By guest columnist SANDRO MONETTI
If you’re looking to get out of LA for a fun day trip, then allow me to recommend riding into Pioneertown.
This evocatively-named place is an old western town 30 miles north of Palm Springs which offers an incredibly cool step back in time.
The place was a built as a working movie set nearly 80 years ago and great names like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers filmed countless cowboy pictures there.
But when westerns went out of fashion, the sets got turned into shops and the place became something of a magnet for tourists headed to Joshua Tree and other nearby attractions.
There are vintage clothes stores selling cowboy boots, a bookshop, saddle store, art gallery and other shops selling soap and crystals.
Nevertheless, the hidden gem stayed largely unknown by the wider world– until Instagram changed everything.
More recently it’s attracted the IG crowd as hipsters from SoCal and further afield flock there to pose for selfies in Pioneertown during a desert sunset.
You’ll see them all the time, posing in front of the old post office, town bank or hay bales – just like I did on my trip there.
The town has also had an increase in residents. More than 400 people live there now, many relocating from LA as the pandemic has prompted Angelenos to uproot and build houses in this a much quieter and cheaper but still fun environment.
I chatted with a few of these new pioneers on my visit. They’re an artistic and eclectic bunch and talking to them it’s clear they like the option of being completely cut off from things while still being close enough to drive to LA if they suddenly need to reconnect with their old way of life.
And they don’t seem to mind the tourists – which is something else you are used to if you’ve lived in Los Angeles.
At weekends, Pioneertown entertains the tourists by staging wild west shows and mock gunfights.
But even without those, there’s plenty to enjoy in this old west wonder.
At the center of things is The Red Dog Saloon, the bar where western movie actors drank back in the day and which is still the main watering hole in town today.
Barbecue meals and live music can be enjoyed at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace. That’s where I met, of all people, the guitarist for the Psychedelic Furs as the band were preparing for a show there.
Pappy and Harriet’s has become quite the cool concert venue having attracted performances from the likes of Arctic Monkeys and even, in 2016, a headline hitting set by Paul McCartney. With Coachella just down the road, it’s no wonder Pioneertown is popular with the music crowd and there’s even a recording studio in town now.
There’s also a non-denominational church, a drive-in movie theatre, a bowling alley and a film museum full of posters and props from westerns shot in town. And if you want to stay overnight, there’s a really great motel right there.
So what are you waiting for? Saddle up and head for this little piece of paradise nestled in a quiet valley.
Just drive along Route 62 and take that left turn down Pioneertown Road. It’s a path back to a simpler time and some stunning sights. You won’t be disappointed.
For more information go to visitpioneertown.com
(Sandro Monetti is a writer, broadcaster and filmmaker whose new movie, Tech to the Future, goes on release in LA and London this month. Learn more at www.techtothefuture.film He hosts Brits in LA Pub Quiz each Tuesday night, 7.30pm, at the Market Tavern).
