Palm Springs with Kids

Author: Dan Brewer

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Looking for a fun and easy place for a family vacation? You will love a trip to Palm Springs with your kids. Blessed with palm trees and blue skies, family-friendly Palm Springs is a charming, small city with a pleasant desert climate.

There’s plenty of great things to do in Palm Springs with kids and loads of kid-friendly restaurants. Plus, most of the Palm Springs locals are active retirees, who simply love kids and will make yours feel welcome and special.

image of two kids hiking in Palm Springs

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We visited the Palm Springs with our kids (aged 4 & 6) for two weeks in February. Here is what you need to know about taking a family vacation to Palm Springs with kids:

Getting into Palm Springs with Kids

image of cactus along Palm Canyon to Victor Loop Trail near Palm Springs

Unless you are simply visiting grandparents, most families visiting Palm Springs will need a rental car. Palm Springs is a small city, but it’s spread out and it takes a while to get from place-to-place.

There are nine car rental companies operating out of the Palm Springs International Airport. It pays to shop around for the best deal, so using a comparison service like Rentalcars.com is a good idea. We ended up getting a cool black Jeep through Budget.

image of rental car in Palm Springs

We like the flexibility and freedom a rental car gives us, but we are not comfortable with the fact that most rental car companies will not guarantee the availability of a rental child seat.

We also don’t like the risk of bringing our own heavy convertible child seats on airplanes, so we bought some inexpensive high-back booster seats to use in our rental car.

If your kids need car seats and you are also not comfortable bringing your own, check out our Traveling with Car Seats post for more ideas.

If you don’t need a rental car or child seats, it’s super easy to grab a taxi, Uber or Lyft at the airport.

Where to Stay in Palm Springs with Family

image of hotel pool in Palm Springs with Kids

Due to a mix-up at our main hotel, we spent our first night in Palm Springs at the Renaissance Esmerelda Resort in Indian Wells.

The Renaissance Esmerelda was a much fancier hotel and we made the most of it by having an amazing buffet breakfast in their Cava restaurant. It was quite possibly one of the best hotel buffet breakfasts we’d ever had. Our kids still talk about it over a year later!

We stayed the following four nights at the Courtyard by Mariott – Palm Desert. It was a perfectly good family hotel in Palm Springs at a reasonable price in a good location, but to be honest, it was hard not the think of the Renaissance – ha-ha.

Despite the mix-up on our first night, we enjoyed our stay the Courtyard. By our standards, it was a good Palm Springs hotel for kids, with a good à la carte breakfast and a heated outdoor pool and hot tub.

image of girl swimming in pool at hotel in Palm Springs

For more ideas on where to stay in Palm Springs with your family, check-out the Top Picks for Families on Booking.com.

We’ve started staying at kid-friendly hotels a bit more now that our kids are getting older; primarily because they love free hotel breakfasts. But typically, we stay in vacation rentals through Airbnb or VRBO as we find them way better for families.

Vacation rentals are a great place to stay in Palm Springs with your family. You can find places with separate bedrooms, a kitchen and laundry facilities.

If, like us, you’d prefer a vacation rental, read our tips to find a great Airbnb for your family, then check out the available kid-friendly Palm Springs vacation rentals.

4 Day Palm Springs Itinerary with Kids

A trip to Palm Springs with kids is a popular family vacation destination for so many reasons. There’s world class golfing, a vibrant arts scene, abundant outlet shopping and tons of fantastic restaurants.

We were drawn to Palm Springs for its beautiful mountain desert scenery, active, outdoor lifestyle and its many attractions that are kid friendly. A Palm Springs family vacation is a great choice!

image of colorful chairs at the Living Desert Zoo Palm Springs
image of two kids hiking cross loop trail in Palm springs which is a kid friendly things to do in palm springs

Palm Springs Family Photoshoot

A family photoshoot is an excellent way to preserve memories from your trip! Get $25 off your first Flytographer photo shoot.

Here’s how we spent our four days in Palm Springs with kids:

Day 1

Hiking the Cross Loop Trail

image of family hiking in Palm Springs on Cross Loop Trail

With impressive mountains all around and health-conscious residents, it’s no surprise there are an abundance of hiking trails around Palm Springs. We love urban hiking on our holidays and feel that hiking is one of the best things for kids to do in Palm Springs.

We have an entire post full of all our best tips for hiking with kids and this one with all the best hiking gear for kids.

After checking out of the Renaissance Esmerelda Resort, we drove to the nearby mountains on the southwest edge of Palm Springs for a short kid-friendly hike. We had read about the Cross Loop Trail in our inflight magazine on the flight down and thought it sounded like a fun thing to do.

image of two kids on Cross Loop trail in Palm Springs

The Palm Desert Cross is a large Catholic Cross which sits on the top of a hill at the edge of Palm Springs. The hike up to the Palm Desert Cross is a very popular activity for locals and visitors alike who are looking for a scenic, kid-friendly hike around Palm Springs.

image of mother and son walking up to cross on Cross Loop Hiking Trail in Palm Springs

The Cross Loop Trail is 3.4 miles (5.5km) long and has 775 feet (237m) of elevation gain. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes of moving time to complete this kid-friendly hike.

