6 best day trips from Palm Springs

Day trips compared

The day trips

70 km (43 mi) · About 1 hour to the West Entrance

1.Joshua Tree National Park

Two deserts meet in this national park: the higher Mojave with its forests of Joshua trees and granite boulder piles at Hidden Valley and Jumbo Rocks, and the lower Colorado Desert with the Cholla Cactus Garden. Keys View looks back over the Coachella Valley, and the park is famous for dark night skies.

Getting there

Car via Highway 62 to Joshua Tree village

Best for

First-timers, Families, Couples

55 km (34 mi) · About 50 minutes

2.Pioneertown

Built in the 1940s as a living film set for Westerns, Pioneertown's Mane Street still has false-front buildings and a frontier atmosphere in the high desert above Yucca Valley. Pappy and Harriet's, a roadhouse with barbecue and live music, draws visitors from across Southern California.

Getting there

Car via Highway 62 and Pioneertown Road

Best for

Couples, Culture, Food lovers

85 km (53 mi) · About 1 hour 15 minutes

3.Idyllwild

A mountain village at about 1,650 metres in the San Jacinto Mountains, with pine forest, cabins, art galleries and trails such as Devil's Slide and the climb towards Tahquitz Peak. The drive up Highway 74 gives sweeping views back over the desert.

Getting there

Car via the Palms to Pines Scenic Byway (Highway 74) and Highway 243

Best for

Couples, Quiet stays, Families

150 km (93 mi) · About 1 hour 45 minutes

4.Salton Sea and Salvation Mountain

California's largest lake formed by accident in 1905 and is now a shrinking, salty inland sea with eerie half-abandoned resort towns such as Bombay Beach and huge flocks of migratory birds. On the far side near Niland, Leonard Knight's painted adobe hillside, Salvation Mountain, is a folk-art landmark.

Getting there

Car via Highway 86 or Highway 111

Best for

Culture, Couples

140 km (87 mi) · About 2 hours

5.Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

California's largest state park surrounds the small town of Borrego Springs with badlands, slot canyons and palm oases. After wet winters it can have some of the state's best wildflower displays in late February and March, and large metal sculptures of animals stand in the desert around town.

Getting there

Car via Highway 86 and the Borrego Salton Seaway

Best for

Families, Quiet stays, Couples

30 km (19 mi) · About 25 minutes

6.Cabazon

On the way to or from Los Angeles, Cabazon has the giant roadside Cabazon Dinosaurs, the Desert Hills Premium Outlets and Hadley Fruit Orchards for date shakes and dried fruit. The drive passes the wind turbines of the San Gorgonio Pass.

Getting there

Car via Interstate 10

Best for

Families, Budget

Day-trip tips

• Leave early: most trips are more relaxed with a morning departure and a return before dinner.
• SunLine Transit buses run along Highway 111 and other main roads between Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio and the other valley cities; they are useful but slow for sightseeing.
• For trips over about 150 km, an overnight stay or an organised tour saves a lot of travelling.

Questions travellers ask