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Palm Springs
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Desert · Easy

Palm Springs

A mid-century desert oasis at the foot of an 11,000-foot mountain.

Palm Springs is what happens when Hollywood discovers a Cahuilla hot spring at the base of Mount San Jacinto. By the 1950s the town was a movie-star getaway with more swimming pools per capita than anywhere in America, and the desert modernist architecture that exploded here — Neutra, Frey, Lautner, Krisel — still defines its look. This hunt threads downtown, the tram, and the canyons.

The Map

Your route

Offline directionsOpen in Maps

Pinch to zoom. Tap a marker to see the stop name. The dashed line traces the suggested walking order.

The Hunt

Turn-by-turn stops

Each stop shows the walking distance and direction from the previous one, plus a tap-through to your phone's maps for step-by-step directions.

  1. 01

    Forever Marilyn Statue

    "Start at the lawn outside the Palm Springs Art Museum, between Museum Way and Belardo Road. Find the 26-foot Marilyn Monroe statue. What's the year on the plaque?"

    33.8245, -116.5462Start walking here
  2. 290 m~4 min walkhead NNW from stop 1
    02

    Palm Springs Art Museum

    "Walk one block to 101 N Museum Drive. Find the E. Stewart Williams-designed building (1976). Count the boulder sculptures in the entrance courtyard."

    33.8267, -116.5478Walk from stop 1
  3. 360 m~5 min walkhead SSE from stop 2
    03

    Plaza Theatre & Walk of Stars

    "Walk south on Palm Canyon Drive to 128 S Palm Canyon. Find the 1936 Spanish Colonial theater façade. Then look down — find the nearest Walk of Stars star and read the name."

    33.8237, -116.5462Walk from stop 2
  4. 1.5 mi~31 min walkhead S from stop 3
    04

    Moorten Botanical Garden & Cactarium

    "Drive south to 1701 S Palm Canyon Drive. Find the small white house with the green sign and pay the $5 admission. How many continents are represented in the Cactarium greenhouse?"

    33.8027, -116.5478Walk from stop 3
  5. 3.2 mi~69 min walkhead S from stop 4
    05

    Indian Canyons — Palm Canyon Trailhead

    "Drive south on S Palm Canyon Drive past the gate at 38520. Pay the Agua Caliente Tribe day-use fee and continue to the Palm Canyon trailhead. Walk to the overlook — what do you see in the canyon floor below?"

    33.7565, -116.5440Walk from stop 4
  6. 6.8 mi~145 min walkhead NW from stop 5
    06

    Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

    "End at 1 Tram Way, off Highway 111 north of town. Take the rotating tramcar 8,516 feet up Mount San Jacinto. How many degrees does the cabin rotate in one trip?"

    33.8362, -116.6125Walk from stop 5