What a spectacular experience. So much to learn about the Indians that lived here and why. From a…read morenice cool walk under the trees next to the natural water flowing up through the ground then to some fabulous hiking with glorious views of the mountains to all the creatures that live all around it. Keep your eyes open for all of them and especially for the dangerous ones hiding around rocks. Stay away from the selfies with them. Shouldn't have to say it but.... Well worth the $12.00 entry fee per car. Come here when it's hot for a cooler experience under the trees or winter for some good hiking. This is Palm Springs after all.

Nov, 2025. Palm Springs, CA. "The Indian Canyons are the ancestral home of the Agua Caliente Band…read moreof Cahuilla Indians. These canyons are especially sacred to the Cahuilla people today and are historically important to scientists and nature lovers. The Cahuilla people have thrived here for thousands of years. Ancient trails, rock art, house pits, foundations, irrigation ditches, dams, reservoirs, and food preparation areas still exist in the canyons." While there are many hiking trails in the Indian Canyons, our preference was to hike one of them that offered some shade. (While Palm Springs was only expected to reach 81 degrees today, it feels hotter when you're hiking in direct sun!) We spoke to a friendly ranger near the Trading Post, and he suggested that the two trails with shade are: (1) Palm Canyon, which is described as a moderated-graded footpath that winds down into the canyon for picnicking near the stream, meditating, exploring, hiking and equestrian trails. (2) Andreas Canyon, a tranquil setting with a one-mile walking loop and a year-round flowing stream showcasing magnificent palms and more than 150 species of plants. We chose the Palm Canyon hike as we were already close to its trailhead. The trail was mostly wide, well-maintained, and dry. It's an out-and-back trail that's 0.9 miles in each direction. Total elevation change is 224'. At the 0.9-mile mark, it intersects with other trails that allow you to lengthen the distance of your hike. For instance, there was an option to return via another route that would be 2.0 miles (rather than 0.9), but it appeared that it would be mostly in the sun so we decided against it. A few general observations: *this is a family-friendly trail, and there were quite a few kids on the trail. It is NOT stroller-friendly as there's a fairly steep descent at the beginning from the parking lot down to the palms. *the trail was crowded on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, 10:30 am, but many hikers turned after the first 1/4 to 1/2-mile. *there is an entry fee to enter Indian Canyons, but you're allowed to hike as many trails as you'd capable of doing during operating hours. Adult admission is $12, seniors (62+) and students are $7, children (6-12): $6, and U.S. military, and first responders are free. HINT: we purchased our tickets at the Palm Springs Visitors Center and got a $1 discount per ticket. *there are regularly scheduled ranger-led interpretive hikes and ranger talks. *there are three parking areas, all with port-a-potties. *some concessions, including water and Gatorade, are available at the Trading Post, but there aren't any public fountains so make sure to bring a lot of water for this desert environment. *we didn't see any creatures, but you need to careful of where you step or place your hands as there are rattlesnakes in the canyon. *signage is good, but it's also easy to unintentionally go off-trail as there are quite a few unofficial trails. We enjoyed our visit to the Indian Canyons, and will return to do some of the other hikes.

Easily accessible But can be challenging…read more Make sure you wear the right shoes as the trail is steep. Great views Could be marked a bit better Coming down is actually harder than going up!

Wha a wonderful trail to hike! We found a herd if mountain goats crossing our trail and stopping to…read moreeat dried leaves. They're so close to us and seem comfortable with us taking photo of them. It was worth the hike as it is quite a difficulty level of rocky trail to get to the top. Tip- bring extra water and wear proper hiking shoes! Long and steep trail. Hiking sticks would be great to save some energy too!

Beautiful, moderately challenging hike with great views of downtown and North Palm Springs. I…read morespontaneously decided to do the Museum Trail to North Lykken and then walked back to the parking by the museum along the streets. It took about 2 hours in total. The North Lykken trail is definitely a little less steep than the Museum Trail but has equally beautiful views. Be aware that this trail is NOT well marked. If I hadn't been hiking around other people who knew where they were going I definitely would have gotten lost several times. The loop between North Lykken, South Lykken, and the Museum Trail is also pretty confusing so make sure you're on the right path. Especially because many people do this as a point-to-point trail (like I did) instead of out-and-back, I wish the markings were a bit clearer. On the bright side, you're not exactly out in the wilderness so you should have cell service the whole time.

