Palm Canyon

[Danilopez89]

So I stopped by Palm Canyon today while at work in Palm Springs. I only had enough time to walk one of the trails (there's a total of 3) but it was a real nice one! On my second visit I will walk the other trails and post pictures of those on this thread, but for now you will have to settle for these.

[Danilopez89]

And here's a sneak peak...

I will post more later because I have to get back to work. Many pictures!!!

[Danilopez89]

Enjoy!

[Danilopez89]

This one had a nice lean to it.

[Danilopez89]

[Danilopez89]

[Danilopez89]

At this point I am about half ways up the trail.

[Danilopez89]

More pics coming soon...

[GTClover]

Wonderful photos!

[Sandy Loam]

Were those photos taken at the Indian Canyons? I have been to that park and thought the palm canyons there were fascinating. It is amazing how huge those old, native-habitat Washingtonia Filifera are when you are standing next to them.

Apparently there are several less known wild/native Washingtonia Filifera oasis locations in the desert within a two hour radius of Palm Springs, CA, but I don't know where they are all located. I have been to the wild palm oasis at Coachella Valley Preserve. My friends visited the palm oasis as Anza-Borrego State Park. Does anyone know of any other old and unspoiled Washingtonia Filifera habitats in the deserts of Southern California, southwest Arizona or adjacent parts of Mexico? I have heard about one outside the town of Twenty-Nine Palms, CA, but I don't know what it is called or where it is located. Are there many others?

I am attaching a photo from Wikipedia that was purportedly taken at the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument park outside Palm Desert, California. Is that possible? I have been to the big overlook over the San Jancinto National Monument, but I don't recall seeing any Washingtonia Filifera there. Perhaps there is special part of the park which contains a palm canyon/oasis (?) Does anyone know? The photo looks a bit too green to have been taken at San Jacinto National Monument, but I could be wrong.

[Sandy Loam]

Click the photo to enlarge. It is worth it.

[Danilopez89]

Sandy Loam that place looks awesome. If it truly is in the Palm Desert area it would have to be deep in between the mountains. It is way to green to be right off the mountains like Palm Canyon is.

There's several palm oasis like these around the Coachella Valley. Palm Canyon is the first one I visit. I do known that there is other ones outside the valley, like out in the area that you speak about (29 Palms). I remember when I was younger we would drive to Parker, Az. to the Colorado River and I would see what looked to be some palm oasis at different locations but I was not interested in looking at them at that time.

[Sandy Loam]

Sorry Danilopez89. I didn't mean to take over your thread. I just wanted to ask if anyone knew of other palm oasis sites for Washingtonia Filifera. Keep on posting those photos. They are fantastic pictures.

[Danilopez89]

Last week a went riding my quad near the Salton Sea at Ocotillo Wells and from the top of a big hill I saw palm trees far away. So I went down a very hard trail to get there and I found a small oasis, maybe about 7 Washingtonias. It wasn't great looking but I thought it was really cool because that area is bone dry most of the year. I couldn't believe anything would grow there. I also found a large area where occotillos grow wild. There must be hundreds of them out there.

[Danilopez89]

Sorry Danilopez89. I didn't mean to take over your thread. I just wanted to ask if anyone knew of other palm oasis sites for Washingtonia Filifera. Keep on posting those photos. They are fantastic pictures.

Hey no worries. Thanks for sharing that beautiful picture. Now I will be obsessing over finding that place.

[Danilopez89]

Continuing up the trail.

[Danilopez89]

[Danilopez89]

I love the way those cacti are growing in the huge rocks. I think I spotted a golden barrel cactus all the way at the top of the 7th picture.

[Danilopez89]

And this is the top of this trail. Look at those neat looking houses!

[Danilopez89]

Sorry that the picture quality wasn't better. I don't own a camera, just a smart phone.

[Danilopez89]

And back down the trail.

[Danilopez89]

[Danilopez89]

[Danilopez89]

[Danilopez89]

Almost to the end of the trail.

[Danilopez89]

A small dam at the bottom.

I saw plenty of these guys.

[Danilopez89]

And this is the end. Much more to see here but I had to go back to work. When I go back I will remember you PalmTalkers and take more pictures of the other 2 trails to share with you. I will most likely open this thread back up and continue to post here.

And a view of Palm Springs, you can actually see the windmills from here.

[Danilopez89]

I hope you all enjoy the photos, I only wish I could post the sounds of the water and the wildlife.

And sorry if it was too many pictures for you to look at but I just wanted to walk you through the trail as best as possible with pictures.

Again please enjoy and thanks for looking. The hard part was resizing all the pictures to fit on Palm Talk. It is time consuming but it was worth it to be able to share.

