Palm Springs Weekend Trip Itinerary

This was a quick weekend trip where Julie and I decided to do turn a typical weekend into a Valentine’s Weekend even though the actual day itself was nearly a week later.

At least that meant that it would be neither crowded nor overpriced for the occasion.

But what we didn’t expect was a storm that hit the area west of the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains but left the high desert mostly overcast and partly sunny.  That resulted in some surprisingly wet waterfalling excursions.

Here are some highlights and a summary of our trip itinerary…

Trip Map

Murray Canyon Falls – this was the first time that Julie and I ventured into Murray Canyon, which was one of the Agua Caliente Native American administered lands by Palm Springs. We never expected this to be a soggy affair where I had to ruin my old hiking boots to make it all the way to the main waterfalls. Such conditions seemed to not happen frequently, but it just goes to show you how you have to come prepared for anything…

West Fork Falls and Palm Canyon – I think the main draw of this part of the Agua Caliente Indian Tribe lands is the impressive Palm Canyon, where numerous palm trees covered a desert oasis. Not to be outdone, we also had a waterfalling excuse to be here, which was something we didn’t expect until we saw it in a brochure and decided to pursue it.

Palm Springs – After our waterfalling successes, Julie and I strolled around the downtown part of Palm Springs to soak up the Saturday night ambience. It was the kind of stroll that reminded us of what date nights used to be like before we had Tahia.

Day 1: Drive from Los Angeles to Palm Springs

Overnight: Hyatt Palm Springs (Palm Springs, California, USA)

For this trip, Julie and I didn’t head out to Palm Springs until after dinner. The thinking was that the late start would allow us to avoid most of the rush hour traffic, and the dinner at home meant one less meal for Julie to worry about what they put in the food (possibly making her break out).

Day 2: Murray Canyon and Palm Canyon

Overnight: Hyatt Palm Springs (Palm Springs, California, USA)

On this day, we did a full day of hiking starting off with an unexpectedly wet adventure to Murray Canyon Falls. Afterwards, we stayed in the Agua Caliente Tribal Lands and headed to Palm Canyon, where we briefly checked out the impressive display of fan palm trees as well as checking out the West Fork Falls.

Then, we had an early Valentine’s Day dinner before walking around downtown Palm Springs before calling it a night.

Day 3: Drive Home

On this day, we left Palm Springs and took a detour in the direction of Idyllwild so we could visit Fuller Mill Creek Falls, which was one of the failed excursions in the past when Tahia was not even a year-old.