This trailhead at the dead-end of west Ramon Road is another way to access the Skyline Trail, as is…read morebarely discernable on the typically old, clouded, scratched plexiglass covered sign in its parking area (which is why it's good to check caltopo.com before doing a new hike - I've found it to be more accurate than alltrails.com). But this trail is worthwhile in itself. At the start it directly and intimately overlooks the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood and its beautiful old estates - probably the nearest ones have to forget about any nude sunbathing in their back yards. I hadn't been here in quite a while - when I arrived, slowly passing by the empty new development on my left, it was kind of eerie like one of China's just-built but uninhabited "ghost cities." I mention it only because I was gobsmacked to see what an awesome landscaping job they did - the view hasn't been marred by a nearly treeless bunch of homes as I'd expected. Suddenly I've got to know all about the transplantation of fully grown trees! Leaving your car at the trailhead seems safer now that the housing development appears to be nearly finished. The trail doesn't get much traffic so on a weekday summer morning I was surprised to see several vehicles arrive and park here over about 20 minutes. But as I watched, only the occupants of one of them headed to the trail. The others appeared to be here to rendezvous for who knows what. Seems like an out-of-the-way place for drug deals, so most likely it was just international espionage. That would explain the van. You don't have to climb very high to gain some gorgeous panoramic views of our amazing valley. At first the trail seems suited for the rehabilitating and/or bad knees crowd, but it gets steep/rocky/tricky soon enough. Watch out for snakes as there are a lot of dark crevices that you need to step near. It's basically a shadeless hike but a little off-trail I found an exception to that and have, in seated and still shaded comfort at 9:00am, been watching a pair of hummingbirds a few feet away and tennis games below and replaying the score from "Out of Africa" in my head while writing this. That's how well retired folks multi-task. As you can tell by my rambling review I'm in no hurry to leave! I found the path to be fairly clean but there's evidence of idiot invasions too. At one spot some partiers left behind beer bottles, KFC boxes, and a padded bra. Yes they did. So doubtless it was a night-time view they were after, among other things. Well **** them for leaving trash, but I got paid for packing it out since they were evidently too drunk or drugged or after-glowy to notice they'd dropped some money along with their garbage. I love it when that happens.

What a disaster. This area is an overgrown sand pit. I love animals and wildlife but not here. I…read morefound a pair of pants just off the trail. Gross. I too saw a bum fire. Sad for the condo owners. Why no dogs? Will they scare the bums and wildlife away? Dumb concept and development.

Prescott Preserve is in Palm Springs and is the former Mesquite Golf and Country Club that the…read moreOswit Land Trust purchased. It's a nice, easy walk and there are several different species of birds to view. I found the walk interesting because one can see what happens to land when a golf course closes and it is turned into a nature preserve. The space is still in transition so it's not super beautiful yet, however, I found the views fascinating. I read that there are plans for walking paths, butterfly gardens, signage, and docks for migratory birds. I look forward to checking back here and there to see the changes. Hours: Dawn to dusk Best place to park: I parked on Farrell Drive between Ramon and Mesquite. There's a wash that runs under Farrell and the trails are on both sides. Leashed dogs and bikes okay on path

