The Ghostly of Gram Parsons at the Joshua Tree Inn

Country Music Legend Gram Parson

Gram Parsons, left an indelible mark on the industry through collaborations with iconic bands like the Rolling Stones and Emmylou Harris, found solace and creativity in the desert’s embrace. The Joshua Tree Inn became a sanctuary for Parsons and his musical companions, where drug-fueled nights were spent jamming, creating, and forging memories that would echo through time. Tripping on acid, he also claimed to have seen UFOs there.

He was raised in Georgia and Florida, and was heir to an orange farming empire with plenty of money, but he was drawn to the mostly penniless musical career. His brief career in bands like the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers as well as trailblazing writing some kind of country with a bit of hippie, he wanted to create a type of Cosmic Country genre. Perhaps this was not commercially successful then, but inspired people like Keith Richard with the Rolling Stones and discovering Emmylou Harris is also attributed to him.

**Gram Parsons**: The musician who died September 19, 1973 is one of the most well known ghost stories in Joshua Tree National Park. //Source: GAB ARCHIVE/REDFERNS

The career was filled with alcohol, drugs, fighting and at least one arrest. Some performances he was almost unable to stay on his feet, some shows were like magic where everything was right and the music was flowing.

Tragically, the music came to an abrupt halt on the fateful morning of September 19, 1973, when Gram Parsons succumbed to a drug overdose aged only 26, right before his rise to fame.

He had checked into room 8 at the Joshua Tree Inn in the Morongo Valley in San Bernardino. A highway motel on the side of the road that attracted musicians, poets, photographers and the like, already before he made the place infamous. He had lost his home and belongings in a fire and was planning to go on another tour in October.

After six double tequilas at the bar with friends, he bought morphine from a woman staying at the hotel who injected him. They tried to revive him, but to no end.

**Joshua Tree Inn**: Found at 61259 Twentynine Palms Highway, Joshua Tree, the Inn is believed to be haunted, most notably by the musician, Gram Parsons.

In a surreal turn of events, his friends, in adherence to his wishes, “kidnapped” his body before his stepfather could intervene. Friend and road manager, Phil Kaufman remembered a promise they had made to each other drunk: Whichever one of us goes first, we’ll cremate the other’s body in Joshua Tree Park.

Chaos ensued when the stepfather wanted to send his body east, something his friends felt it was the last he would have wanted. They stole his casket and brought it into the desert to Cap Rock. There they put on a big fire of the casket, turning the landscape into a final canvas for the artist’s unconventional farewell in a funeral pyre.

The friends were found, charged with grand theft larceny of the coffin and what remained of Gram were sent back east to his family.

The Haunted Joshua Tree Inn

Guests, unsuspecting visitors to a musical sanctuary, have reported ethereal encounters – the faint strains of singing in the wind, the lingering aroma of cigarette smoke, and even companionship with the ghostly figure of Gram Parsons himself.

It is especially the Room 8 that people claim strange things happen, like opening and closing of doors, a mirror on the wall rattling and a nightstand that seems to move.

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Outside the room, a small memorial of guitar shaped stones, beer bottles, candles and guitar picks, vinyl records and cowboy boots in honor of the late musician. A note reads: “It’s good to be back in room 8. Five years ago I almost died here. You kept me company in the early morning hours while I recovered and watched the sunrise & listened to the morning doves.”

**Room 8**: The Joshua Tree Inn is said to be haunted by the ghost of Gram Parson who died in the room after giving his all to country music. // Source: Wikimedia

Another note hinting to the haunted rumors: “Gram, it was a little trippy when you locked me in here,”

The motel has leaned into the haunted stories and dark tourism, charging well over 100 dollars for a night at the haunted room. According to the man standing behind the desk at the motel, he says it “It’s definitely our most popular room,”

Musicians in Search for Ghosts

The place has become a cult place, especially for musicians, wanting to make their tribute to his spirit, some park rangers and hikers call them the Grampires. Kacey Musgrave for example told about her encounter with his spirit when staying at the Inn, filming her Follow Your Arrow music video.

It is also said that his only child, Polly Parsons sometimes takes the trip anc checks into the room to stay and tries to communicate with his spirit.

Other Haunted Rooms

But could it be that Gram is not the only ghost haunting the Inn, and that there are more haunted rooms? According to people working there, some believe there is. There has been a voice of a woman from Room 6 when there was no one there. There have also been said to be some sort of energy and presence in other places of the motel as well.

In the realm of ghosts, Gram Parsons emerges as a benevolent spirit, offering a hauntingly beautiful connection to the creative energies that flow through the desert landscape. For those who dare to venture into the mystic realm of Joshua Tree National Park, Gram Parsons’ ethereal melodies and timeless presence await in the starlit nights of the Californian desert.