Page 67 - 2024/2025 Travel Guide to CALIFORNIA

ranging from below sea level to almost 11,000 feet atop Mount San Jacinto.
Abundant rains in winter carpet the desert with wildflowers—nowhere more spectacular than the springtime bloom of Antelope Valley Poppy State Reserve, near the town of Mojave. Snaking south through the Coachella Valley, scenic palm-lined Highway 111 will deliver you to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Capital of desert botanica, this 500,000-acre park is ablaze with fiery red poppies and other wildflowers.
A 30-minute drive northeast from Palm Springs, Joshua Tree National Park spans 1,240 square miles of Mojave and lower Col- orado deserts and protects one of the most spectacular desert regions in North America. Popular with rock climbers, its dramatic landscapes are made surreal by the “Joshua tree” species of yucca, with strange, arm-like branches.
From Joshua Tree, historic Route 66 unfurls past Mojave National Preserve, where the Kelso Dunes tower some 650 feet above the desert floor. They’re known as the “singing dunes” because they emit a buzz or rumble when sand slides down the dune slip face. Nearby, 32 ancient volcanic cones stud Cinder Cones National Natural Land- mark—a gateway to the standout draw of the northern Mojave: Death Valley National Park. The highest ground temperature ever
recorded on Earth was here, at Badwater, a sunken trough that reaches 282 feet below sea level. Yet Death Valley is rimmed by 11,000-foot mountains. Winter months are deliciously temperate, when tourists flock to marvel at chromatic canyons and sun- bleached salt pans. Well-paved roads lace the park, while dirt roads open up a world of extreme adventure for visitors with suit- able vehicles.
Family Fun
Kids love the desert, which offers heaps of family fun, including old ghost towns such as Pioneertown, an old movie set where shoot-out recreations bring old Westerns back to life. Another favorite is the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens, exhibiting over 150 species of animals. With luck you might even spot bighorn sheep in the wild on a Desert Adventures eco-tour by Jeep.
Take to the air with Fantasy Balloon Flights for a bird’s-eye view of the Coachella
Valley. Then delight the kids, and yourself, with a ten-minute jaunt to Alaska (at least metaphorically) aboard the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It ascends through four life zones to the mountaintop station, where the air is 30 degrees cooler than it is in the desert below.
DRIVE TOUR
Start in downtown PALM SPRINGS
and follow Highway 111 southeast to PALM DESERT, then head into the San Jacinto Mountains along steep, twisting Highway 74 to the COACHELLA VALLEY VISTA POINT for a sensa- tional view. Retrace your route to Highway 111 and
continue east. Turn south onto Highway 86 past date palms and vineyards and the Salton Sea to SALTON CITY, then head west along Highway 522 through the BORREGO BADLANDS to the artists’ community of BORREGO SPRINGS. Explore the fantastical metal sculptures in GALLETA MEADOWS, then lace up your hiking boots to explore cactus-studded ANZA-BOR- REGO DESERT STATE PARK.
PALM SPRINGS
COACHELLA VALLEY VISTA POINT
PALM DESERT
ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK VISITOR CENTER
SALTON CITY
GALLETA MEADOWS
BORREGO SPRINGS
BORREGO BADLANDS
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