24 Activities
California Desert: Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, and the San Andreas Fault
Starts from
Los Angeles
Transportation
By Car
Guidance
Self-Guided
Activities
24
Duration
4 days
Length
506 mi
Guide details
Starts from
Los Angeles
Transportation
By Car
Guidance
Self-Guided
Duration
4 days
Length
506 mi
- Unusual Locations
- Gastronomy
Frommer's Travel Guides
- Southern California's beloved desert escapes.
- Mid-century style in Palm Springs.
- Ancient microbiomes in 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 sandy landscape deceive you. Amid the wide 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 peculiar Salton Sea.
Photo credit: Reagan Kastner
Categories
- Unusual Locations
- Gastronomy
The Southern California desert is a fascinating locale of rare natural wonders, carefully curated mid-century lifestyles, and iconoclastic locals. Don’t let the sandy landscape deceive you. Amid the wide 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 peculiar Salton Sea.
Photo credit: Reagan Kastner
Frommer's Travel Guides
- Southern California's beloved desert escapes.
- Mid-century style in Palm Springs.
- Ancient microbiomes in Joshua Tree National Park.
- Weird wonders of the Salton Sea.
Travel itinerary
7 Activities
Day 1
164 mi0.2 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 Mission Inn Hotel & Spa
6 Activities
Day 2
68 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 of Copley’s on Palm Canyon
5 Activities
Day 3
33 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
6 Activities
Day 4
240 mi
Natural Wonders and Blunders: The San Andreas Fault and the Dramatic Saga of the Salton Sea
On the final day of your road trip, venture into the Mojave Desert and meet the people who have learned to tame this challenging landscape in their own unique ways.
Photo credit: Jason Cochran