4 Easy Hikes in Palm Springs for Families

Palm Springs is a great destination for families who love getting outside, but not every desert hike is going to be a good fit with kids. Between the heat, sun exposure and rocky terrain, it’s worth choosing your trails carefully. These easy hikes in Palm Springs for families are the ones we enjoyed most during our family trip to Palm Springs.

What we loved about hiking in Palm Springs with kids is the variety. One day you can walk through a palm oasis, another day you can hike to a cross overlooking the valley, and if your kids are up for a little adventure, you can even climb ladders through a slot canyon.

In this post, we’re sharing our favourite kid-friendly hikes in Palm Springs, including what makes each one worth doing, who we think it’s best for, and the practical details that matter when you’re hiking with kids. Some are short and easy, while others require a little more effort, but each one offered something fun and memorable for our family.

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The Best Kid-Friendly Hikes in Palm Springs

We loved our time hiking in Palm Springs! Here are the four best easy hikes in Palm Springs for families:

1. Wilderness Loop at The Living Desert

When we were researching easy hikes in Palm Springs, we kept seeing the Wilderness Loop pop up. What’s unique about this Palm Springs hike is that the Wilderness Loop is on the property of the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert.

We don’t typically visit zoos when we travel with our kids, but The Living Desert caught our attention. A highly rated zoo with hiking trails right on the property? Yes please!

The kid-friendly Wilderness Loop hike begins in the flatlands at the base of Eisenhower mountain, but soon enters a beautiful mountain valley. You’ll encounter a sign warning about a ‘boulder field’, but don’t let it alarm you. It’s true, there are boulders along the sides of the path, but the only rocks you’ll find on the trail are small enough to easily step over.

Next, you start climbing up a trail on the side of one of the valley walls. At this stage the mountains in the distance become much taller and the scenery keeps getting better. All around the trail are interesting rock formations, some of which are close enough to the trail for kids to climb on.

As you turn back towards the Living Desert Zoo, the trail follows a ridgeline, offering amazing views in all directions. The lush green of Palm Springs really stands out against the dry mountain landscapes all around.

We hiked the Wilderness Loop counterclockwise, and we recommend doing the same. The views of the city while coming down the ridge were excellent.

2. Palm Canyon Trail to Victor Trail

If you are looking for a shady activity in Palm Springs to escape the heat, look no further than the Palm Canyon Trail. Located in Indian Canyons on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians’ ancestral Tribal lands, the Palm Canyon Trail is truly an oasis.

The Palm Canyon Trail follows a small creek which flows through a canyon. The banks of the creek are lined with massive palm trees for quite a distance, making this one of the largest palm oases in the world.

The Palm Canyon hike is quite easy and has no noticeable incline for the first mile (1.5 km). We hiked this trail around 11 am and the palm trees provided wonderful protection from the hot midday sun.

We gave up this relaxing blanket of shade in exchange for some views. At the 1.5 mile (2.5 km) mark, we said goodbye to the palm trees and turned onto the Victor Trail, which climbs up one of the canyon walls lining the Palm Canyon Trail. The views of the palms and the surrounding mountains get very good, very fast.

The Victor Trail is very exposed, with no shade at all. That explains the thousands of cacti lining the rock-covered terrain. If you are prepared for the sun, you’ll love the views from up here.

If you are looking for easy hikes in Palm Springs, simply stay on the Palm Canyon Trail and forgo the views from the Victor Trail.

3. The Cross Trail Loop

The Cross Trail Loop proves there are some good easy hikes in Palm Desert too.

The Desert Palm Cross sits high on a reddish-brown hill, overlooking the city below. We’ve found that people can rarely resist a good hike up to a viewpoint or monument, and Palm Desert is no exception. The Cross Trail Loop is a popular hike with both locals and visitors, and it’s a great option for families looking for a short hike with rewarding views.

We hiked the Cross Trail Loop hiking trail with our kids on a Sunday morning and it was quite busy, with lots of people out for their morning walk with friends, partners or dogs. It was a very friendly atmosphere with almost everyone saying hello and talking to the kids.

The Cross Trail Loop winds its way up the side of the mountain, offering increasingly nice views of Palm Springs and its surrounding mountains. There is a nice flat sitting area around the Desert Palm Cross, allowing you to sit for a while and admire the amazing views you’ve earned.

4. Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail

This fun kid-friendly Palm Springs hike might not not be a good fit for every family. But if your kids are comfortable with ladders and a bit of scrambling, it’s a ton of fun!

The Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail was the best hike in Palm Springs we did on our family trip. It’s roughly a 50-minute drive away from Palm Springs in the Mecca Hills Wilderness, but it’s worth the effort.

The Ladder Canyon hike begins as you walk into the mouth of a wide canyon with towering walls on both sides. The easy, flat start is good for kids who want to burn some energy, though you’ll still want to keep them close in the canyon.

Shortly, a big arrow made of rocks will point towards the canyon wall; this is where Ladder Canyon trail begins. A short scramble up some rocks takes you to an alcove, where you’ll reach the first of several ladders.

The first leg of the Ladder Canyon hike is through a very tight slot canyon with lots of twists and turns. It’s a ton of fun to walk through, but the fun gets even better when you come across one of the many metal ladders you need to climb to keep going. Don’t worry, most of the ladders are pretty short, with the tallest being about 15 rungs or so.

Eventually, you emerge from Ladder Canyon onto a ridge with incredible views in all directions. The Painted Canyon is on your right, the Salton Sea is behind you, with other canyons and mountains everywhere else you look. You’ll hike along this ridge for a couple more miles before heading back down through the Painted Canyon.

The Painted Canyon gets its name from the colorful rocks you’ll find within. There’s plenty of pink quartz, green rocks, purple rocks and tons of a black and white combination which looks like it was splattered on the canyon walls. The hike down Painted Canyon is pretty easygoing, with only a couple of ladders to contend with.

What to Wear Hiking in Palm Springs

Based on our many years of hiking with kids, we have developed a list of the essential gear for hiking with kids. If you are wondering what to wear for these easy hikes in Palm Springs, there are a couple of items that many hikers wear: wide brim sun hats and 1 or 2 hiking poles.

Outside of that, most people hiking in Palm Springs wear comfortable athletic wear (shorts, t-shirts, etc).

The trail surface on these easy hikes in Palm Springs is often a dirt and gravel mix, which can get slippery at times, especially when going downhill. The hiking poles will help with this, but we also recommend a good pair of hiking shoes with decent grip as we found sneakers were a little too slippery on the gravel.

Before you head out, read our best tips for hiking with kids and see what we actually pack in our guide to hiking gear for kids.

Our Palm Springs and Joshua Tree Family Trip

We enjoyed these easy hikes in Palm Springs on our two-week family trip to the Southern California desert. During our vacation we enjoyed visiting Palm Springs with kids, before heading out of town to enjoy the best things to do in Joshua Tree National Park with kids.

We hope you enjoy these kid-friendly Palm Springs hiking trails as much as we did!

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