Palm Springs, CA

Check out Palm Canyon Drive, the main downtown area of Palm Springs.

Located on North Museum Drive, the Palm Springs Art Museum is an institution devoted to regional art, performing arts, and natural science. Founded in 1938, it was formerly called the Palm Springs Desert Museum and was housed in a room in La Plaza Arcade.

In 1958, a new 10,000 square foot facility was built for the art museum; this was expanded in 1962 to include an auditorium and several new galleries. Today, the museum resides in a 75,000 square foot Modernist style building. The Palm Springs Art Museum is one of the best things to do in Palm Springs CA for art lovers. The art collection includes contemporary art, art glass, and sculptures, while the natural science collection contains items from many fields such as archaeology, biology, and geology. Music, dance, and theater performances are also held in the Annenberg Theater.

101 North Museum Drive, Palm Springs, California, Phone: 760-322-4800

When you want to get out of Palm Springs for some change of scenery, your best option is to take the Palm Springs Tramway, the world’s largest rotating tramcar. Many people plan a weekend getaways from Los Angeles just to go on this ride. Completed in 1963, the tram takes you for a 10-minute long, 2.5-mile ride. The trip begins at Valley Station and ends at the Mountain Station, located at an elevation of 8,516 feet. The tram is the city’s most convenient gateway to the surrounding San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains.

At the end of the tram ride, you will find yourself in the Mount San Jacinto State Park and Wilderness Area. In the summer, you can take a guided nature walk and search for elusive wild animals or go hiking or camping. Winter offers a wide range of different adventures that you can take on skis, on snowshoes, on foot, or with kids.

Peaks restaurant, at 8,500 feet elevation, offers a spectacular view of the Coachella Valley and serves delicious locally sourced food. The fresh vegetables, poultry, and dry meats on the menu all come from Coachella Valley. For lighter fare, you can try Pines Café, which features a cafeteria style dining room in which you can have a piece of pizza, a sandwiches, soup, or salad.

Located on Thousand Palms Canyon Road in Thousand Palms east of Palm Springs, the Coachella Valley Preserve is a protected area of approximately 880 acres just north of the Indio Hills.

This unique habitat is one of the top Palm Springs points of interest. It consists of desert wetland and palm woodland oases, and is the home of the endangered Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard.

The Visitors’ Center is housed in a charming old building constructed during the 1930s and 1940s. There are 28 miles of trails that begin at the Visitors’ Center and lead through a variety of landscapes. In addition to hiking trails there are also horseback riding trails. Guided hikes are available from October to March.

29200 Thousand Palms Canyon Road, Thousand Palms, 760-343-2733

The Palm Springs VillageFest is a street fair that is held every Thursday night on Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs. Also known as the Palm Springs Street Fair, it features three city blocks of art, entertainment, food, and shopping. Merchants on Palm Canyon Drive keep their shops open late during the street fair on Thursday nights so that visitors can enjoy the fair and do some shopping at the same time.

Members of the street fair include antique dealers, arts and crafts makers, writers, and food vendors, among others. A variety of entertainers perform all styles of music at the street fair including solo singers, instrumentalists, and groups.

401 South Pavilion Way, Palm Springs, California, Phone: 760-320-3781

Palm Springs has been a tourist destination since the 19th century, but centuries before that, the area was populated by Indians. Most of the complex and sophisticated Cahuilla communities settled in the Murray, Palm, Andreas, Chino, and Tahquitz Canyons.

They grew melons, beans, squash, and corn and gathered seeds and plants for medicines, food, and basket weaving. Today, visitors can see the remnants of their way of life, including house pits, rock art, foundations, ditches, irrigation, dams, reservoirs, and waking trails. Visit nearby Tahquitz Canyon and three other canyons to the South, all of which are part of the National Register of Historic Places.

Palm Canyon is famous for being the largest California Fan Palm Oasis in the world. The canyons are fantastic for exploring on foot or on a horseback, for picnicking by the stream, or even for meditating. Visit the Trading Post in Palm Canyon for maps, food, drinks, and Indian arts and crafts.

38520 S Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, California, Phone: 760-323-6018

The Moorten Botanical Garden is a one-acre garden that features cacti and other desert plants. Located on South Palm Canyon Drive, it is a family-owned garden that Patricia and Chester “Cactus Slim” Moorten, one of the original “Keystone Cops,” established in 1938.

The couple collected plants from Baja California, Mexico, and other countries as far south as Guatemala. Today, the garden is home to more than 3,000 plants arranged by geographic region. Group tours are available, and the garden can be rented for special events such as weddings and parties. Call for opening times. If you are looking for things to do in Palm Springs with kids, this is a great place to visit.

1701 South Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California, Phone: 760-327-6555

Located in a refreshing and verdant area facing East Palm Canyon Drive, Sparrows Lodge gives off an aura of friendliness and relaxation that you will notice even before you get inside. First constructed in 1952 as Castle’s Red Barn, a getaway resort for Hollywood stars, the Sparrows Lodge of today has retained many of the original features of the original Red Barn.

The rustic charm extends from the lovely hand-painted sign of two sparrows to each individual room. Exposed ceiling beams, deep horse troughs for bathtubs, concrete floors, and metal lockers instead of closets create the ambience of a fun summer camp.

The Lodge has a traditional communal barn for socializing and inviting outdoor spaces with a fire pit and vegetable garden. The Lodge is arranged with tasteful décor in the form of a nice collection of original art. With no TVs or phones in rooms, Sparrows Lodge provides the perfect romantic getaway.

1330 East Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California, Phone: 760-327-2300

Get a great deli sandwich and soup at Chef Tanya's Kitchen.

706 S Eugene Rd, Palm Springs, CA 92264, Phone: 760-832-9007