Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [295]
Smoke Tree Stables (Map; 760-327-1372; www.smoketreestables.com; 2500 Toledo Ave; 8am-5pm in winter, 8am-noon summer, summer closures vary) arranges trail rides, from one-hour outings to all-day treks. The cost is from $40 per hour for both novice and experienced riders. Reserve ahead.
Return to beginning of chapter
TOURS
Guided Tours
Celebrity Tours (Map; 760-770-2700; Rimrock Shopping Center, 4751 E Palm Canyon Dr; www.celebrity-tours.com; 1hr tour adult/child/senior $30/12/28, 2½hr tour $35/14/33) Offers gossip and glamour in a reservation-only bus tour of homes of bygone Hollywood stars, from Liberace to Lucy. You can do it yourself with a map from the visitors center, but you’ll miss the insider commentary.
Desert Adventures ( 888-440-5337, 760-324-5337; www.red-jeep.com; 3/3½/4hr tours $129/139/149) Runs excellent guided jeep tours including the Indian Canyons, Santa Rosa Mountains, Bighorn Sheep Preserve and the shake-rattle-and-roll country of the San Andreas Fault. Driver-guides are full of information on the natural environment and Native-American lore.
Elite Land Tours ( 760-318-1200, 800-514-4866; www.elitelandtours.com; tours from $49) This outfit opened in 2003 and has built a huge range of respected tours throughout the region, including the windmills, Joshua Tree National Park, desert adventures, Pioneertown and the Integratron, all in vehicles from Hummers to helicopters. Prices vary by tour and number of guests.
Palm Springs Modern Tours ( 760-318-6118; psmoderntours@aol.com; $65) Three-hour van tours provide detailed descriptions of architecture from the 1920s to the ’70s with special attention to the ’50s and ’60s. Reservation only.
Palm Springs Windmill Tours ( 760-320-1365; www.bestofthebesttours.com; 90-min tours adult/child/senior $23/10/20; 9am, 11am & 2pm) Learn all about the groves of whirring turbines that are the gateway into town. Reservations required.
Self-Guided Tours
The Official Visitors Center has brochures for self-guided tours. The Public Art and Historic Site Tour Map (free) covers 37 sites throughout Palm Springs; most you can see on foot around downtown. It also sells A Map of Palm Springs Modern ($5) for architecture fans. Palm Springs Map of the Stars’ Homes ($5) lets you view from outside the abodes of the city’s rich and famous, but you’ll need a car and sometimes you’ll only see the bougainvillea-covered wall of a compound.
* * *
THE PS CELEBRITY CIRCUIT
Everyone knows about the dead celebs who used to spend time in Palm Springs, but who comes to the Coachella Valley today? Here’s a short list of big-name homeowners:
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones
Bill Gates
Monty Hall
Barry Manilow
Rita Rudner
Suzanne Somers
Michelle Wie
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Palm Springs International Film Festival ( 760-322-2930; www.psfilmfest.org) Early January brings a film festival with over 200 films from more than 60 countries.
Modernism Week (www.modernismweek.com) In mid-February, the week comprises a modernism art show, lectures, screenings and architecture tours, all centered on the Palm Springs Art Museum. Book well ahead.
Desert Swing ’N Dixie Jazz Festival ( 760-333-7932; www.desertjazz.org) This mid-March festival features three days of dancing and music, with a special jazz-gospel session on Sunday. The event is organized by the Dixieland Jazz Society of the Desert, which holds monthly jazz dances around Palm Springs. Call for details.
Dinah Weekend ( 888-923-4624; www.thedinah.com) Five days of lesbian comedy, pool parties, mixers, dances and more on the occasion of the Nabisco (formerly Dinah Shore) LPGA Golf Tournament. Early April.
White Party ( 888-777-8886; www.jeffreysanker.com) On Easter weekend, this four-day-long party is one of the biggest gay dance events in the US.
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (www.coachella.com; 1-/3-day tickets $90/250) In late April or early May, 25 miles east of Palm Springs, Indio’s Empire Polo Club (Map) hosts one of the hottest music festivals