Thinking of going to Joshua Tree NP in mid October to photograph area. Any decent motels close by? Any other "photo opps" close by? Would appreciate any comments on the park. Flying out from the east coast-then driving from LA to the park.

If you can fly into Ontario Airport you will be all the more better to get to Palm Springs. Failing that you can also fly LA to Palm Springs airport. Ontario is on the 10 freeway halfway to Palm Springs from LA and it will save you a lot of time. There are no hotels/motels near the park but would suggest looking in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio etc. Don't know your price range so hard to advise. Joshua Tree is quite isolated with no hotels that I know of. Also close by is Mt. Baldy(,Mt. San Gregorio), and Idylwild up in the mountains. There's an aerial tram that takes you up to Idywild which is quite pretty. Also Big Bear Lake, a mountain lake at about 10,000 feet and Lake Arrowhead are in the vicinity(on the way back to LA or Ontario, off I 10) and are very pretty-----to reach Big Bear you drive on the "Rim of the World" road---says it all. Enjoy.

The three closest places with accomodations of AAA two or three diamond standard are Twenty Nine Palms, which is just at the north side of the park, Yucca Valley about 21 miles to the west and Indio. The road through the park is 47 miles long. On the south side you can drive west for 23 miles to Indio. During mid October you should have no problems in finding a place to stay at all locations. Another alternative is Desert Hot spings which is more or less on the west side of the park. If your main interest is photography, Twenty Nine Palms is your best destination located on State Route 62. Get some good maps of the LA freeways and California. Rooms there are in the $60 to $80 range. Your next best bet would be Yucca Valley about 21 miles to the west.

Twenty Nine Palms is by far the nicer of the three. Yucca Valley is really pretty ugly IMHO. You'll also find really fast speed limits on I 10 through Palm Springs area--up to 80 mph. That helps! Enjoy!

Twenty Nine Palms is by far the nicer of the three. Yucca Valley is really pretty ugly IMHO. You'll also find really fast speed limits on I 10 through Palm Springs area--up to 80 mph. That helps! Enjoy!

29 Palms for sure. Kam is right about flying into Ontario International (new terminal will be open by then, too) but the geographical proximity of some of his other suggestions aren't accurate! Joshua Tree National Monument has some fine places to camp if you're into carrying a sleeping bag and a pop-up tent with you on the plane.