The hook
The largest palm oasis on Earth is a fifteen-mile canyon of native fan palms along a desert stream, on Cahuilla land just south of Palm Springs.
01Why it's worth it
The Agua Caliente Cahuilla have lived in these canyons for centuries, and the canyons are the reason why. In a landscape that's mostly bare rock and creosote, cold streams run down out of the San Jacinto mountains and feed groves of native California fan palms, the shaggy, skirted Washingtonia that grow wild almost nowhere else. Palm Canyon is the big one, fifteen miles long with more than twenty-five hundred palms crowding a stream, the largest fan palm oasis in the world; Andreas Canyon next door is the second largest; and Murray Canyon hides seasonal waterfalls up a creek you cross a dozen times. You walk out of the desert glare into deep green shade and running water, which is exactly why people have lived here for a thousand years. It's tribal land, a reserve of more than thirty thousand acres, open for hiking.
02How to experience it
The entrance is at the south end of Palm Springs, about eight hours from the Bay, with an admission fee since it's tribal land. Palm Canyon has the trading post and the easiest walk down to the palms, Andreas is a short and pretty loop, and Murray is the quiet one. Go in the cool months and start early for shade; summer heat out here is the dangerous kind.