32% of Palm Springs’ land is conserved: 19,102 acres
127 miles of mapped trail cross Palm Springs, 1.3 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument (85.2 mi), Demuth Park (2.3 mi), Prescott Preserve (1.1 mi). 352 acres are parks and preserves, 7.8 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns · #299 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
32%
19,102 acres · of 94.5 sq mi of land
Trails
127 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
352 ac
7.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
62%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
50 mi
28 mi lanes · 19 mi paths
Highest peak
2,201 ft
Murray Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Palm Springs?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Palm Springs is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #299 of 847 in California. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Palm Springs’ overall grade.
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.
The longest trail network is Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, with 85.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument
Managed by United States Forest Service;Bureau of Land Management
32% of Palm Springs’ land. Who manages Palm Springs’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife8,914 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits3,433 ac
Town or city2,221 ac
State conservation1,939 ac
U.S. Forest Service1,867 ac
Regional Water Districts1,817 ac
Joint90 ac
State Conservation Area · 8,914 acLocal Other or Unknown · 2,724 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 2,519 acState Other or Unknown · 1,939 acNational Forest · 1,867 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 29 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)
Managed by
Acres
Public access
Santa Rosa Wildlife Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife
8,914
Open
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument
State Other or Unknown
State conservation
4,614
Open
Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy
State Other or Unknown
State conservation
1,900
Open
San Bernardino National Forest
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service
1,867
Open
Whitewater Floodplain Preserve
Local Conservation Area
Regional Water Districts
1,182
Restricted
Friends of the Desert Mountains Preserve
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
737
Unknown
Unnamed site - Friends of Palm Springs Mountains
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits
540
Open
Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Conservation Commission
Unknown
Joint
90
Open
Unnamed site - Friends of the Desert Mountains
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits
71
Open
Tahquitz Wash
Local Other or Unknown
Town or city
56
Open
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
59 places to go in Palm Springs
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
28 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
19 mi
off-road bike paths
3.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Palm Canyon EpicBike route
9.7 mi
BogertBike route
1.1 mi
Courts & fields
264Tennis
69Pickleball
17Baseball
13Basketball
7Soccer
2Beach volleyball
2Football
2Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
33 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 25 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
April is the best month for walking in Palm 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
10.4
9.9
High (°F)
70
72
78
84
92
101
106
105
100
89
77
68
Rain (in)
1.0
0.9
0.5
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.7
June is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 106 °F). 1.0 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 106 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Palm Springs →
Next door
Palm Springs and its neighbors
Palm Springs has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Palm Springs
Where can I hike in Palm Springs?
The longest trail networks: Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, 85.2 miles; Demuth Park, 2.3 miles; Prescott Preserve, 1.1 miles; Ruth Hardy Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Palm Springs is conserved land?
32% 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 Palm Springs’ trails?
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument and Demuth Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Palm Springs?
50 miles of bike routes are on the map: 28 of painted or protected lanes, 19 of off-road paths and 3.2 of shoulders and shared lanes. Named routes: Palm Canyon Epic and Bogert.
Is there public land near Palm Springs?
101,075 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Palm Springs or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,550 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Palm Springs have?
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #299 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 Palm Springs neighbors.
Photo: Visitor7 · CC BY-SA 3.0