Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park

3 min readJul 17, 2021

Weekend Trip

Palm Springs is East of Los Angeles, around 2 hours drive from Los Angeles.

Day 1: Palm Springs. Stay the night in Palm Springs.

We stayed in Triada Palm Spring, Autograph Collection (640 N Indian Canyon Dr, Palm Springs)
Start you day with hike at Tahquitz canyon loop trail (waterfall oasis) — Heavily trafficked hike, 1.9 mile, easy, has entry fees.
Make a quick stop at Palm Springs visitors center and ask them about architecturally famous homes to check out and drive around later after brunch to check out few of the popular homes
Check out Coachella Valley from the gandola at Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Book in advance as its fully booked well in advace.
Brunch at Wilma and Frieda (more food recommendations below)
Architecture tour to check out unique homes (As mentioned above, get list from visitor center)
Shopping/walk on canyon drive: Check out beautiful furniture shops, boutiques on Palm Canyon drive (Downtown Palm Springs). The shops at thirteen forty five is popular so check it out. We found some unique display pieces for home from there. Renting a bike would not be a bad idea.
El paseo shopping street — If you are in the mood to do more shopping, drive an hour through a beatiful drive to El paseo shopping street. The drive takes you through gold courses, resorts and gives you a slight glimpse into why Palm Spring is a popular destination
Dinner at Birba (Italian food) —
If you have more time time, check out Palm Springs art museum, Living Desert Zoo & Gardens.

Day 2: Joshua Tree National Park

We entered the park from Joshua Tree visitor center and exited from Cottonwood Visitor Center, driving back to Palm Springs. Stops we made in the park: