Things To Do

THE LIVING DESERT
You don’t have to go all the way to San Diego to see wildlife. The Living Desert zoo and garden is the Coachella Valley’s own little gem and features a variety of plants and animals that inhabit deserts from all over the world. Spend a day spotting cheetahs, bobcats, bearded dragons, and the elusive bighorn sheep. Camel rides and giraffe feedings allow you to get up close and personal with these desert dwellers.

EL PASEO
Just down the road from the zoo is one of the most beautiful drives in the valley: El Paseo. Think Rodeo Drive meets desert charm. Designer stores, fine restaurants, art galleries, and salons line both sides of the street, and unique modern statues appear along the flower-filled median. It’s a great place for upscale shopping and fine dining with a view.

ART MUSEUM
The artwork along El Paseo is just a taste of what the area has to offer. Head over to the Galen and the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden, an extension of the Palm Springs Art Museum. You’ll see sculpture, painting, photography, and other media in their temporary, rotating exhibitions. A stroll around the 4-acre sculpture garden is like falling into wonderland, with interesting modern sculpture set in the midst of winding pathways and desert flora.

STARGAZING
The dark nighttime skies of the Coachella Valley make for great stargazing, and GarganOptics offers visitors the chance to see the sky like never before. Schedule an appointment to admire the stars, constellations, and planets from a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled observatory. Groups can expect to see anywhere from 12 to 24 celestial objects on average during the evening.

BMW DRIVING EXPERIENCE
Start the day behind the wheel of a BMW X3 or X5 at the BMW Performance Center in nearby Thermal. The center’s unique Driving Experiences, which range from one to three hours, allow you to sample various vehicles both off-road and on the track. Book the Performance Drive and you can even ride along in the passenger seat as one of their driving instructors takes the wheel. Just have one hour to spare? The M Track Drive places you in the driver’s seat of an M car for six memorable laps.

BOTANICAL GARDEN
Imagine thousands of agaves, succulents, cacti, and aloe plants surrounding a charming
Mediterranean-style home. Sounds like a dream, right? The Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium features 3,000 varieties of cacti and other desert plants from all over the world. Created by Chester “Cactus Slim” and Patricia Moorten (who began collecting desert plants in the 1930s), the intimate plant nursery has been included in USA Today’s “10 Best: Gardens in Palm Springs” A stroll through this dreamy desert garden after hitting the track in Thermal makes for a fun afternoon with the kids (or quite the romantic traipse).

CELEBRITY HOME TOURS
It’s time to slip on your cat-eye sunglasses and cruise past some of the most well-known butterfly rooflines and celebrity homes. Let Palm Springs Modern Tours transport you into the past, when Palm Springs was home to midcentury modern architects and some of Hollywood’s darlings, including Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Dean Martin.

VISTA POINT
Drive up Palms to Pines Scenic Byway (Highway 74) in Palm Desert to Vista Point, which offers a stunning panorama of the Coachella Valley. Go by day for a breathtaking view of the green treetops and golf courses below or venture out just before sunset and watch as the valley floor fades from a green oasis to twinkling city lights.

ESCAPE ROOM
Escape Room Palm Springs offers a thrilling team-building experience in which groups must solve a series of puzzles and clues in order to escape their chosen “room.” Whether you find yourself in a witch’s lair, aboard the sinking Titanic, or in an abandoned bathroom straight form a horror flick, you better find your way out before time’s up!

SUNRISE HIKE
Greater Palm Springs is a haven for hikers, and the quaint town of La Quinta is no exception. La Quinta Cove is a popular starting point for several trails and biking paths that take you across open desert and up into the beautiful Santa Rosa Mountains. For an easy-to-intermediate hike, try the Cove to Lake Cahuilla trail, which runs about 2.5 miles each way. You can’t beat the mix of scenery: desert terrain, beautiful mountains, and the glistening lake.

FARMERS MARKET
After your morning trek, explore the picturesque streets and shops of Old Town La Quinta. Main Street is closed off every Sunday morning from October through May for the local farmers market. You can pick up some fresh-cut flowers, fruit, herbs, cheeses, and olive oil, or cool off from your hike with a fruit-infused popsicle. If you need a pick-me-up, grab a cup of coffee at Old Town Coffee Company on the street corner and people-watch.

EL DORADO POLO GROUNDS
With expansive mountain views at the east end of the Coachella Valley, Eldorado Polo Club is a paradise for top polo players from around the world. Since 1957, the club has offered the best conditions to play polo during the Winter months and Indio’s perfect daytime temperatures creates an idyllic environment to host world class polo competitions each year January through March

PINK DOOR PALM SPRINGS
You may have heard about the famous “Pink Door” in Palm Springs through friends or social media. The tall, rectangular slab of wood greets visitors to the midcentury home with a surprising splash of bubble gum pink. It has become one of the most Instagram-worthy spots in the city and even has its own hashtag – #thatpinkdoor