Things to do in
Palm Desert

Palm Desert

Our most recommended things to do in Palm Desert

Palm Springs: San Andreas Fault Open-Air Jeep Tour

Palm Springs: San Andreas Fault Open-Air Jeep Tour

Board your open-air Jeep and embark upon a scenic and informative exploration of the stunning landscape of an active earthquake zone where you will travel across private property only accessible by 4WD and only open for this specific tour. This exciting 4WD adventure to the private Metate Ranch reserve on the San Andreas fault line is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any visitor to the Coachella Valley. Discover the unique geography of this tortured landscape as you explore the skeleton of the earth. Visit a natural oasis and uncover the mysteries of the hardy plants and animals carving out an existence in the dry barren landscape.  Learn about the culture and lifestyle of the Cahuilla Indians and how they used the desert’s plants for food, medicine, tools, weapons, shelter, and more. You will have an opportunity to walk among the stone corridors and sheer granite walls of ancient canyons as you learn the fascinating history of the primal forces that shaped the valleys and surrounding landscape and the people that called this place home for millennia.

Palm Springs: Self-Driving Windmill Tour

Palm Springs: Self-Driving Windmill Tour

The Palm Springs windmill self-driving tour is an interactive, educational, and fun tour for friends and family. This tour will guide you along with an audio program provided through an app with clearly marked destinations throughout the first commercial wind farm in Southern California. After check-in at the Tour Center, you will see a 15-minute video before your self-driving tour. There are exhibits inside the Tour Center on wind energy. You will then be given a map and directed to where to start your tour. You will then take a journey through 10 marked stops, starting with a display yard of non-operating wind turbines. Learn about the successes and failures and visit a real generating wind turbine, where you can get up close and take pictures. Continue to a solar farm and end the tour with a stop at the old gas plant.

Palm Springs: Indian Canyons Hiking Tour by Jeep

Palm Springs: Indian Canyons Hiking Tour by Jeep

Journey to the Ancestral Home of the Cahuilla Indians where stunning rock formations and the contrasting greens of magnificent California fan palms and more than 150 species of plants beckon travelers to these lush oases. Throughout your journey, your naturalist guide will engage and entertain you with stories about the lifestyle, culture, and beliefs of the Cahuilla Indians, our local Native American Tribe. Enjoy a guided, easy 1-mile hike on a tranquil trail along the banks of Andreas Creek as your guide describes the ceremonies and legends of the Cahuilla people and explains how they used the desert’s plants for survival. View one of the largest natural palm oases in North America from the rim of Palm Canyon and enjoy a short walk to a hidden water cave where the water flows most of the year.

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What people are saying about Palm Desert

Overall rating

4.7
(56 reviews)

My grade school friend and I took the trip with your company over the weekend. It was wonderful! Our guide, Landy, was the best! He is such a people person and so knowledgeable! I loved how he grew up in the area and had great stories of things he and his friend did over the years. After this tour with Landy, I have such an appreciation of the desert! Thank you for this wonderful experience.

Excellent information and a great learning experience that was actually very interesting, too. Learned a lot that we knew nothing about & learned things that we didn’t even know existed. Certainly worth the time and money.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the area, etc. Very agreeable to taking pictures, etc. Enjoyed the day, even though we had a small amount of rain. Would recommend especially for those new to the valley.

Travis was awesome!! Being from the area, he knew and loved the history of the geography of the fault and the Indigenous people. Our 3 hour tour was just the right amount of time for discovery of the area.

We loved Theresa - she was a terrific guide. Very knowledgeable about the area, native people who inhabited this desert area, and the geographical aspects of this amazing part of CA. Great tour!