We got the scoop about this hike while sitting around the pool at the Palm Springs Tennis Club. It…read morewas suggested that we hit the trailhead around 7AM to avoid the heat. We got there at 7:30, but still managed just fine thanks to a little breeze. Bring water and make sure you apply sun screen. You will need shoes with good grip, the first half can can be steep, but it all lends to great views of Palm Springs. The trail is well marked with white dots spray painted on the rocks throughout. Depending on how you go about your hiking expedition, it can be quite short if you turn around at the picnic benches, but still a fun adventure. We pressed on and enjoyed the loop hike we scouted out. There's plenty of parking at the base (which is at the museum), technically you're not supposed to park in the museum lot, but there's also a large free garage right across the street. At the top there are a ton of picnic tables, and you can choose to go back down or continue on to the North Lykken, South Lykken, or Skyline Trails. The trail splits when you see the large PILE of rocks, this will speak for itself. We continued on the North Lykken trail (left/downward) which made for a perfect 4 mile loops from our front door. The museum trail is a great way to get moving and get some beautiful views of Palm Springs! I would love to do this hike every day, it is a good workout, the roundtrip took us about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Very steep hike with great views of Palm Springs. The trail is well marked with white dots spray…read morepainted on the rocks throughout. It's quite short but very steep so bring plenty of water and be prepared to use your legs! There's plenty of parking at the base--you're not supposed to park in the museum lot, but there's also a large free garage right across the street. At the top there are a ton of picnic tables, and you can choose to go back down or continue on to the North Lykken, South Lykken, or Skyline Trails. The museum trail is a great way to get moving and get some beautiful views of Palm Springs!

Was in town for Desert Air music festival and they offered a guided hike on the Oswit canyon trail…read moreas one of the dayitme "layovers." Our guides were Jannick and Dave who took us on the one mile loop hike while telling us facts and stories about the property. I haven't been to the gym or hiked as much as I'd like and found it to be doable with great views. We stopped a lot to learn about the flora and the fauna and about the non profit that saved this land from development. If you're looking for a good hike Lykken has the one mile loop as well as a north trail hike with ELEVATION! It's great if you're looking for a quick hike that will get your heart rate going or a long hike that will hit you with elevation early and get you closer to the sky.

There's a south and north part of this trail and we did some of both. We found plenty of spaces to…read morepark our vehicle before we set out on the hike. It was hot and even with a late start around noon there were a lot of hikers around. Look around for those big horn sheep trail pets, we saw four of them on the trail and they weren't shy.

Parking could be problematic but the spectacular boulder-lined hike definitely makes up for it.read more

This hike takes you through natural dessert area within the Chino Cone alluvial fan geologic area…read moreat the base of the the San Jacinto mountains south of the tramway. It is a newer trail that has several interpretive signs and winds it's way through the in-development Desert Palisades housing project. In March the trail was full of yellow blooming brittle bush and there are great views to the north, east and south. There is no parking at the start on W. Chino Canyon Rd so you will need to park at the North Lykken trailhead or in town and walk through the city streets to the start. You can get a distant glance of a Beadle home as you walk through the development area. See this trail soon as it will be surrounded by housing in the next 1-2 years, though on large lots.

Past pictures of this waterfall made it enticing enough to get me and my friends to come marvel at…read moreit. Instead, my kitchen sink dripping is more impressive. Okay, I'm exaggerating... only b/c I'm very disappointed with so many aspects of this hike :( First, it's $9 per PERSON to hike to this waterfall. So not worth it. $9 per car, more is reasonable, but not the deal here. Second, the signage on the trail, indicating mileage, is sooo off! As you get closer to the falls, mileage is supposed to tell you you're closer (less miles), but does the opposite and gets longer! Signs made it kinda frustrating and comical at the same time. Third, hike to the falls here, when Palm Springs receives more rain -it's looking like a taquito when I expected to see a fat burrito (I love Mexican food). Horses use this trail too, so expect seeing and smelling the mounds of horse poopies. Otherwise, it's an easy 4.12 mile hike, out and back with about a 626ft elevation gain. I started from the parking lot and followed the signs for Murray Trails to Seven Sisters Falls. Bring your hiking "ten essentials" (REI has a good list, if you're clueless to what I'm referring to). There are a couple outhouses for bathroom needs. Stay safe and healthy (mind, body and soul) Yelping Out there :)

What a great hike. According to my watch it was 7.71 miles from the Bogert trailhead…read more I'd say this is semi-hard hike for several reason. Three long steep climbs, no shade anywhere, and it's almost 8 miles. If you are in decent shape you should be able to do it. The entire hike took me three hours and 14 minutes with two breaks of about 5 minutes and 10 minutes at the top. Great views from the top. There was also a cool breeze that felt great.