Twin Tanks Desert Homestead Cabins - Twentynine Palms - California

Road TripJoshua Tree National ParkCool Places to spend the night

Oct 5

It had been several months since my last trip to Joshua Tree National Park, and I had hoped to visit during some of the crazy monsoon storms that recently drenched the park. Alas, time and that infernal necessity “work,” did not oblige. But the stars must have aligned, as I was able to wrangle employment and other commitments away from October 2-3, and plan a visit to JT.

This trip would prove to be quite a departure (pun intended) from my usual overnight excursions, as I planned on staying the nights at an airbnb I had heard about called the Twin Tanks Homestead Cabins, located about midway between the towns of Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms. And I’m certainly glad I did, what a unique bit of historic, homey desert charm.

So, the “Homestead” part of the name intrigued me enough to do a little bit of research, as pertaining to this desert area. Back in the early 1930s, a man by the name of Paul Witmer took over the Office of Land Management in Los Angeles. He became aware of some folks living out in the desert, on land they had acquired via the old Homestead Act that was passed in 1862. Witmer became quite interested in trying to open up the area for more settlers and through his and other’s efforts, the Five Acre Tract bill was passed in 1938 and became law.

It was almost free land. To obtain your “baby homestead” of five acres, all you had to do was pay a filing fee of $10 per acre and build a small (minimum of 10’ x 12’ size) cabin on the property. These “Jackrabbit Tracts” of five acres were from public land. By the mid-1950s, the BLM was receiving 100 applications a day for the free land. By 1960, there was a backlog of nearly 60,000 applications waiting to be processed.

Read a little more about this fascinating part of desert history and the homestead act by clicking HERE. And to really delve into the Jackrabbit Homesteads of Twentynine Palms and Wonder Valley, click HERE for an awesome site!

The first cabin (shown above) is a rustic, original 1950's homestead cabin (12' x 16'). This is the sleeping area, complete with queen bed, kitchen sink and counter-top with microwave, toaster oven, and under-counter refrigerator. What else could you need? Oh yes, NO TV 😁.

The cabin is very comfortable with lots of cool stuff to check out. And it was so quiet at night! The air was sweet, open up the windows to let the desert breeze in.

The second cabin (12' x 16' and just a few steps away) was built to match the style and feel of the original homestead. It’s the bathroom, with everything you need.

The two water tanks that give the homestead its name. They were used back in the day, before city water was available.

The water tanks, a small camping trailer (a work in progress), a deck and the two cabins create a something of a “U” shape, with tables, chairs, fire pit, and BBQ located in the “U.” And all around is cool stuff! If you’re a photographer, there are photo opportunities where ever you look. Here’s a few of the pictures I took:

A nice crop of Coyote Melons growing near a small wash that runs by the homestead. They like water.

A view of part of the backyard.

The back of the main cabin.

Probably my favorite thing on the homestead, this old GMC truck.

The combination of history, locale, comfortable lodging and all the cool stuff to take pictures of made the homestead a highlight of my long weekend. Looking forward to a return trip and possibly stay in the trailer!