The winter months are a perfect time for day hikes in Palm Springs. In a time when we can’t always be sure what’s available to us indoors, there’s always the great outdoors — and nowhere is the outdoors greater than in and around Palm Springs.
While Palm Springs is a bastion of luxury and sophistication, it’s also a place of breathtaking natural beauty between the deceptively stunning starkness of the Coachella Valley desert and the soaring majesty of the San Jacinto Mountains under seemingly nonstop sunshine. And once you get a panoramic glimpse of that far-flung gorgeousness from your elevated perch on the spacious grounds of our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel, you may well decide you want to see more where the pavement meets the trail.
As you make your plans for a winter getaway to Palm Springs, make sure to include plenty of day hikes in Palm Springs in your itinerary. Start by booking your guest site at our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel today!
8 Dazzling Day Hikes In Palm Springs
Moderate temperatures in the winter months make this time of year a perfect time for those looking to stretch their legs in the Coachella Valley in and around Palm Springs. As a Los Angeles Times article on the subject put it: You can only play so much tennis and golf.” And within a 6-mile radius of Palm Springs, there are some 1,250 miles of hiking trails — making for the perfect forget-about-COVID activity.
Bring plenty of water and dress in layers when you go, and here some places we recommend you go:
- Within Indian Canyons, the ancestral land of the Agua Caliente band of the Cahuilla tribe, try the Palm Canyon Trail. You can take an easy six-mile loop trail and see plenty of great scenery, or if you want to stretch out a bit, take a six-mile round trip to Stone Pools, with a modest 800-foot elevation gain, and rise above the initial jungle-like terrain to take in water-sculpted cliffs and gorges.
- For easy to moderate hikes in Palm Springs, you’ll find something to your liking at the Coachella Valley Preserve. The Pushwalla Palms Trail offers a 944-foot elevation gain over its 5.6-mile round trip. Flatter but no less scenic are the Willis Palms and McCallum trails. Keep an eye out for fringe-toed lizards.
- The Tahquitz Canyon Loop Trail is flat, not long, and heavily trafficked, but there’s a good reason — the canyon waterfall and some Instragrammable rock formations.
- Murray Canyon to Seven Falls is a similar but longer (3.7 miles) and slightly more challenging version of the Tahquitz Canyon Trail, with another waterfall along the way.
- The Andreas Canyon Trail is short but close to town and has the added benefit of great scenery, including some spectacular bird-watching opportunities.
- If beautiful wildflowers are your thing, give the Araby Trail a go. This 4.1-mile loop is rated as moderate. Don’t be deterred by the trail’s start in a residential area.
- The Museum Trail is short but steep in a few spots, and after the 0.7-mile trek to the picnic tables, you can go on for a while. Good views of Palm Springs and beyond.
- In good shape and up for hardcore hikes in Palm Springs with awe-inspiring views to reward your effort? Try the 10.5-mule out-and-back route from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway (check first on its availability) to San Jacinto Peak, an extreme high-elevation hike in which you’ll likely encounter snow, making it especially challenging during the winter months, but, oh, the panoramic view from the 10,834-foot summit.
Check before you go for closures, fees, passes, restrictions, and other necessary info. And for more insider scoops on Palm Springs-area trails and how to tackle them, check out the Coachella Valley Hiking Club.
Stay at Our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel
There’s no better way to begin and end a day on the desert and mountain trails than by taking in the countless comforts at our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel, steeped in the glamorous ambiance of its history as a restful getaway for some of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
We’ll start you off right after a good night’s sleep in a spacious guest suite loaded with luxury amenities, followed by a delicious three-course gourmet breakfast. When you return, you’ll be greeted by afternoon wine and hors d’oeuvres, a patio or poolside seat near our restful waterfall, and evening turn-down service.
So start your plans for a winter getaway by reserving your sumptuous guest suite at our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel today!
