Look Restaurant
139 E. Andreas Rd.
778-3520
Streetbar
224 E. Arenas Rd.
320-1266 |
Melvyn’s
200 W. Ramon Rd.
325-1366
Tropicale
330 E. Amado Rd.
866-1952 |
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The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens |
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
47-900 Portola Ave.
Palm Desert, CA 92260
760-346-5694
www.livingdesert.org
The Living Desert is a zoo and botanical garden in the nearby town of Palm Desert. A vast model railway gives way to open enclosures for cheetahs, zebras, yellow-tailed storks and dik-diks (small antelope). An inner loop trail runs through the park and longer trails are available for more serious hikers. Kids can play in the Gecko Gulch desert-themed playground.
Moorten’s Botanical Garden
1701 S. Palm Canyon Dr.
760-327-6555
Experience the desert without leaving the flatlands. Moorten’s Botanical Garden has been in operation since 1938, offering several acres of cactus thickets, supple succulents and flowers you might not have imagined a desert could produce—about 3,000 varieties in all.
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Joshua Tree National Park |
Joshua Tree National Park
Twentynine Palms
760-367-5500
Joshua Tree National Park occupies over a million acres and straddles two deserts (the Colorado and the Mojave, where the famed Joshua tree has its home)—each with strikingly different flora. It's a great place for hiking, rock climbing and camping.
Tahquitz Canyon
500 West Mesquite
760-416-7044
There's good hiking in the tribal lands of Tahquitz Canyon, operated by the Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians. Canyon admission is $12.50. Once inside, you can enjoy a ranger-led tour. Make sure to watch the film about Tahquitz, a Cahuilla shaman who is known for stealing the souls of the unsuspecting.
Palm Springs Art Museum
101 Museum Dr.
760-325-7186
www.psmuseum.org
Formerly the Palm Springs Desert Museum, the permanent collection showcases Mesoamerican antiquities and works by artists of world renown—Dale Chihuly, Ed Ruscha, Sam Francis and many more. The museum has recently replaced the more staid exhibitions with edgier ones like a look at the American West through artwork from Native American crafts to Andy Warhol. It's located in downtown Palms Springs on Museum Drive behind the Palm Springs Fashion Mall.
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El Paseo |
El Paseo
Palm Desert
www.elpaseo.com
Non-outdoorsy types might just stop for shopping or dining on Palm Desert’s El Paseo. Big-name department stores sit alongside tiny boutiques and plastic surgery centers.
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Palm Springs Follies |
The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies
128 South Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, CA 92262
760- 327-0225
www.psfollies.com
No stop in Palm Springs would be complete without a show by the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, which puts a new spin on “Old Hollywood.” The performers are retired singers and dancers from stage, screen and television, presenting standards they, themselves, may have helped make famous. The show is equal parts romantic, kitschy, catty and patriotic; the spangled costumes are as elaborate as anything you’ll see in Las Vegas.
CopyKatz Showroom
200 South Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, CA 92262
760-864-9293
www.copykatzps.com
In the heart of downtown Palm Springs, just a block south of the Follies, is a newer homage to old time celebrity, a cavalcade of celebrity impersonators who give their sometimes broad, sometimes startlingly authentic impressions of performers ranging from Judy Garland to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson.
Celebrity Tours
4751 E. Palm Canyon Dr.
888-805-2700, 760-770-2700
www.celebrity-tours.com
A narrated ride past the one-time homes of Hollywood royalty. You’ll see the former lavish spreads of Dinah Shore, Richard Nixon, Alan Ladd, Nelson Rockefeller, Barry Manilow and Mary Martin—and that’s just on one block. If these names were part of your adulthood, you’ll have plenty of company on the tour.
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Palm Springs Aerial Tramway |
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
One Tramway Rd.
888-515-TRAM, 760-325-1391
www.pstramway.com
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway will whisk you away for a 2.5-mile gondola ride up Mt. San Jacinto to a lofty 8,500 feet above sea level. The gondola rotates ever so subtly en route, so if you don’t have the view you want, just wait a moment. Once you arrive, dozens of hiking trails wind through the towering peaks, deep valleys, forests of lodgepole pine and white fir, campsites and, during snow season, places to snowshoe and cross-country ski.
PS Modern Tours
760-318-6118
psmodern@aol.com
Young and art-minded visitors might prefer a private tour of mid-century architecture such as those offered by PS Modern Tours, which sweeps inquisitive crowds away for a 2½-hour-long encyclopedic whirl through the town’s architecture.
For more information, visit the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism website. |
