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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: Coachella Valley Preserve


The Coachella Valley Preserve is located 10 miles east of Palm Springs in the bluffs and mesas of the Indio Hills. It is a 17,000 acre site that is home to the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard, which is found nowhere else in the world. It is also home of the spectacular Thousand Palm Oasis which is fed by water seeping out of the San Andreas Fault. There are also several other Palm Oases, including the Willis, Hidden Horseshoe, and Indian Palms.

Located in the center is the Paul Wilhelm Grove that is also the location of the Preserve's visitor's center. The preserve has several hiking trails including the McCallum, Hidden Palms, Moon Country, Pushawalla Palms, and Willis Palms trails.

The Coachella Valley Preserve is just east of the San Bernardino mountains, which includes snow-covered Mt San Gorgonio which at 11503 feet is the tallest mountain in southern California.  These mountains are the dividing line between the desert and the coastal area, which receives much more rain.
Coachella Valley Preserve has the McCallum water oasis The 20,000 acre preserve is bisected by the San Andreas fault, and this natural phenomenon results in a series of springs and seeps which support plants and animals which couldn't otherwise live in this environment, such as the California fan palms in the Willis Palm Grove.

The McCallum grove spring is home for several types of wildlife, including tiny freshwater crayfish called red swamp crayfish, and desert pupfish.   I doubt whether the crayfish are native to the spring, and the pupfish certainly aren't.  The pupfish are in danger of extinction because their only natural habitat consists of two creeks which feed into the Salton Sea, an area with invasive species introduced by humans and pollution from the intensive horticulture in the area.  To give them a better chance, the pupfish were introduced into the spring, which previously had no fish of its own.

For thousands of years, particles of sand from the San Bernardino Mountains and Indio Hills washed into the Coachella Valley, forming a system of dunes. Desert sand dunes harbor one of the most species rich communities found in our southwestern deserts, with many of the dune systems including various unique species found only on those dunes.
Today, these dunes are part of the Coachella Valley Preserve System, a 20,000-acre sanctuary that is home to several species of increasingly rare wildlife. The Coachella Valley Preserve system was designed to protect an endemic, threatened animal, the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard. Found nowhere else in the world, fringe-toed lizards are among those that thrive on the dunes. They get their name from elongate scales on the toes of their hind feet that look like fringes. The Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard depends on this unusual desert for survival, and "swims" through the sand to escape predators or summer heat of the desert surface.

Four other unique wildlife species can also be found here: the Coachella roundtailed ground squirrel, the giant red velvet mite, the flat-tailed horned lizard and the giant palm-boring beetle.

Other animals include black-tailed jackrabbits, bobcats, and sidewinders. Reptiles may be seen in the summer. Spring through fall for fish is the best time to look for fish in the pools.
Coachella Valley Preserve is the home of the Coachella Valley fringe toed lizard More than 183 bird species have been recorded here, including Gambel's quail, black-throated sparrows, phainopeplas, black-tailed gnatcatchers and American bitterns. Cactus wrens nest among the chollas. Year-round, visitors can view songbirds, upland birds and birds of prey. Spring and fall are good times to view songbirds.

There are three main trails for hiking and nature watching. The Pushawalla Palms trail is the most strenuous of the trails. Climbing from the desert floor just east of the visitors center, this trail follows an uplifted section of the Mission Creek Fault, which is part of the San Andreas Fault system. At the end of the trail is Pushawalla Palms oasis, which is located in a deep canyon carved into the Indio Hills.

 It is about a six mile round trip hike, so be sure to take plenty of water and wear proper shoe and clothing. The Hidden Palms trail is about 3-5 miles long depending on the route you take, but you are rewarded with a beautiful view of the oasis, and the Coachella Valley! The Willis Palms trail is  the easiest of the trail, but it is still a 4-5 mile hike, so be prepared!
The preserve offers many opportunities to investigate the intricacies of sand dune ecology and the long term success of the preserve in protecting that ecosystem.

To reach the Coachella Valley Preserve, take Interstate 10 to the Ramon Road exit. Turn left and follow Ramon Road and make a left turn on Thousand Palms Road.

The entrance to the visitors center is located about two miles on the left. At the visitors center you can get a guide for the Coachella Valley Preserve which gives the hiker valuable information on the trail, plant and wildlife, geology of the area, and a history of the area.

The Coachella Valley preserve is open daily from sunrise to sunset. They do ask that you plan your time so you are out of the parking lot by sundown.
 
 
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