The hook
A sixty-foot waterfall runs down a canyon on Cahuilla land minutes from downtown Palm Springs, in a place their oldest story calls home to a banished shaman.
01Why it's worth it
Tahquitz Canyon sits right at the edge of Palm Springs on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' reservation, and it hides a genuinely lovely surprise: a short loop trail up a rocky canyon to a sixty-foot waterfall spilling off the mountain. The Cahuilla have lived here for generations, and the canyon carries their oldest legend, of Tahquitz, the first shaman, who turned his power to selfish and harmful ends and was banished into this canyon, which still bears his name. There's ancient rock art along the way. It's ticketed and can be done as a self-guided walk or on a free ranger-led hike, which is the better way to hear the stories that go with the place.
02How to experience it
Buy tickets at the Tahquitz Canyon Visitor Center in Palm Springs, about eight hours from the Bay. The loop is under two miles with some rocky steps; go in the cool months and after rain for the fullest falls, and start early in summer heat. The ranger-led hikes, offered fall through spring, come with the Cahuilla history. Pairs with the Indian Canyons on the same reservation.