Hiking and Eating Through Palm Springs

It’s been 2 years since our first visit to Palm Springs and after this last visit I don’t think it will be our last. Such a great place for relaxing and taking in the sunshine. Now you might scroll down and see all the hikes we did and not think that’s super relaxing. We would get up every morning and do a quick hike or walk then spend our afternoons just sitting by the pool at our Airbnb. If you follow this blog much you know we are usually moving town to town most days when we travel, so this was definitely more of a vacation than usual for us and it was so great.

 

FOOD
Palm Springs has a great food scene

Workshop + Kitchen
This was our second time to Workshop + Kitchen and we were not disappointed. There was not one thing on the menu we didn’t like and we tried a few different things. Plus they have great cocktails.

Jakes
Another place that was our second visit. We loved it so much 2 years ago we kept it on our list. Again we loved it all so much. This sea bass dish was amazing.

Draughtsman
This is new and they are known for their burgers and beer, and it was excellent. A great place if you are looking for a much more casual place for lunch or dinner. Huge outdoor seating, plus corn hole and other fun games.

FARM
We had breakfast here…..twice. We loved it so much. The chicken and waffles was so good, but not your typical fried chicken, which I loved because it was a much lighter dish. We would have loved to come for dinner, but they are only open 2 nights a week and they are booked out over a month. Plus this restaurant keeps with the Farm theme in it’s decor. Great outdoor dining as wel.

Rooster and the Pig
Another new place in Palm Springs we came here twice too because it was just so good. Favorite dish hands down was the Panko Crusted Chicken Stuffed Rice Ball. That dish alone is why we went back. Get there early or be prepared to wait. If you do have to wait you can go to the counter and grab a drink and take it outside while you wait.

If we are going to eat our way through Palm Springs we had better have a way to work it off right?

HIKING
If we are going to eat our way through Palm Springs we had better have a way to work it off right?

Ladder Canyon Hike in the Mecca Hills Painted Canyon

When the sun is out we want to be outside taking it all in. So before we left I looked up some hikes we could do. The first one we did we had done a few years ago. The Ladder Canyon Trail out in the Mecca Hills Painted Canyon. Last time we got lured in too soon on the trail and we ended up on the ropes trail, which was not easy for us, but we did it. I wanted to try again because we had not done that many ladders the last time. This time we definitely found more ladders.

We didn’t make the mistake of going to the ropes. We instead walked until we saw the rock arrow pointing us in the direction of the trail.

Even though we did skip the ropes (most of the ropes) we decided to go over there just to look at what we accomplished 2 years ago. We went up the first one and then decided we had done it once. We didn’t go on because we know how crazy high the 3rd rope is. And none of us wanted to do that again.

South Lykken Trail Hike in Palm Springs

This was a great hike right in Palms Springs. This hike is basically an up and over the side of the mountain, but no one had really explained it that way in the descriptions. You can enter this hike at 2 different spots. Some people say you can park at one end with one car and drive a 2nd car to the other trailhead and just shuttle back. What we discovered was we could have parked in one spot, hiked up and over and back to our car and it would have probably been around 5 miles. Instead we hiked up and then back down the way we came. We later saw someone doing it as a loop. If you choose to do it as a loop you will walk on the road for quite some time, but I would have preferred that had I known.

Don’t try and take any short cuts off this hillside, even if you think it might go straight down to the road. You can’t get through the private properties. Found this out the hard way. But it was only because we saw a trail leading down and we were curious.

Mount San Jacinto

Take the tram up in Palm Springs and it will take you to this park. There are some pretty heafty hikes you can do, but you really have to go when there is no snow. There was too much snow on the ground to go far the day we were there. But there is a great little trail that has some great view points. Totally worth checking out if you go up on the tram. It’s under 2 miles.

We really enjoyed our time up on Mount San Jacinto. We had never taken the tram before so that was really fun. We purchased our tickets ahead of time because I wanted to be there for sunset and moonrise and we hit it perfectly.

Coachella Valley Preserve

We did the McCallum Trail and started down the Moon CountryTrail, but because of the heat we turned back.

Coachella Valley Preserve is just about 30 minutes outside of Palms Springs making it an easy getaway for a few hours. They have guided tours here as well. But hiking this very short 1 mile hike was easily done on your own.

This is an area for every kind of hiker our outdoors person out there. The boardwalk was right at the trail head. You could choose whether or not you want to continue on the the Oasis.

Palm Springs has a lot going on if you are not a golfer and if you are not staying at a resort. You will not be bored and you will walk away totally relaxed. So what are you waiting for? Go check it out.

Still looking for more ideas? Check out 7 Fun Things to do in Palm Springs.