Pushwalla Palms, Palm Desert Hiking Trail in the Coachella Valley Preserve

 

The Pushwall Oasis on the San Andreas Faultline.

This is a great trail for hiking if you want a steep elevation but a gradual climb up.  The trail is well-marked and has only one switchback near the top of the mountain.  The views are really good from start to finish.

Great views and wildflowers in abundance.

There is free parking along the road and a map to view the trail you want to take and which way you want to take it.  This trailhead is just before the Visitor Center at Thousand Palms.

The trail walks over the washout river bed which is shallow and has most likely seen some action with the recent flooding in January.  The trail is littered with wildflowers which makes the trail so much prettier than it really is unless you like the color light brown.






Pools of purple wildflowers at the base of the hill.










When you get to the top of the mountain, the trail runs along the top all the way until you can see the Palms.  You have walked too far. 


Back up to the trail marker and head down to the Oasis.  It is steep but doable.  You can walk around in the Pushwalla Palm Oasis.  There are plenty of birds singing and enjoying themselves and lots of wildflowers to see along the way including flowering cacti.  
Oasis is in the background


Shameless, topless Palm Tree

Flowering Cactus with 4-inch long thorns.

Heading into the Pushwalla Oasis.

A desert Crocus.


The Pushwalla Palm Oasis is quite extensive.



After exploring the Oasis which runs quite a long way through the mountain area along the San Andreas Fault, we headed off along the washout and down the base of the mountain until we could find a different trail back up over the mountain.  You eventually come to some stone circles, and find the markers pointing you toward the way out of the canyon and back down the other side to your car.



Desert Lupines in Purple.


This trail had the most variety of wildflowers.

Beautiful views of the snow-capped San Jacinto Mountain tops.

Stone circles.

It was a great trail and a good solid workout and it was pretty too.

Beautiful exit to an awesome day.

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