CA Desert Hiking

For majority of my life I have been a mover. Movement has been a big part of my life. I have always been thin and this is due to my fast metabolism, how and what I eat, and the fact that I move a lot throughout the day. When my first two children were younger I worked on my yard and house all day. I only sat to nurse my babies, eat, and sleep. I never exercised until after I had my fourth child. You see, during that time of my life I was homeschooling my first born and going to college full time. I was sitting around a lot. I was no longer fit. I started exercising in order to get rid of my stomach and to tone up my body. I never really liked exercising. I’d start and then stop.

What I have been doing a lot of since we moved to the country is moving my body daily again. And by moving it I mean moving it a lot again. I’m not straining my body or using only some of my muscles but I am walking, gardening, hiking, hunting, and cleaning. I enjoy moving my body without it feeling like an exercise.

“Exercise does not always make every part of us better. What can be good for the mind might be hard on the knees. What can be nice for the waistline can cause your pelvic floor to fail. What can serve as a mental escape now can cause mental anguish down the road. We can do better than exercise. We need to do more than exercise. Our  bodies require more ” movement nutrition” than exercise, as we do it, provides. Exercisers represent the movers in our culture, but exercisers themselves are sedentary most of the day when compared to hunter-gathering population. “- Katy Bowman, M.S.

So move your body daily. One of our favorite ways to move our bodies is to go hiking. Below are five desert hikes you can take.

If you find this post interesting, you might enjoy Best of Avalon.

 

Painted Canyon/ Ladder Canyon Trail

Located at Painted Canyon Rd, Mecca, CA 92254.

If you have time for only one hike then this is the trail we recommend you take. It will feel like your on a natural nature course.

You will be driving on a pretty rough road on the way in but we made it through with out having to turn on our 4 by 4.

This is a 5 mile loop hike with five different size ladders. There were no ropes to climb, just ladders. The ladders felt safe and we felt it was a moderate hike.

The canyons are so grand here. They tower over you with different tints of green, purple, pink, and red.

At the parking area you’ll see a map. You’ll walk into a large canyon for about five to ten minutes until you’ll see a trail marker on the right side. This will be the only trail marker. You’ll turn left and you’ll climb up your first ladder here. Others before you have used rocks to create arrows so that you’ll know where to go.

In the canyon it is pretty shady and cool but the entire hike is not in the canyon. The middle of the hike you’ll be walking above the canyon and there is no trees protecting you from the sun. The views here are stunning.

You’ll descend back down and you will have to go down two more ladders before the hike is over.

Coachella Valley Preserve: Willis Palm Oasis Trail

Located at 29200 Thousands Palm Canyon Road, Thousand Palms, CA 92276.

After months of enduring cold weather,  I was desperate for some sunshine. But on the first day of exploring Palms Springs, I remembered that hiking and warm weather don’t go so well together. You will want to bring a lot of water with you and you’ll want to start this trail early because there is no shade. We started our hike at 8:25 am and it was already so hot.

A lot of the palms on this trail look like they survived a fire.

Trail is marked well here so you won’t get lost.

When you start the trail you will find a sign warning you to watch out for rattle snakes.

This is a 4.1 mile long trail.

Whitewater Preserve

Located at 9160 Whitewater Canyon Rd, Whitewater, CA 92282.

Here you’ll be walking for 3.7 miles. This is a loop.

We parked at the visitor center and had to walk a little bit before we got to the trail. Before you get to the visitor center you will see a trail sign to your left. You can actually park not far from the start of the trail and start hiking if you’d like.

We took the loop clockwise but you can do it counter clockwise so parking near the visitor center would be a better choice if you hiked it counter clockwise. No matter which way you choose to start the hike you will be going uphill both ways.

We started hiking early in the morning. It was sunny on the way up going clock wise but on the way down it was shady.

There are some narrow spots on this trail and at times while we were walking down the path I worried about my children’s safety. The thought of one of us loosing our footing worried me.

In the middle on the trail you will have a 360 view of the 2,851 acres preserve. It is absolutely gorgeous here. A must hike for sure.

While most hikes we have been on don’t allow dogs on trails. This one was dog friendly.

Tahquitz Canyon

Located at 500 W Mesquite Palm Springs, CA 92264.

This was the only hike that required us to pay $12.50 a person and that is because this is a sacred canyon that has a seasonal 60 foot waterfall. Before you actually do this hike ask if there is water in the waterfall. This hike would not be impressive without the waterfall.

The waterfall was beautiful. While it was hot and getting to the waterfall without any shade seemed longer then it was, the waterfall was so cold. We did take our shoes off to cool off but you won’t be able to keep your feet in the water for too long. When we came the water was freezing cold. No one attempted to swim here.

Some people came in and walked back the same path but I recommend you do a loop and not go back the same way you came in.  The view of the city on the way back was beautiful.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

Located at 11055 East Dr. Morongo Valley, CA 92256.

Here you have a few hikes to choose from. We chose two of the easier trails which had a wooden boardwalk throughout the trails. We took the marsh trail which is 0.65 miles long and mesquite trail that is 0.51 miles long. On both of these trails your will be walking under the cottonwood and willow canopy.

This preserve is a home to black bears, bighorn sheep, mule deer, coyote, grey fox, bobcat, raccoon, California ground squirrel, desert woodrat, desert cottontail, and black-tailed jackrabbit. We saw deer here.

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