What to do in Palm Springs

[NorthCountryAB]

So long of the short, my buddy and his wife found a great deal on a home rental in Palm Springs CA. Big enough for his family of four and my family of four.
My wife loves to get away from our crappy Canadian winters, so we pulled the trigger and are heading there for Xmas.
We are driving from northern Alberta. +/- 25hrs, so not too bad.
We will be there from Dec 20 to Jan 8.

Is there anything to do there other than golf with the other Canadian snowbirds?? Man I hate golf, and the weather currently is crap in my opinion 16C (60 F) for a daytime high. Theres a damn frost warning for tonight lol.
Dont get me wrong it beats our -25 C we have right now, but its definitely not the temps I was thinking we would have.

Id love to hire a boat to take me fishing, even if its just largemouth bass or something like that. Ive never caught a largemouth. Im not sure I want to commit to driving to the coast to go fishing, seems like a bit of a drive.
I should also add we did Disney with our two little girls in April of this year already. So I have zero interest in going back to that god damn zoo ever again.

Were going to rent bicycles for our time down there, and bring roller blades and hockey sticks to play some hockey.
Im just not used to having almost three weeks with zero agenda and need to find something outdoorsy to do.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

#will trade moose meat for fun times

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

Nothing specific, but Joshua Tree National Park is an hour away and is very, very cool, especially if you're coming from the frozen north.

 

[timmymac24]

Bring hiking boots for all lots of hiking trails in that area. Happy you have taken care of Disney chaos. Joshua Tree and Pioneer Town are cool places to day visit. You're going to the desert so scratch the bass idea unless you go towards the coast and get to some of the inland lakes/reservoirs. The weather is all over the place this time of the year in that part of the state. You may have some very warm days maybe not time will tell. Safe travels I am sure others will chime in. I lived 21 years west of there down the 10 in the Redlands area. Go eat Mexican food at Las Casuelas Terraza by the way...

 

[Milestone522]

The Aerial Tram is worth the ride from the valley floor to over 8k feet up into the mountains (bring a sweatshirt), and the Air Museum in Palm Springs is worth your time as well...

 

[NorthCountryAB]

Bring hiking boots for all lots of hiking trails in that area. Happy you have taken care of Disney chaos. Joshua Tree and Pioneer Town are cool places to day visit. You're going to the desert so scratch the bass idea unless you go towards the coast and get to some of the inland lakes/reservoirs. The weather is all over the place this time of the year in that part of the state. You may have some very warm days maybe not time will tell. Safe travels I am sure others will chime in. I lived 21 years west of there down the 10 in the Redlands area. Go eat Mexican food at Las Casuelas Terraza by the way...

Awesome!
We do lots of hiking. I see theres a few national forests to the north, including Joshua Tree.
I assume national forests are the equivalent of our provincial parks? You can hike the trails and see the sights free of charge?
I love mexican food!

 

[vectordawg]

I came here to say JTNP but others beat me to it. We were there in July. I bet it's great in December!

 

[vectordawg]

Awesome!
We do lots of hiking. I see theres a few national forests to the north, including Joshua Tree.
I assume national forests are the equivalent of our provincial parks? You can hike the trails and see the sights free of charge?
I love mexican food!

It'll cost you a day pass. I don't remember how much but it's cheap.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

National Forests tend to be much less developed than National Parks. Yellowstone & Yosemite are National Parks. A bunch of high altitude trees and washboard dirt roads is National Forest.

+1 on Joshua Tree National Park very cool place, maybe catch some desert bighorn. Lots of short rock climbs and scrambling if you like. Huge place.
The zoo/biopark in Palm Springs is very cool too, with indigenous critters, like desert bighorn, Javi's etc.
Anzo-Borrego Desert State Park has some cool nooks and crannies like JTree only different.
Palm Springs Windmill Tours(?) Count them for me, eh?
Worked around the mountains northeast of 29 Palms. Some of them have one little spring per mountain range. The Mojave Rattlers look amazing and not in the least friendly. Rent a 4x4 and go exploring.

I've driven to Redondo Beach for dinner from PS (2-1/2 hrs) so if you're planning full day offshore fishing it might be worth the drive. Use a mapping app to avoid traffic or live like a local.

 

[Mtnmilsurp]

One of my favorite places for hiking, jeeping, and shooting as a kid was the Borrego springs area. Get some of the sweetest grapefruit you’ve ever eaten and enjoy the desert. You’ll see bighorn sheep, roadrunners, giant tortoises and other wild oddities. The palm oasises are really cool as well.

 

[Htm84]

If you feel like getting after it you could hike the cactus to clouds trail. From the library in Palm Springs to San jacinto peak. J-tree is gonna be mega packed. Not real far from ocotillo and glamis. If you have dirt bikes or utvs.

 

[def90]

Joshua Tree and the air museum is pretty awesome if you are a fan of WW2 aircraft. Everything there is in flyable condition. If you are a foodie there are some incredible restaurants throughout the area as well. Rent a Jeep or ATVs and ride some of the mountain jeep roads or do a jeep tour. Horseback riding.. Look on local events sites as well for any concerts/shows, the proximity to LA means that there are always some good bands playing in town this time of year.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Joshua tree has great hikes.
cabazon has some outlets that weren’t bad back in the day
decent Indian casino there.
You can rent ATVs or s x s for some desert fun
sna Jacinto and San gorgonio are great peaks but likely snow bound, and there are several good hikes at lower altitudes for both in the San Bernardino Forrest.
the tramway is cool but you may be less impressed with the snow at the top. Cross country and snowshoeing if you like up there
the salton sea is a bit freaky but interesting.
you are also drivable to Orange County and LA, of course. Probably 100 miles to each

 

[NorthCountryAB]

Joshua Tree and the air museum is pretty awesome if you are a fan of WW2 aircraft. Everything there is in flyable condition. If you are a foodie there are some incredible restaurants throughout the area as well. Rent a Jeep or ATVs and ride some of the mountain jeep roads or do a jeep tour. Horseback riding.. Look on local events sites as well for any concerts/shows, the proximity to LA means that there are always some good bands playing in town this time of year.

Great. Thanks for the info!