21 Attractions to Visit
California Desert: Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, and the San Andreas Fault
Starts from
Los Angeles
Transportation
By Car
Guidance
Self-Guided
Attractions
21
Duration
4 Days
Length
490 mi
Guide details
Starts from
Los Angeles
Transportation
By Car
Guidance
Self-Guided
Duration
4 Days
Length
490 mi
Price
Created By:
Frommer's Travel Guides
Highlights
- Southern California's beloved desert escapes.
- Mid-century style of Palm Springs.
- Ancient microbiomes of Joshua Tree National Park.
- Weird wonders of the Salton Sea.
The Southern California desert is a fascinating locale of rare natural wonders, carefully curated mid-century lifestyles, and iconoclastic locals. Don’t let the forbidding landscape deceive you. Amid the sandy expanses you'll find upscale dining, unique shopping, and Palm Springs haunts popular with past and present Hollywood stars. Elsewhere, a Coachella Valley oasis shimmers along the San Andreas fault, and a Mad Max-style artists' enclave endures by the desolate Salton Sea.
Photo credit: Reagan Kastner
Categories
The Southern California desert is a fascinating locale of rare natural wonders, carefully curated mid-century lifestyles, and iconoclastic locals. Don’t let the forbidding landscape deceive you. Amid the sandy expanses you'll find upscale dining, unique shopping, and Palm Springs haunts popular with past and present Hollywood stars. Elsewhere, a Coachella Valley oasis shimmers along the San Andreas fault, and a Mad Max-style artists' enclave endures by the desolate Salton Sea.
Photo credit: Reagan Kastner
Frommer's Travel Guides
- Southern California's beloved desert escapes.
- Mid-century style of Palm Springs.
- Ancient microbiomes of Joshua Tree National Park.
- Weird wonders of the Salton Sea.
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Travel Itinerary
6 Attractions to Visit
Day 1
153 mi
Roadside Dinosaurs, Joshua Trees, and a BBQ Roadhouse
Ease yourself into the desert lifestyle by retracing the steps of early tourists. By the end of the day, you'll be in one of America's most remote national parks, worlds away from the city.
Photo credit: Courtesy Courtesy Mission Inn Hotel & Spa
22:00
5 Attractions to Visit
Day 2
67 mi
Mineral Springs Spa, Mountaintop Panorama, and Dinner at Cary Grant's House
Transition from the High Desert to the Low by delighting the eye and pampering the body.
Photo credit: Courtesy Copley’s on Palm Canyon
22:00
4 Attractions to Visit
Day 3
31 mi
The Palm Springs Lifestyle
Learn how Palm Springs became the getaway of choice for America's elite, and meet the locals as you visit some of the most alluring enclaves.
Photo credit: Tim Street-Porter
22:00
6 Attractions to Visit
Day 4
238 mi
Natural Wonders and Blunders: The San Andreas Fault and the Sad Saga of the Salton Sea
On the final day of your road trip, venture into the inhospitable Mojave Desert and meet the people who have learned to tame the forbidding landscape in their own unique ways.
Photo credit: Jason Cochran