Sand to Snow National Monument
Managed by United States Forest Service;Bureau of Land Management
1,464 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cabot's Old Indian Pueblo Museum · Photo: Jllm06 · CC0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Desert Hot Springs
Desert Hot Springs has 46 miles of mapped trails, 1.5 for every square mile of land
16% of Desert Hot Springs’ land is conserved, about 3,002 acres. The biggest trail networks: Sand to Snow National Monument (1.7 mi), Devil's Garden (0.8 mi), Guy Tedesco Park (0.7 mi). 33 acres are parks and preserves, 1.0 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #404 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
3,002 acres · of 30.1 sq mi of land
Trails
46 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
33 ac
1.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
60%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
12 mi
10 mi lanes
Highest peak
1,132 ft
Miracle Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Desert Hot Springs?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Desert Hot Springs have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Desert Hot Springs is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #404 of 847 in California. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Desert Hot Springs’ overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (46 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land1.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (33 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13DParks close to home60% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 64%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 52%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Sand to Snow National Monument, with 1.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Devil's Garden
Managed by Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District
59 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Guy Tedesco Park
Park
7 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Mission Springs Park
Park
13 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Sand to Snow National Monument1,464 acres · 1.7 mi of trail · United States Forest Service;Bureau of Land Management
Devil's Garden59 acres · 0.8 mi of trail · Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District
Guy Tedesco Park7 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Mission Springs Park13 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Devil's Garden Preserve177 acres
Wardman Park7 acres
DirectionsRotary Park1 acres
Hot Springs Park1 acres
Who protects it
3,002 conserved acres
16% of Desert Hot Springs’ land. Who manages Desert Hot Springs’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation1,882 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits551 ac
Joint278 ac
Regional agency182 ac
Town or city89 ac
Not recorded20 ac
State Other or Unknown · 1,882 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 478 acUnknown · 268 acLocal Conservation Area · 182 acUnknown Easement · 91 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 164 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy State Other or Unknown | State conservation | 1,882 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Friends of the Desert Mountains Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 478 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Conservation Commission Unknown | Joint | 268 | Open |
| Devil's Garden Preserve Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 182 | Closed |
| Mission Springs Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Wardman Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Guy J. Tedesco Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Hot Springs Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Frank Hodge Skate Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Rotary Dog Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Desert Hot Springs
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Dog parks in Desert Hot Springs
Rotary Dog ParkIn Rotary Park
DirectionsScenic views in Desert Hot Springs
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Desert Hot Springs
Miracle Hill1,132 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.3 mi
Super Creek1.1 mi
Sierra Boulevard0.5 mi
Via Real0.5 mi
Via Diablo0.4 mi
Biking & sports
12 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
10 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.5 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
11Tennis
10Basketball
3Skate park
2Baseball
1Multi-sport
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Cabot's Old Indian Pueblo MuseumBuilding · listed 2012
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Desert Hot Springs
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 68 | 70 | 76 | 82 | 90 | 99 | 105 | 104 | 98 | 87 | 75 | 66 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
June is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 105 °F). 1.8 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 105 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Desert Hot Springs →
Next door
Desert Hot Springs and its neighbors
Desert Hot Springs has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Hot Springs | 16% | 1.5 | 1 | 60% | B |
| Garnet | 11% | 1.3 | under 1 | 33% | B− |
| Palm Springs | 32% | 1.3 | 8 | 62% | A− |
| Cathedral City | 8% | 0.9 | 2 | 56% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Desert Hot Springs
Where can I hike in Desert Hot Springs?
The longest trail networks: Sand to Snow National Monument, 1.7 miles; Devil's Garden, 0.8 miles; Guy Tedesco Park, 0.7 miles; Mission Springs Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Desert Hot Springs is conserved land?
16% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Desert Hot Springs’ trails?
Sand to Snow National Monument and Devil's Garden don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Desert Hot Springs?
12 miles of bike routes are on the map: 10 of painted or protected lanes and 1.5 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Desert Hot Springs?
37,058 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Desert Hot Springs or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,499 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Desert Hot Springs have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #404 of 847 in California. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Desert Hot Springs neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →