This weekend, we made our very first trip to “Indian Canyons” to hike and photograph the Palm, Murray, Andreas, Tahquitz and Chino canyons. Considering I’ve been coming to Palm Springs beginning as a kid in the 1960s, I’m surprised it took me so long to make a visit.
Native Americans have called the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley home as early as 7,000 years ago, where they built complex communities across the region.
With an abundant water supply, the plants, animals and native peoples thrived in these abundant canyons and across the Coachella Valley, which sits in the westernmost extension of the Sonoran Desert (also called the Colorado Desert). Palm Canyon in the Indian Canyons is the world’s largest Washingtonia filifera (California Fan Palm) oasis.
Today, Tahquitz Canyon and the Indian Canyons and its culturally sensitive areas are part of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Reservation, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Our hike covered just a portion of the canyons. We’ll be back to continue our exploration and discovery!
danstiel.com 
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