There are a number of different types of tours of the Palm Springs area. Elite Land Tours offers Jeep, Hummer and/or helicopter tours of areas around the San Andreas Fault, Joshua Tree National Park, the Silver Rush Ghost Town of Calico, the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts, Salton Sea and Indian Caves. At the San Andreas Fault, which passes along the Coachella Valley, you will see valleys and multicolored ridges; at the deserts, diverse flora and fauna, such as Spanish bayonet and chollas; at the Joshua Tree National Park, a wide expanse of desert and wildlife, such as kangaroo rats and black-tailed jack rabbits and at the Salton Sea, extinct volcanoes and different types of birds that include the double-crested cormorant, great blue heron and white-rumped sandpiper.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Tour takes people on rotating cable-car rides up to Valley Station, which is 2,643 feet above sea level; Mountain Station, which is 8,516 feet above sea level and Mount San Jacinto State Park, which features a number of hiking trails. The Earthquake Canyon Express takes people on a 20-mile bike tour through or by the Sonoran and Colorado Deserts, the Salton Sea, Mount San Jacinto, the San Andreas Fault, the All-American Canal and the Oasis Date Gardens. Along the Sonoran Desert, at the San Gorgonio Pass, people can go on the Eco-Adventure Tour and see miles of windmills at a wind farm that provides wind power to the city of Palm Springs.
People can go hiking, look at plants and wildlife and engage in other outdoor activities at the Coachella Valley Preserve, Hadley Fruit Orchards, the Big Morongo Canyon Reserve, Agua Caliente Indian Canyons, Indian Canyons Golf Resort, Knott's Soak City Water Park and Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Coachella Valley Preserve is located to the east of the San Bernardino Mountains and features hiking trails, the McCallum Grove and endangered plants and animals, including Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizards. Hadley Fruit Orchards was established in 1931 and sells items such as fruit and nuts. The Big Morongo Canyon Reserve is filled with trees, such as cottonwood and willow riparian, and birds, such as Gambel's quail and Bewick's wren. The Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians settled in canyons in Palm Springs, including the Palm, Tahquitz, Murray and Andreas canyons, where people can now go hiking. Located at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains, the Indian Canyons Golf Resort features two golf courses: an 18-hole, par-72 course designed by Casey O'Callaghan and LPGA Hall of Famer Amy Alcott and a par-72 course designed by architect William P. Bell. Knott's Soak City Water Park features a variety of water rides, water slides and a lazy river. Living Desert Zoo and Gardens features animals such as eagles, kit foxes and bison and plants such as barrel cacti and ocotillo.
Palm Springs museums and art galleries include the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs Air Museum, Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, Heusso Gallery, Olly-O-Land Children's Art Gallery and Adagio Galleries. The Palm Springs Art Museum features American landscape and desert paintings, American Indian pottery and Mexican and Latin American paintings. The Palm Springs Air Museum is home to a large collection of World War II warplanes and artwork. The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum features artifacts from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and other groups of American Indians. The Heusso Gallery is a contemporary art gallery that features artwork such as French dolls, Raku pottery and cat art. Olly-O-Land Children's Art Gallery was influenced by the book "The Whimsical Verse of Olly-O" and features sculptures of characters in the book. Adagio Galleries features contemporary Southwest American and Latin American artwork, which includes paintings, pottery and masks.
