Palm Springs and Palm Desert, California
Long before Palm Springs and Palm Desert became the vibrant destinations they are today, this inland stretch of Southern California was little more than open land dotted with creosote bushes and framed by rugged mountains.
Change came in the 1940s, when visionaries saw potential in the desert’s wild beauty. In Palm Desert, brothers Cliff and Randall Henderson helped shape a community that blended resort living with art and nature. Nearby, Palm Springs was blossoming into a glamorous retreat for Hollywood stars — a place where midcentury design met mountain trails, hot springs, and seemingly endless views.
Today the greater Palm Springs area still embodies its own blend of culture, relaxation, and adventure.
Encounters With the Desert
One of the most memorable ways to take in the region’s beauty is from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. The rotating tram cars glide from the Coachella Valley up the sheer cliffs of Chino Canyon, climbing more than 8,500 feet in just 10 minutes. At the top, Mount San Jacinto State Park awaits with a network of forest trails and sweeping overlooks. The Desert View Trail in particular offers a perfect primer to the mountain’s beauty, looping through fragrant pines to granite outcroppings with vistas that stretch one hundred miles away to the Salton Sea. For those who prefer to stay closer to the desert floor, a guided four-wheel-drive tour into the nearby San Andreas Fault area provides an exhilarating experience. The ride is bumpy and the air dry and sharp, but the payoff is extraordinary. The tours whisk you into narrow slot canyons, alongside palm-filled oases, and past tilted layers of sandstone. It’s part thrill ride, part natural history lesson.
More Adventures on the Horizon
As the sun sets, Palm Desert’s natural allure turns skyward. Friends of the Desert Mountains hosts star parties where telescopes reveal Saturn’s rings or the moons of a faraway planet. On select nights, family-friendly guided hikes explore easy trails by the full moonlight. Those who aren’t skittish around bugs might enjoy a nighttime scorpion walk — the short treks are made with black lights, which cause the arachnids to glow in the darkness.
