2026 Palm Desert Trip

Driving Day 1 – The Way to CA

Palm Desert was our destination in February 2026. We love to drive when we travel, so we drove from Salt Lake City to Palm Desert, through Arizona and Nevada, transitioning through snowy mountains, desert wonders, the Virgin River Gorge, solar farms, Las Vegas, windmills and into the lovely temperatures in the 70s!

We arrived in Palm Desert about mid-evening and we stayed with our friends who have recently moved there and had three glorious days there (plus two days travel from Utah to CA). They set us up for “glamping” by their pool. It was wonderful! #palmdesert #california #tom_dee_travels

Day 1

The neighborhood….

Our first outing in the Palm Desert, CA area (Coachella Valley) was to the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument (https://en.wikipedia.org/…/Santa_Rosa_and_San_Jacinto…). “The Cahuilla peoples own substantial acreage within the monument, are one of the managing agencies, and have historic cultural sites and interests throughout the mountains.”

Our next stop was to Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage. Filled with dozens of gardens and walkways, one could spend hours here just admiring the forms of plant life. Read more here:https://sunnylands.org/

Day 2 – Valentine’s Day! #feelthelove

We embarked on a scenic Valentines Day excursion to the ocean, which consisted of a drive south on the magical “Pines to Palms” Highway( CA Road 74) from Palm Desert with stops at two vista points along the way. The first was the Coachella Valley Vista Point which offered gorgeous views of the valley. Then in about 10 miles in from Palm Desert we stopped at the Cahuilla Tewanet Vista Point, not just a vista, but a beautiful hidden park that tells the story of the land that provided resources for through numerous interpretive panels along a winding walking trail with amazing overlooks of the valley. The natural resources, are now preserved as the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains National Monument, and continue to serve as a living landscape by the Cahuilla People. Read more about the Cahuilla Nation here: https://cahuilla-nsn.gov/

Our Valentines Day journey from the desert to the ocean on the Pines to Palms Scenic Highway (CA Road 74) then led us through the San Bernardino National Forest to the outdoor gallery of metal sculptures in Aguana, CA by artist Ricardo Breceda – The “Accidental Artist”. We were greeted at first just before the gallery by metal horses atop two hills flanking the road. Visitors can view these magnificent sculptures from the parking lot , ranging from animals to people, to characters from movies, to musical instruments. A nominal fee gets you into the gallery to walk amongst the art. (We did not go in due to time constraints.) You can view the artist’s website here: https://ricardoabreceda.com/ (read his personal story on the “about” tab).

The ocean….finally! A perfect way to close out Valentine’s Day. The weather couldn’t have been better. We spent the afternoon at Crystal Cove State Park, CA. We enjoyed several walks, and just sitting and watching children playing, couples enjoying Valentines’ wining and dining on the shore, wildlife (seagulls, pelicans, sea anemones) and plant life (wild flowers, palms and other plants). The sunset was absolutely stunning. You can read more about Crystal Cove State Park here: https://www.crystalcovestatepark.org

We love helping to promote local businesses in our travels. We rounded out our Valentine’s day excursion with take out food from “It’s a Wrap Shack”, a Lebanese Family-owned restaurant in Palm Desert. Not only was the food delicious, but we had the best time waiting for it! The owner had us moving to her favorite Lebanese musician on a TV monitor and invited Tom to play her tambourine along to the songs. She was genuinely interested in making her customers feel at home. I highly recommend supporting this business when you visit Palm Desert! https://www.itsawrapshack.com

Day 3

Our last full day in Palm Desert took us on two adventures.Our first stop was the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve (

https://www.cnlm.org/portfolio_page/thousand-palms-oasis-preserve-coachella-valley-preserve/) which is one of many preserve areas that make up the 

Coachella Valley Preserve System (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachella_Valley_Preserve). The palm trees here are native and in their  natural state. The palm oases are formed by the San Andreas Fault, which pushes underground water to the surface, creating pockets of life in the landscape of the arid desert. 

Thousand Palms is also home to the endangered desert pupfish in a pond called Simone Pond. There is an employee that lives on site and there is a Docent on hand at Simone Pond during certain days. I loved that it was named Simone since that was my mother’s middle name, so it was especially meaningful for me. Trees and plants are labeled throughout.  

We then went on a hike on the Hidden Palms Trail, which is a loop near Thousand Palms in the Preserve.  We were lucky to behold the entire area with wildflowers in bloom, birds, lizards (including horned lizards), interesting insects and just the mere beauty of the land.

It was such a beautiful and rewarding day to be walking on the land and seeing all the life that there is in the desert.

Thousand Palms

Hidden Palms

Driving Day 2 – The Way to UT

The drive home from California to Utah was beautiful. The GPS took us on a route that was off the freeway until we got to Las Vegas, so we saw even more of California desert. We stopped several times and took short walks. When we got to Utah we drove through a dust storm. There was heavy traffic all the way from the border to home but we arrived home safely, happy that we had had such a lovely several days.