Have a sturdy automobile as it's about a mile of unpaved bumpy gravel road. Leave the Corvette at…read morehome. There is unmarked parking at the entrance. I did not notice a restroom or water fountain. There was a bunch of stone sheltered picnic tables. Majority of this short trek was on gravel and sand walkways. Lots of beautiful views, dried up waterways , greenery and geology. Comfortable and quiet walk.

Nice place to sight see take a nice hike. First 1+ mile is on a dirt road and an old dude ranch is…read moreon the route. Once you get to the stone house, you have options and there is a bathroom. It's about 2 miles to the PCT. Parking lot is wide, easy to find but bumpy. I hope to go again someday

I love this particular location for easy to moderate day hiking. It's *way* out in Thousand Palms…read more(literally at the end of Ramon road when it changes names). There is a small but informative visitor center (that is almost always looking for volunteers, so if you live out here full time consider volunteering!) and rest rooms at the parking area, and then a number of hikes out from there. The preserve sits directly on the San Andreas fault, so some of the hikes follow it for a bit. My favorite hike so far has been out to McCallum Oasis, where a permanent "pond" sits under a grove of huge palm trees. The trails are usually well marked, though sometimes you might have to go scrambling. The terrain is mostly flat, though, with the exception of a few major hills. Do note that this is 'middle of the desert' hiking - there is not much to see if you are not looking to walk/admire the natural beauty of a desert landscape. Also it *is* out in the desert - with the exception of some of the oases (oasi?) there is not a lot of shade either. Bring lots of water, and avoid the high heat of the mid-day. Also I noted that it 'feels' like you do more walking/hiking on softer sand here than other places that I have been (Indian Canyons, Big Morongo, municipal trails, etc.). That makes some hikes take slightly longer as I find walking on soft sand to be more strenuous. The preserve is free though $5 donation for parking is asked for (but not insistently - the first few times I went I didn't see the sign asking for the parking fee, didn't pay, and wasn't harassed about it). Also one other tip - the Circle K gas station just up the road (at the corner of Ramon and I think Monterey) always has the absolute cheapest gas, and does not charge you extra for using a credit card. I always make it a point to get gas when I'm leaving after my hike.

This is a pleasant walk. My husband and I spent about an hour walking two miles through an oasis,…read morethen desert, then more oasis. We were amazed by the temperature difference under the palm trees. I almost gave this four stars because it was fairly crowded. We went on a Tuesday, and it was still busy. The parking lot was filled so we had to park on the road. Which may have been a positive because the parking lot was dirt. Definitely not a good choice for a weekend afternoon. On the positive side they do have two porta potties available.

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.

I visited Lost Creek Canyon Ranch with a group of friends and my six year old son. I was not sure…read morewhat to expect, but my goodness, our experience was incredible. This ranch is absolutely breathtaking and the rich history Linda shared with us was fascinating. I could've spent days exploring the area! I was a little nervous that my six year old would get restless as he was the only child in our group. Linda did an amazing job of finding ways to include him and even gave him a little activity bag to keep him busy while my group did yoga. The thoughtful ways she made him feel special and included really made the day for us. We really enjoyed meeting all of the animals- I know this was by far the best part for my son. I appreciated that my son was allowed to interact with the animals and was taught how to do so in a way that prioritized his safety and the safety and well-being of the animals. I can't say enough about our experience. Lost Creek Canyon Ranch will be a go to for me whenever I have visitors in town and I look forward to going back. Thank you to Linda and her team for such a wonderful experience!

Fantastic experience. Linda, the owner, gave us a fabulous tour. We saw the ranch animals, mountain…read morescenery, the historic buildings, and their citrus grove. Linda shared stories of the ranch's history and explained the water system still in use where water can run uphill! Linda was friendly and happy to answer questions. We got to pick as much citrus as we wanted to take home and were even given a couple dozen fresh farm eggs. A beautiful place and a fun tour if you want to do something a bit different and still be a short drive from downtown Palm Springs.

Just took a Joshua Tree morning tour with Wendy. She was excellent and patient with my family…read more Since we got into the park a little after 8am, we were constantly ahead of the crowds. Overall we really enjoyed our experience and would highly recommend using them. And we paid about $100 per person for a private morning tour. That's pretty good value IMO! The selection of different activities was very low but that was because we booked the busiest time of the season, and only about 3 weeks ahead of time. Booking process was very smooth. The only issue I had was they were unresponsive to any type of communication beforehand. After I booked online, I wrote them and email asking for confirmation, as well as called them and left a voicemail. I received no reply. I almost thought I might have been scammed! Thankfully that wasn't that case.

Great day hiking experience! Our guide was knowledgeable about the park itself and the plants,…read moreanimals, and geology. He also was flexible to adapt to our group's need to change plans when we realized not everyone was interested in rock scrambling.

The Lost Horse Mine Trail is a hike in Joshua Tree National Park where the end destination is the…read moresite of an old gold mine. It was named after a man who was trying to find his lost horse. There's a long dirt road to the trailhead and there's not much parking. If you want to only go to the gold mine and back it's about 4 miles total. If you want to do the whole loop it's 6.2 miles. It's a long trail with no shade so bring plenty of water and take breaks as needed. Unfortunately the gold mine is fenced off for safety but you still get to read about the history of it. Out of all the hikes and trails we did this was my favorite. It's the most like a traditional hike and has a pretty unique end destination.

What a fun and well-marked hike in Joshua Tree national park! From the parking lot it's 2.2miles…read moreto the mine ruins (4.4 there and back) or 6 miles to do the entire loop. I would say this is a beginner hike, but there are certainly a few hills that will get the heart rate going! The trial itself is super scenic- full of rolling hills, rock formations, Joshua trees and depending on the season there lots of wildflowers. What's keeping it from a perfect review is the super small parking lot, with maybe 15 spots, which fills quickly. Due to its tight nature, turning around in the lot is near impossible (though we saw a few cars try). Pro tip: you can park at a turn out just short of the lot and walk in via dirt road or side trail. It gets you there all the same!

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.

Split Rock Trail is a 2.5 mile loop hike in Joshua Tree National Park. It's a relatively easy hike…read morewith no much elevation. You start off with a bumpy road driving in and end at a parking lot with restrooms at the trailhead. We did the hike in the counter clockwise direction which was a little confusing at first because there weren't a lot of obvious markers leading you along the trail so we almost gave up. Eventually we followed other people and figured it out but I wonder if it would've been a little more clear had we gone clockwise instead. It was a pretty easy hike other than some incline. Of course, there's not much shade here so bring plenty of water and take breaks if needed.

I enjoyed this trail a lot! It has multiple kind of rock shapes ( face rock, fish eye rock, hidden…read moreegg rock, engineering rock, funny rock etc... ) And hike can be as short of 30 minutes to 2 hours. We went on weekend in Feb. weather was perfect and not much busy. No issue with parking and trail was equipped with restroom same as other trials.