Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley

Palm Springs, a desert city within the Coachella Valley, is a great destination for golfers with its 125 golf courses. But there is more to this lovely area than just golfing. For those who like the desert air there are many other attractions as well.

One of the particularly interesting places to visit is Joshua Tree National Park with its abundance of birds, and animals such as bobcats, cougars, coyotes, quails, jackrabbits, big horn sheep and desert tortoises. Flowering cacti especially are the jewels of the park as well as the many other wild flowers that flourish in this desert area. And there are many various rock formations that are unique for the visitor to see. Also of interest, the park is crisscrossed with hundreds of fault lines. The famous San Andreas Fault can be observed on the south side of the park as well as other fault lines throughout the area.

Joshua Tree National Park has 501 archeological sites and 88 historic structures as well as a large museum collection. Included is the Pinto culture collection dated at 4,000 to 8,000 years ago. There are collections also of tools, basketry and ceramic tools telling the story of the early lives of the Cahuilla, Chemuevi and Sorrano who occupied the park prior to the early 1900's. And the exhibits of miners' tools and children's toys tell the story of the park's early Anglo settlers. An estimated three hundred mines were developed in the area after the California gold rush of 1849 ended. Also included are photographs and old library collections of the early cattlemen in the area.

Soak City is another attraction with many different kinds of water slides available for children or the young at heart. While we were in Palm Springs recently we took advantage of the opportunity to go. Besides the water slides, I particularly enjoyed the wave pool and the large lazy river where you don't have to do anything but relax and float along on a big tube. There are tubes available for use while you are in the wave pool also.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram will take you up Chino Canyon where it is about thirty degrees cooler with an elevation of 8,516 feet and into Mt. San Jacinto State Park. It is a popular hiking area with sub-alpine forests, ferny mountain meadows and granite peaks. The Mt. San Jacinto State Park has been likened to hiking in Switzerland. In the winter cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are popular sports. Completed in 1963, the Aerial Tram has carried more than twelve million people into the mountains overlooking the Coachella Valley.

The Palm Springs area has a high of approximately 104 degrees in the summer although when we were there recently it reached 115 degrees. We were thankful for the backyard pool and air conditioning.

Although we usually visit Palm Springs during the summer months, the ideal time is during the other seasons when the temperatures are lovely but a little more moderate especially if you are there for the golf games.