[elHoagie]

Were those photos taken at the Indian Canyons? I have been to that park and thought the palm canyons there were fascinating. It is amazing how huge those old, native-habitat Washingtonia Filifera are when you are standing next to them.

Apparently there are several less known wild/native Washingtonia Filifera oasis locations in the desert within a two hour radius of Palm Springs, CA, but I don't know where they are all located. I have been to the wild palm oasis at Coachella Valley Preserve. My friends visited the palm oasis as Anza-Borrego State Park. Does anyone know of any other old and unspoiled Washingtonia Filifera habitats in the deserts of Southern California, southwest Arizona or adjacent parts of Mexico? I have heard about one outside the town of Twenty-Nine Palms, CA, but I don't know what it is called or where it is located. Are there many others?

I am attaching a photo from Wikipedia that was purportedly taken at the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument park outside Palm Desert, California. Is that possible? I have been to the big overlook over the San Jancinto National Monument, but I don't recall seeing any Washingtonia Filifera there. Perhaps there is special part of the park which contains a palm canyon/oasis (?) Does anyone know? The photo looks a bit too green to have been taken at San Jacinto National Monument, but I could be wrong.

Great post, and great photos of Andreas Canyon!

To answer Sandy Loam - I think your picture is of the main canyon in Indian Canyons. You can compare to my photo below.

I've been to quite a few Washingtonia filifera palm oases, and I'm sure there are many more that I haven't been to yet.

- there are four in Joshua Tree National Park (49 palms oasis, oasis of Mara, Cottonwood, and Lost Palms)

- there are several in Anza Borrego State Park (Borrego Palm Canyon, and probably half a dozen separate oases in the area around Bow Willow Campground - Pygmy, Southwest, Mary's, Palm Bowl, North,...)

- there is one in the Kofa NWR in Arizona

- I think there are even a couple in Nevada

Here are a couple recent photos from the Indian Canyons in Palm Springs (I stopped there a couple weeks ago on my way out to Organ Pipe NM).

[Danilopez89]

Nice pics Jack! Next time I visit the canyons I hope to capture pictures like these.

So I was thinking that you might be right about the picture Sandy shared, being the same canyon as the one in your pic. It could be that that picture was taken after the canyons having plenty of rain fall. These mountains surrounding the Coachella Valley do turn green if we have lots of rain. They only stay green for a few weeks at the most tho.

[Josh-O]

Great pictures Pedro. How cold do you think it gets where you took all those photos?

[Sandy Loam]

elHoagie,

Not to get too far off-topic, but you should start a new thread under the "other" category and post your photos of Organ Pipe National Monument. It is amazing. I drove by there once, but never went into the park and regret it now.

...now back to Washingtonia Filifera oasis

[Sandy Loam]

.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Sandy Loam

[Danilopez89]

Great pictures Pedro. How cold do you think it gets where you took all those photos?

Im not sure Josh. That's a good question. I wonder if they get below freezing like the rest of the valley. All I know is that it snows up on those mountains and thats how they get all that water in the canyons.

[elHoagie]

Nice pics Jack! Next time I visit the canyons I hope to capture pictures like these.

So I was thinking that you might be right about the picture Sandy shared, being the same canyon as the one in your pic. It could be that that picture was taken after the canyons having plenty of rain fall. These mountains surrounding the Coachella Valley do turn green if we have lots of rain. They only stay green for a few weeks at the most tho.

Thanks! I've been trying for a while to get nice pictures of the palms in these canyons, but it's really difficult. The limited opening hours make it impossible to be there for sunrise, and the tall mountains to the west means that they're in the shade well before sunset (and you can only be there near sunset for a couple months in the middle of winter).

[elHoagie]

elHoagie,

Not to get too far off-topic, but you should start a new thread under the "other" category and post your photos of Organ Pipe National Monument. It is amazing. I drove by there once, but never went into the park and regret it now.

...now back to Washingtonia Filifera oasis

You've inspired me! I started a topic in the "other" forum... http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/45146-organ-pipe-national-monument/?p=695834

[JT in Japan]

Great photos of the long-haired freaky palms! If a washy shaves in the forest, does it make a sound?

[jardinierpalmiertrat]

Wonderful place!!!

Beautiful photos!

[Explorer]

Beautifull place!

Alexander

[virtualpalm]

Dani, did you happen to look in the stream? I was there years ago and would be interested to know if there are still mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) in the water. It is an introduced invasive fish responsible for the demise of several other small fish species. It is the species I studied for my Masters thesis, and I was horrified to see it there when I visited in 1993.