High Desert vs Low Desert: Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree vs the Coachella Valley

The short answer

The high desert next door to the Coachella Valley is the Morongo Basin: Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms, strung along Highway 62 at roughly 2,000 to 3,300 feet. The low desert is the Coachella Valley itself, from Palm Springs at about 480 feet down to Indio, just below sea level.

Up the hill you get cooler summers, freezing winter nights, a little snow, bigger lots, more dirt roads and more septic tanks. Down in the valley you get long 100-degree summers, mild winters, paved streets, gated communities and most of the region’s hospitals and shopping close by.

“High desert” can also mean Victorville or Lancaster. This guide is about the one next to Palm Springs.

Which desert is which

Joshua Tree National Park sits on the line between the two. The park service puts the Mojave across the park’s northern side, where Joshua trees grow, and the Colorado Desert, a western arm of the Sonoran, across its southern and eastern side. The towns along Highway 62 are on the Mojave side. The Coachella Valley, south-west of the park, is Colorado Desert.

Summer heat and winter frost, by the numbers

The 100-degree days. Palm Springs and Indio average around 120 days a year at 100°F or more. Yucca Valley averages about 23. Joshua Tree, lower and further east, sits in between at about 60. If summer is why you’re looking up the hill, Yucca Valley gives the biggest break.

The freezing nights. The trade is winter. Yucca Valley averages about a month of nights at or below freezing each year, and Joshua Tree about three weeks. The valley floor averages about one. Snow is light: under two inches a year on average in Yucca Valley, and none on the valley floor.

What it means on moving day. A July move is hardest at the valley end, so we plan summer jobs around the hottest hours of the day. A January move is hardest at the high-desert end: a frosty or icy morning on an unpaved road can slow the start, so keep a second date in mind.

Wind on both sides of the hill

The National Weather Service issues wind advisories and high wind warnings for the Morongo Basin; one in May 2019 called for west gusts of 50 to 60 mph. In the valley, the strongest wind funnels through the San Gorgonio Pass, where wind turbines line Interstate 10 and the bottom of Highway 62.

One tip: the Morongo Basin forecast comes from the Weather Service office in Las Vegas, the Coachella Valley’s from San Diego, so check both ends the week before you move. On a windy day, nothing light waits outside the truck.

Highway 62: the climb between them

Highway 62 leaves Interstate 10 near Whitewater, at the north-west end of the valley, and climbs through Morongo Valley at about 2,600 feet to Yucca Valley, then runs east through Joshua Tree to Twentynine Palms. It is the main road between the basin and the valley, and from Palm Springs to Yucca Valley it gains about 2,800 feet.

A loaded moving truck takes the grade more slowly than a car, in both directions. For a local move the clock runs from when the crew leaves our Indio warehouse, so the drive up and back is part of the bill. Our guide to what movers cost in the Coachella Valley explains how that works.

Dirt roads, long driveways and big lots

This is the biggest practical difference. In unincorporated San Bernardino County, which takes in Joshua Tree and most of the basin outside the town limits, the county only maintains roads in its official road system. Its public works department says the owners along other roads are responsible for them, and that for lack of funds it paves only a limited number of dirt roads. Some neighborhoods pay a district to grade their roads; many don’t.

That leaves plenty of homes at the end of sand, gravel or a washboard track, sometimes across a wash that a heavy storm can wash out. On a big lot, the house can also sit well back from the road.

What it means on moving day. Before the estimate, send photos or a short video of the last half-mile, the driveway, any gate and where a truck could turn around. Measure the gate. Tell us if the road is soft after rain. The distance from where the truck can park to the front door decides how long the carry takes, and that is time on the bill. In the valley the question is usually the opposite one: where a large truck may park inside a gated community.

Septic tanks, sewers and wells

On a city lot in the valley, wastewater rarely comes up. In the high desert, ask before you buy.

• Yucca Valley is moving from septic to sewer. The state’s regional water board banned new septic discharges there in 2011 to protect the groundwater the town drinks. The first phase had to connect by the end of 2023, and the Hi-Desert Water District is now starting the second. The water board’s FAQ links to a map where you can check an address.
• Joshua Tree homes are on septic. A sewer has only been studied.
• Further out, some rural homes beyond the water district lines run on a private well or a water tank. Ask the seller which you have.

What it means on moving day. A loaded truck is heavy, and the EPA advises keeping vehicles off a septic drain field. Mark the tank lid, the leach field and any well head before the crew arrives, so the truck parks clear of them.

Cabins and homesteads vs gated communities

The housing is as different as the weather. In the basin you’ll find houses on lots measured in acres, and the small homestead cabins left from the 1938 Small Tract Act, many since rebuilt. Our Joshua Tree movers page covers those cabins, and the state’s protection of the Joshua trees around them, in more detail.

In the valley, many homes sit inside gated communities with a homeowners association: golf and country-club developments, condo complexes, and big age-restricted communities such as Sun City Shadow Hills in Indio. The movers usually need to be on the gate list, and many associations set move-in hours or truck parking rules, so ask for them and pass them on.

The upshot: a high-desert move is usually about the road and the carry. A valley move is usually about the gate, the HOA and the heat.

How far you are from everything

Yucca Valley is the basin’s main town for shopping, with more stores and schools than its neighbors. Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree is the basin’s hospital, with an emergency room; it belongs to the same network as Desert Regional in Palm Springs and JFK Memorial in Indio. For the airport, many specialists and the biggest stores, basin residents drive down Highway 62. In the valley, the cities run together along Highway 111 and most errands are short. Picture your week and how often it would take you down the hill.

Moving between the high desert and the valley

We get calls going both ways: people moving up from the valley to the basin, and people selling in Yucca Valley and buying in the valley, sometimes with a gap between the two closings. If you’re planning one, these steps make the day go smoothly:

1. Pick the season. Spring and fall are easiest at both ends.
2. Show us the road. Photos of the road, driveway, gate and turnaround help us plan the truck and crew.
3. Mark the ground. Septic tank, leach field, well head and anything else a truck shouldn’t drive over.
4. Get the gate and HOA rules for the valley home, and put us on the list.
5. Plan for a gap. If one closing comes before the other, your things can wait in sealed wooden vaults at our Indio warehouse and come up or down the hill when you call ahead.
6. Get it in writing. We walk through the home with you in person or on video, and California requires a written estimate before a household move.

For moves up the hill, see our Yucca Valley movers page. For the valley towns, start with Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City or La Quinta, or see every town we serve on our Coachella Valley movers page.

Questions people ask about the high desert and the low desert

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