Tahquitz Canyon
Palm Springs (Agua Caliente land) · near Palm Springs · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 2 miles
- Elevation gain
- 350 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Oct–Apr (waterfall strongest late winter/spring); reduced summer hours
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- $15 adult admission at the Tahquitz Canyon Visitor Center (Agua Caliente Cahuilla tribal land) — functions as the day-use permit. Gated hours; arrive before the last-entry cutoff (~3:30pm on trail). Free ranger-led hikes included.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- 60-ft seasonal waterfall · Cahuilla rock-art & village site · Palm and riparian pockets · Interpretive tribal rangers
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The gate closes hard at last-entry — arrive by early afternoon at the latest, and buy tickets at the visitor center, not the trailhead.
The guide
A compact loop up a rocky canyon to a 60-foot waterfall right at the edge of Palm Springs, on sacred Agua Caliente Cahuilla lan…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Tahquitz Canyon — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.8107, -116.5477