“What draws us into the desert is the search for something intimate in the remote.” - Edward Abbey
Maybe it’s the year-round sunny climate and the exclusive tennis and golf clubs. Perhaps it’s the variety of hiking options. Whatever the draw, Palm Springs, a city in the Sonoran Desert of southern California, is a popular destination for tourists and retirees alike.
With less than 46,000 residents, Palm Springs is situated in the Coachella Valley, bordered on the west by the San Jacinto Mountains. Although the area was populated more than 2,000 years ago with the arrival of the Cahuilla people, it was when actors of the 1940s and 1950s were required to stay within a two-hour drive of Hollywood that put Palm Springs on the map.
As a top spot for retirees, forever boyfriend Jim Miller, author of the nationally syndicated newspaper column, The Savvy Senior, was curious about its appeal. In mid-March, we went to find out why.
Due to storms in Dallas and geese on the runway in Palm Springs, we arrive late. If we skip lunch, there is just enough time to make it to a pre-paid bike tour. Little did we know it was the first day of the Indian Wells Open, the best-attended tennis tournament outside of the Grand Slams. That explained the swarms of people and long lines at the car rental counters. Luckily, within an hour we were in our car and headed to Big Wheel Tours for the celebrity ride.
Leisurely pedaling through some of the oldest and most prominent neighborhoods in Palm Springs, we enjoy listening to our guide share interesting facts as we stop in front of properties once belonging to Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Clark Gable, Liberace and Marilyn Monroe. The streets are wide with few cars, making this a fun way to get acquainted with the area.
The Korakia Pensione is our stop for the night. A rustic and unique resort in the heart of Palm Springs, its many amenities include fountains, gardens, heated pools, fire pits and candlelit pathways throughout the acre-plus property. One half is Moroccan-themed, and the other is Mediterranean. Rooms are spare but clean and cozy.
Dinner is at Birba, an outdoor Italian restaurant where we enjoyed wood-fired Brussels sprouts, spaghetti pomodoro and a nice glass of Chianti.
After sipping early morning coffee delivered to our door, we have breakfast al fresco in the Moroccan courtyard before loading up and heading to Joshua Tree National Park. It takes barely an hour to get there.
Although we have easy hikes planned for the day, we stop for water and snacks. Traffic was light at the south entrance to the park, and we meandered along Cottonwood Spring Road, giving us time to soak up the incredible but eerie desert landscape.
Joshua Tree National Park lies in the overlap between the Colorado Desert on the eastern side and the Mojave Desert—home to the wild and spiky Joshua tree—on the west, making for a fascinating ecosystem. Despite relentless sun and little water, the plants and animals have adapted to this harsh environment.
At the Cottonwood Visitor Center, we buy a seven-day pass for $30, then drive to the trailhead of Mastodon Peak Trail for lunch. The Lost Palm Oasis is here, a lush green spot where water is present.
All types of hiking experiences are available in Joshua Tree, from easy strolls to backcountry routes that require special permits. The further we go into the park, the busier it gets, with hikers, rock climbers and campers.
Cholla Cactus Garden is an easy, open pathway through a huge collection of cholla cacti. Resembling large, fluffy teddy bears, cholla cacti are prickly and can pack a painful punch if you touch them.
Continuing along Park Boulevard, we stop at Skull Rock, a rock formation that resembles the hollowed-out eye sockets in a skull. Several easy hikes are situated in this area, and we opt for the Discovery Loop, which takes us through impressive rock formations. Trails are not all well-marked and, instead of looping, we end up on the boulevard, a mile from our car. Luckily, we chatted with some women who were celebrating their 40th college reunion and they gave us a ride back.
Our hotel for the night is 29 Palms Inn, located near the north entrance of Joshua Tree. This funky complex is situated on 70 acres of a nature preserve and centered around the Oasis of Mara, a large pond surrounded by palm trees.
Dinner is at Kitchen in the Desert, where we bump into our friends who had given us a ride earlier. This outdoor restaurant and bar serves Caribbean and New American dishes family style. We share a plate of curry chickpeas, garam masala, tamarind, and cucumber chutney, another of Brussels sprouts roasted in garlic, pepper flakes, maple, mint, pecans, topped with goat cheese, and finish with a fried Twinkie for dessert. All are house specialties, according to our server.
More hiking is on the morning agenda, and we take a bumpy off-route to the Barker Dam Hike, an easy 1.5-mile loop through rocky terrain. We pass groups with giant mats on their backs who tell us they are rock climbers heading to higher formations.
Unfortunately, a spring Saturday is prime hiking and climbing season and many of the trailhead parking lots fill up and are closed by park rangers. Since it’s close to lunchtime, we scrap our last hike and drive to the Western-style Joshua Tree Saloon, a fun place to enjoy cold beer and hot fries while listening to a Jimmy Buffet cover band on the patio.
Just outside of Joshua Tree is the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture. What at first appears to be a junkyard scattered across a large acreage is the studio space of Noah Purifoy, the late artist known for creating large pieces of assemblage sculpture. Also referred to as “Dadaist Junk Art,” his enormous pieces consist of discarded tires, bikes, school lunchroom trays and chairs. Many are commentaries on social change.
From there we stop at Pioneertown, an 1880s-style false-front Old West town. The backdrop for many films and television shows from the 1940s and 1950s, there are still mock gunfights in the wide main street, now lined with boutiques and shops.
An hour’s drive through the mountains down to the valley, we are back at Korakia Pensione, this time on the Moroccan side of the complex. Dinner is at a large outdoor restaurant, El Mirasol Cocina Mexicana, where we feast on fresh guacamole, enchiladas and sangria.
Palm Springs is just one of many towns in the Coachella Valley, and the next day we drive through several on our way to Indio, where we spend the day with a longtime friend who relocated here from Seattle. She takes us to Sunnylands Center and Gardens, the former Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage that has hosted national and international leaders for high-level retreats.
Before flying out the next morning, we have time for a quick stop at the Forever Marilyn statue, a 26-foot-tall stainless-steel likeness of the actress in her billowy dress standing over the subway grate.
Then we hop on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. The rotating tramcar propels you 8,816 feet from the warm desert to the snowy peaks of the San Jacinto Mountains, where you can take in panoramic views of the entire Coachella Valley.
Lunch is at The Farm in downtown Palm Springs, a farm-to-table restaurant with a Provençal flare, from its decor to the menu.
Five days in swanky Palm Springs is enough time to get a taste of this oasis in the desert as well as the more kooky and odd areas surrounding it.
There’s plenty to do for the outdoor and active visitors, although the heat is extreme in the summer. And there's also plenty to entice both men and women—alone or together—including golf and tennis enthusiasts, adventurers, film history buffs and foodies.
"There’s plenty to do for the outdoor and active visitors, although the heat is extreme in the summer."