A Visit to ThePalmSpringsArea

Palm Springs, California, a desert resort city of Don’t forget cycling too. In nearby Anza Bor - 40,000 plus people, is located 100 miles east of Los rego State Park there are 500 miles of roads and Angeles and 130 miles northeast of San Diego. It is trails to explore. Joshua Tree National Park will one of nine cities that make up the Coachella Valley eventually have 29 miles of shared use trails which is surrounded by mountains on all sides. e and the city of Palm Springs has several bike city enjoys a hot dry climate with sunshine occur - friendly loops to discover. ring 350 days of the year. Rainfall is infrequent with annual amounts totaling less than six inches al - You’ll have to get past the miles and miles of shop - though we were lucky(?) enough to catch an inch in ping malls to appreciate some of the great things the one day. Palm Springs area has to offer the wintertime visi - tor. Not only can you enjoy hiking and biking tours, Palm Springs became a destination in the 1950’s and but there is plenty of culture by way of art gal - 1960’s. American movie stars help put the city on leries and a film festival. Shopping and dining the map. Now the city is a haunt of the tennis and are world class and most of the hotels have on - golf crowd in the winter, looking to escape the cold. site swimming pools. Of course the main rai - However, and what many people don’t realize, is that son d’être for many is the golf and tennis, with it is a first class hiking destination . ere are over 140 over 100 golf courses present in the Valley. hikes possible between the mountains surrounding the Coachella Valley, the Valley itself and Joshua Tree National Park. ey run the spectrum from short, city hikes to one with over 10,000 feet of ele - vation gain. You could in theory do a different hike everyday of the winter.

1 wouldn’t know differently. Look for golfing, shop - ices airlines from around the world and is about 2 ping and an IMAX theatre in this town. Rancho hours away by car depending on traffic. Mirage blends into Cathedral City. It boasts 12 golf courses, a casino and a lot of restaurants. Palm VIA TRAIN Desert lies south of Rancho Mirage and is the most Arriving in Palm Springs by train is also a possiblity. central city in the Valley with the bulk of the higher Amtrak ( www.amtrak.com/ ) operates the Sunset end resorts and the famous El Paseo shopping area, Limited Route between Palm Springs and Los An - the Valley’s answer to Hollywood’s exclusive Rodeo geles three times per week. Once in Los Angeles Drive shopping district. Count on about 30 min - there are connections which permits travel in both utes of driving time between Palm Springs and northerly and easterly directions, though the route Palm Desert when you’re planning your trip. As through California's Central Valley on the San you continue south on Highway 111 you’ll find La Joaquin train is a mixture of coach and train serv - Quinta, home to many private golf courses and ex - ice. clusive housing. e old section of town has a ere is an Amtrak Station at the corner of Indian pleasant small town feel about it and hiking and Avenue and Palm Springs Station Road in Palm biking options are very accessible. Indio is the Springs where you can pick up the Sunset Limited southern town in the Valley and is home to the an - route to Los Angeles but no public transportation nual date festival and the gateway to the agricul - is available to or from this site. ere is also an Am - Blown glass display at the Palm Springs Art Museum tural district. trak ruway connecting bus service at the bus stop e other nearby resort cities that make up the at Palm Springs Airport. Coachella Valley are Desert Hot Springs, Cathe - Getting to Palm Springs Palm Springs is easily accessed by air, rail, bus and VIA CAR dral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indio and car. Palm Springs is easily accessed from Los Angeles by La Quinta. ey contribute an additional 370,000 driving Interstate 10 tow