Get Outside and Explore
I hope you enjoy this guide to hiking the Art Smith Trail in Palm Desert, California. The Art Smith Trail is about 16 miles long, and takes you into the Santa Rosa Mountains Wilderness, high above Palm Desert. It's rated as moderate, and is a class 1 hiking trail. The trail is a relatively narrow single track popular with hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians.
I would hike 11 miles roundtrip to Mount San Jacinto from the tramway. It was not the first time I had climbed Mount San Jacinto. In fact I had climbed this mountain from Idyllwild once, a year ago, as a birthday present to myself. I love challenging myself, and with the temperatures down in Palm Springs into the triple digits, it was a perfect time to escape the desert heat, on a tram ride.
Ladder and Painted Canyons are one of the most interesting desert hikes through the backcountry in the Mecca Wilderness in the Coachella Valley. Light paints the desert canyon walls along this hike in many shades of red, purple, green, and gold, depending on the time of day. The tall sheer walls of painted canyon will make you feel so small, in comparison.
I headed off towards the Bear Creek Oasis from the Cove Trailhead in La Quinta, CA in February. Winter and spring are the best times to visit here. There is a large parking area, and is a popular place to hike. There are plenty of signs, picnic tables, and a restroom here at the trailhead.
The Salton Sea is a peculiar place. Much of it has been desolate since it fell out of favor, since its hey day. It was once a vacation destination for the rich and famous, and would go on to become an ecological disaster, a eutrophic lake, where fish can't survive.
Serafina Hikes 