Bring water. Stop to sniff the creosote bushes. Keep an eye out for oases.
This is good advice on many desert trails, and it’s doubly true on the outskirts of Palm Springs, where the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians owns several publicly accessible canyons. In Palm Canyon, you find the world’s largest California fan palm oasis. In Andreas Canyon, there’s a year-round creek. In Tahquitz Canyon, if the weather has been wet enough, you’ll reach a 60-foot waterfall and a pool where Jim Morrison once waded.
But the biggest surprise for a newcomer might be the backstory: On this territory, the tiny Agua Caliente tribe has come back from near death and built a business empire worth billions. Now the tribe, whose members are the most powerful property owners in Palm Springs, is getting ready to share its culture, including some painful history, with more visitors.
