Coachella Valley Preserve

Palm Desert, CA - I hate to keep repeating myself but today was sunny skies with temps in the 70's

Entrance to the Preserve

Spent this morning doing our regular routine followed by a brisk walk and some exercise.  After lunch we drove over to Desert Pools RV Resort to visit with Tony and Mieke.  We invited them for a drive to Thousand Palms Oasis in the Coachella Valley Preserve.  This was our first visit and didn't know what to expect.  This is a place you must see for its raw beauty and over 25 miles of hiking trails.  McCallum Pond is home of the Desert Pupfish, a minnow-like fish that now occurs naturally in only two creeks that feed into the Salton Sea.  The non-native talapia have nearly eliminated the pupfish from their natural habitat and this pond is a refuge for the species.

Tony, Mieke and Denis along the boardwalk

We opted for a stroll along the McCallum Trail which is a 2-mile round trip through a palm oasis, across an earthquake fault zone (San Andreas Fault) and through a desert wash, ending at McCallum Pond.  The point of departure is the Thousand Palms Oasis which is one of the largest groves of desert fan palms in California.  Some of the larger trees may be 150 years old.

The preserve is only 10 minutes away from our park and we are planning on exploring some of those 25 miles of hiking trails while we're here.

The fan palm in the background is so pretty

I think this is a 4-inch banded gecko - can anyone confirm?

The palm fonds are home to spiders, snakes, lizards and rodents