Palm Springs is often thought to be in the Mojave Desert, but it’s actually in the Colorado Desert, a lower altitude region that enjoys spring blooms earlier in the year.
On display will be wildflowers like Spanish Needle, Chuparosa, Arizona Lupin, Purple Mat, and Desert Dandelion, not to mention cacti like Prickly Pear, Beavertail, and Hedgehog.
In late spring, species like the rare Mojave Mound cactus bloom will be visible in nearby Joshua Tree National Park. If you are short on time, you can view over 3,000 types of desert plants at the Moorten Botanical Gardens, a private arboretum established in 1938 and loved by Palm Springs’ residents for generations.
“This is the deal with the desert wildflowers around Palm Springs: this year, they’re everywhere,” explains Mark Farley, the owner of Elite Land Tours. “We don’t have to do a dedicated wildflower tour, because every desert tour we take visitors on, we have to stop and explain all the different flowers popping up everywhere.”
Best Places to View Wildflowers
Not into flower-watching?
No worries: The Palm Springs area is a fantasyland for any lover of the outdoors. Far from just a resort town of swimming pools and golf courses, Palm Springs is riddled with ancient canyon oasis and year-round streams lined with California Fan Palms, the only palm native to the Western U.S. Over 100 miles of hiking trails can be found in these Indian-owned canyons, as well as in the surrounding 272,000 acres of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. This wilderness area encompasses everything from the low arid desert to the pine-filled summit of San Jacinto at 10,834 feet. Luckily, this summit is easily accessible for non-hikers via the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, with the largest rotating tramcars in the world.
Other outdoor wonders around Palm Springs include the deep canyons of the San Andreas Fault, where jeeps take you on fascinating geologist-led tours. Birders will appreciate the migrating spring flocks at the Salton Sea, south of Palm Springs. Here at the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge, over 826 acres of wetlands host hundreds of bird species, including egrets, ibis, cranes, ducks, and the endangered Yuma clapper rail.
Beyond jeeps and feet, there are all kinds of other guided desert tours – be it mountain biking, horseback riding, or rock climbing. And to think, all this adventure for less than a tank of gas and just two hours from L.A.
Palm Springs is the ultimate desert playground for outdoor adventure, arts and culture, and live entertainment. Whether you are planning a family vacation, couple who wants a romantic retreat, or girlfriend’s getaway… Palm Springs is “Fun in the Sun” year-round.