For more details on the Palm Desert Cross Loop Trail, see our full blog post.

Day 2

The Living Desert Zoo and the Wilderness Loop Trail

image of two kids looking at hedgehog at Zoo in Palm Springs

When we asked our friends what to do in Palm Springs with kids, they recommended the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens.

We don’t typically visit zoos when we travel, but once we read the Living Desert Zoo was named one of the 10 Best Zoos in the United States and that it has some of the best hiking in Palm Springs, we were in!

We began our visit to The Living Desert Zoo by exploring the African side. We were happy to see all the enclosures were large and efforts have been made to create natural habitats for the animals.

image of giraffe feeding at Living Desert Zoo in Palm Springs

The giraffe exhibit at the Palm Springs zoo has a viewing platform which provides a fun opportunity to see them at face level. Upon our arrival, there were at least seven giraffes at the viewing platform along with many kudu antelopes and ostriches.

We were going to pay extra to give our kids the chance to feed the giraffes, but sadly the tower of giraffes had moved on and there were no giraffes to feed.

There were many other favorite animals in the African exhibits including warthogs, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, zebras, African wild dogs, meerkats and Oryx.

We were pretty lucky with our sightings as most animals were awake and active. There’s also a fun little petting zoo where kids can use hand brushes to pet small goats.

image of kids looking at cheetah at Living Desert Zoo in Palm Springs
image of girl petting goat in petting zoo at Living Desert Zoo Palm Springs

The Living Desert Wilderness Loop Trail begins at the transition point between the African and North American exhibits.

After visiting the entire African exhibits, we took a break from the animals and went on a very enjoyable, highly scenic Living Desert hike.

See our Wilderness Loop Trail blog post for more details.

image of mother and daughter looking at sign along Wilderness Loop Trail in Palm Springs
image of girl hiking Wilderness Loop Trail in Palm Springs

We finished our day with the North American side of the Palm Springs zoo. We rewarded the kids for their excellent hiking with a ride on the carousel before venturing off to see the animals. We saw bald and golden eagles, a mountain lion, bobcat, desert lynx, a huge badger and a Mexican wolf.

image of child on carousel at Living Desert Zoo in Palm Springs California

The Palm Springs Living Desert Zoo is filled with beautiful well labeled gardens and also has a huge outdoor model train section, which our son loved. Sadly, it was late in the day and no trains were operating.

Day 3

Hiking Palm Canyon to the Victor Loop

image of kids hiking in desert fan palms in Palm Canyon Palm Springs

Indian Canyons is a beautiful place with lots of kid-friendly hiking just south of the Palm Springs Airport. The reserve is open to the public, allowing us to enjoy the natural beauty of their lands with our kids.

image of kids crossing steam along Palm Canyon Trail Palm Springs

The Palm Canyon hike in the Agua Caliente Reservation is one of the best things to do in Palm Springs with kids. The Palm Canyon hike is an easy walk which follows a lazy stream through one of the largest palm tree oasis’ in the world.

As the name suggests, the towering palm trees rest in the valley of a canyon, providing a wonderful amount of midday shade on a hot day.

We hiked along the beautiful Palm Canyon trail for 1.6 miles (2.5km) and we could have continued onwards, but we elected to go back to the Agua Caliente Trading Post via the Victor Loop, which climbs up one of the canyon walls.

It doesn’t take much climbing on the Victor Loop trail to get a beautiful view of the palm oasis below, along with the towering snowcapped mountains in the distance.

image of kids looking down at Palm Oasis from Victor Loop Trail in Palm Springs

Learn more about the Palm Canyon Trail and the Victor Trail.

Day 4

Hiking Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail

image of two kids at the ladder in the Ladder Canyon Palm Springs

The Mecca Hills Wilderness is home to the Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail; one of the best hikes around Palm Springs. The Mecca Hills Wilderness is about a 50-minute drive south-east from Palm Desert, but it’s worth the effort.

The Ladder Canyon is a hike up a towering, narrow slot canyon. There are several spots where you need to climb a metal ladder to continue along the path.

Our kids loved getting to climb ladders on a hike and ran at top speed running through the tight, winding path of the slot canyon.

image of girl climbing ladder along Ladder Canyon Palm Springs

After a couple of miles, you ascend to the top of the canyon and walk atop the canyon wall looking down on the Painted Canyon Trail. The views of the surrounding canyons and distant mountains are pretty epic too.

image of two kids eating a snack along Ladder Canyon trail in Palm Springs

The walk back to the Ladder Canyon trailhead takes you through the Painted Canyon Trail. As you’d imagine the canyon is filled with colorful rocks; pinks, greens, purple and lots of black and white marble.

It’s a beautiful sight, especially when the sun is able to reach down into the Painted Canyon to shine on the colorful rocks.

