gone on a much cooler weather to actually walk around and take our time more to explore each piece. It's definitely worth it to visit the exhibit in Joshua Tree.

This is great museum. I learned a lot. The display on Jackrabbit homestead was amazing. Changed my…read morethoughts on the abounded houses. They have the actual school house attached which is very cool. You get to walk through it. Came up to see art shops was more amazed by the museum.

We have been many times to this museum and gift shop! It is a true gem in our little town. If you…read moreare in the area stop by and learn about 29 Palms, all the volunteers are amazingly helpful and knowledgeable!

JTMF fall 2025 was just amazing. My first time attending…read morewith the kiddos and I couldn't be happier such great experience and kid friendly. The music, The Food and the vibe is on another level. The staff is amazing so kind and friendly. The kids are running around playing hide and seek around the lake with their walkie talkies to communicate with their parents (so funny). Everyone is free here with no judgement , no stress, just happiness. Not too crowded just the right people.

Good music, fun times, great folks Fun venue for desert…read morevibes and a chill time for sure

First time here it's a nice vibe! Staff very friendly! Will definitely come again!!!!read more

Smiths Ranch is a must for everyone. They sell tickets on site or you can pre purchase online.read more

Almost missed this place! the artwork is beautiful and the artist was welcoming…read more Absolutely worth a stop to check it out close to everything in town too. Don't miss it:)

What a fun experience…read more My lady & I enjoy Palm Springs for its many great spots for Dining, Shopping, and History. We visited this museum on Sunday and were greeted very warmly by two young men who were very polite and informative. Amazing to see what Cabot built with all these buildings in the middle of nowhere! I highly recommend this interesting museum.

Quite a unique place. We rolled up when it was 110° out and we're the only ones there headed into…read morethe gift shop to buy tickets and two really nice clerks told us about the place and what we could look at. Walked around and saw an interesting site definitely unique not sure how safe all the pads were but I think it's a situation of buyer beware. I don't think I'd make a special trip for it, but if you're right in the area, it's worth checking out. It's one of those roadside oddities that you find across the country.

I was staying in Twentynine Palms near Joshua Tree last weekend and decided to stop by the…read moreobservatory on a whim around 11 PM with a couple of my friends. Little did we know that this would be one of the highlights of our trip. Not only were the stars beautiful but we met a very nice and passionate scientist who decided to chat with us and teach us all about the constellations. It was such a treat. He and his wife were finishing up and packing away their telescopes and he told us that they were going to lock the gate of the parking lot that our cars were parked in, but let us know that we could move our car right outside of the gate and stay all night if we wanted to because it was open 24 hours. He also warned us about the coyotes and cougars. Coyotes stay away with noise and cougars are attracted to noise, so pick your battle lol. We definitely can't wait to come back! And it's free!

So many different little areas to put your telescope on and check out the stars. This area is just…read morefor getting together with other enthusiasts and checking out the night sky. Love that this was built just for that purpose.

Great little shop here…read more Lots of great local art. Fun alien/robot stuff. The lady working was helpful and also pointed out some other must-see spots in the area to hit. We had a great time exploring this string of shops and also learning about what to do with both alien and robot invasions. Our best bet is to just make friends with both and turn on humans. Thank you.

Cute little random spot that was suggested by our airbnb. The owner was super friendly and actually…read morelived in Chicago so we hot talk about how it was decades ago. We didn't buy any artwork bc we'd have no way to get it home but we bought some postcards. I wish they had more tshirts so we could have supported more but we got some pics outside.