Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [293]
VILLAGE GREEN HERITAGE CENTER
This grassy little square (Map; 221 S Palm Canyon Dr) in the heart of downtown has some ‘heritage’ attractions, though most people use it as a place to sit and eat ice cream and fudge, which you can buy at the nearby sweets store. The true historic sites surrounding the square include the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum (Map; 760-323-0151; www.accmuseum.org; admission free; 10am-5pm Wed-Sat, noon-5pm Sun), which has pictures of and artifacts from the tribe’s history; Ruddy’s General Store (Map), a reproduction of a 1930s general store; and the 1884 McCallum Adobe (Map), said to be the oldest building in Palm Springs. The buildings are open from 10am to 4pm Thursday to Saturday, and noon to 3pm Sunday and Wednesday; adult admission costs $1 to each building (pay as you enter), and kids are free. For more information, call the Palm Springs Historical Society ( 760-323-8297; www.palmspringshistoricalsociety.org).
PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM
Adjacent to the Palm Springs International Airport, the Air Museum (Map; 760-778-6262; www.air-museum.org; 745 N Gene Autry Trail; adult/child/senior & student 13-17/ $10/5/8.50, senior Sat $10; 10am-5pm, call ahead in summer) has an exceptional collection of WWII aircraft, photos and flight memorabilia, as well as a large theater where movies are shown regularly for no additional charge.
KNOTT’S SOAK CITY USA
On a hot day, the kids will go nuts for this water park (Map; 760-327-0499; www.knotts.com/soakcity/ps; 1500 S Gene Autry Trail; adult/child $28/17, after 3pm all $17; hours vary, check website or phone), with activities including Pacific Spin ‘river rafting’, slides, tube rides and wave pools.
Around Palm Springs
LIVING DESERT ZOO & GARDENS
This excellent desert-species zoo and botanical gardens (Map; 760-346-5694; www.livingdesert.org; 47-900 Portola Ave, Palm Desert; adult/child $12/7.50 Sep–mid-June, $9/5 mid-Jun–Aug; 8am-1:30pm mid-Jun–Aug, 9am-5pm Sep–mid-Jun) presents a wide variety of desert plants and animals, plus exhibits on desert geology and Native American culture. Plan for 1½ to 3½ hours to explore the Living Desert, and check the website for additional nighttime and seasonal activities.
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WHAT THE…?
You may do two double takes in Cabazon, a 17-mile drive west of Palm Springs: the first when you see a giant T-Rex and Apatosaurus north of the I-10 Freeway and the second when you see how they’re being marketed. Claude K Bell, a sculptor for Knott’s Berry Farm in Orange County, spent 1964 to 1975 creating these concrete behemoths (55-feet and 45-feet tall, respectively). The World’s Biggest Dinosaurs ( 951-922-8700; www.worldsbiggestdinosaurs.com; 50800 Seminole Dr, Cabazon; gift shop 10am-dusk, T-Rex hours vary) remained a temple of tourist kitsch until 2005, when they were purchased by a group of creation scientists, who contend that God created the original dinosaurs in one day, along with the other animals. In the gift shop in the Bronto belly, alongside the sort of dino-swag you might find at other science museums, you can read about the hoaxes and fallacies of evolution and Darwinism, biblical quotes purporting to refer to dinosaurs, and evidence that dinosaurs and man existed at the same time.
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CABOT’S PUEBLO MUSEUM
Inside a rambling 1913 adobe house built by Cabot Yerxa of the legendary Boston Cabot clan, a wealthy East Coaster who traded high society for the solitude of the desert, this quirky museum (Map; 760-329-7610; www.cabotsmuseum.org; 67-616 E Desert View Ave, Desert Hot Springs; adult/child $6/4; 10am-3pm Sat Oct-May or by appointment)