The Painted Canyon walls are massive, and despite the canyon being quite narrow, it never becomes a narrow slot canyon like Ladder Canyon. There are a couple of ladders to climb down on this leg of the hike as well.

image of walking in canyon along Painted Canyon trial in Palm Springs

This was certainly the most unique Palm Springs kids activities we did during our trip! Learn more in our full blog post on Hiking the Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail near Palm Springs.

Ideas to Extend Your Palm Springs Family Vacation

image of kids walking at Disneyland

Our Palm Springs family vacation didn’t end after 4 days. We spent the next 4 days enjoying unique landscapes and hiking in Joshua Tree National Park with kids.

And of course, no visit to Palm Springs with kids would be complete without visiting Disneyland and Legoland, both of which are so close and so good, it’d be a shame to not take advantage. On a subsequent family trip to Southern California, we bought Express Passes for Universal Studios Hollywood and had an excellent time!

image of boy at Legoland California

Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Palm Springs

We try to seek out highly rated, family friendly restaurants when we travel. Here are the kid-friendly Palm Springs restaurants we visited. We list them in order of our favorites first.

1. Grill-A-Burger: According to all the awards framed on the wall, this local institution has won the “Best Burger” in Palm Springs about a bazillion times. It has also been featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

We got to Grill-a-Burger a little before 5:00 and we’re glad we did because it was lined up out the door shortly afterwards.

I got the Mexican themed Pancho Villa burger, while Celine had the blue-cheese themed “Code Blue Orgasmic Burger”. We had garlic fries and onion rings on the side.

The kids each had a humongous hot dog and fries. The service was fast, the food was fresh and hot and best of all, it was all very delicious.

We came back to Grill-a-Burger a second time on our final night in Palm Springs. The kids earned a good meal after hiking the Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail, so when they asked for hot dogs again, we were happy to oblige.

image of hamburger from Grill-a-burger in Palm Springs

2. Island Boka Sushi Poke: Our daughter was bugging us to go for sushi since we arrived in Palm Springs. We love sushi so we easily gave in to her demands. Island Boka Sushi Poke was a 5-minute drive from our Palm Desert hotel and had decent reviews, so we gave it a try.

This Palm Desert sushi restaurant is pretty casual and the staff are very friendly. The sushi and tempura we ordered were very good and our kids ate their fill, even our picky 4-year-old!

We enjoyed the Mango Tango rolls and the Philadelphia rolls the best. We liked everything about our visit to Island Boka Suski Poke, except the bill – it was very expensive. We didn’t eat a ton, but it was the most expensive meal of our whole trip.

image of sushi at places to eat in Palm Springs with Kids

3. Maracas Mexican Cantina & Grill: We love Mexican food, so whenever we are in the southern USA near the border, we always look for a good Mexican feast. As a bonus, Mexican is one of the foods we can count on our kids eating when we eat out.

Maracas Mexican Cantina was well reviewed and near our hotel, so we gave it a shot. It was a nice, but simple Palm Springs Mexican restaurant with fun Latin music playing for ambience.

We were served a huge plate of tortilla chips and a large bowl of salsa as a complimentary appetizer – which we loved. The salsa was a bit spicy, but the kids didn’t mind.

The food was prepared very fast and within minutes of our order the food was on the table. We appreciate such fast service when we eat out with our kids.

The food was good, but admittedly, not great. It was Tex-Mex (not Mexican), which is fine, but there just wasn’t anything special about it. We all enjoyed our meals, but none of us raved about them either.

Decent food, lots of tortilla chips and fast service – overall, not a bad experience.

Palm Springs Smoothies and Acai Bowls

After one of our kid-friendly Palm Springs hikes, we stopped for a mid-afternoon treat and got smoothies at Fresh Juice Bar.

We got Desert Delight smoothies made from Coachella Valley Dates, while the kids split an Acai Smoothie (they got hooked on Acai during our recent trip to Colombia). The smoothies were very good and a great treat on a hot California afternoon.

Image of father and two kids drinking smoothies in Palm Springs

Our last meal in Palm Springs with our kids before hopping on our flight back to Canada was a simple, refreshing one. It was a hot day, but we were wearing our warmer clothes for our flight, so none of us wanted a hot meal. While window shopping in downtown Palm Springs, we stopped into Fruit Wonders for some Acai bowls.

It was a perfect choice; so refreshing and delicious. With a wide variety of additional toppings such as chia seeds and fresh fruit, it was surprisingly filling.

image of two kids at restaurant in Palm Springs

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image of two kids sitting eating a snack with text overlay of best things to do in Palm Springs with kids
Dan Brewer, co-owner of the Family Can Travel website, visits a food market in Tokyo, Japan with his son.
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Dan Brewer is an intrepid family travel blogger with a passion for exploring the world's most captivating destinations. With 58 countries under his belt and a sense of wanderlust that knows no bounds, he has made it his life's mission to share his travel experiences and insights with fellow families who love to travel.

When Dan isn't traveling with his wife and kids, he's either out enjoying the Canadian Rockies he calls home or working on one of his three travel sites (Family Can Travel, Travel Banff Canada and Ultimate Sports Road Trip).