A Palm Oasis in the California Desert

Deep in the California desert, behind the Salton Sea, in the driest, most desolate habitat is a palm oasis. The desert basin was once an inland sea, Lake Cahuilla, surrounded by a fringe of palms. The lake survived until relatively recent times, as evidenced by ancient fish traps you can see in the now dry desert. The only evidence left are these little palm oasis remnants that have survived around an isolated spring here, a low spot in a creek there.

This was actually a visit or work, I went out to map the vegetation of the oasis and surrounding marsh lands. I'd suggest visiting in the winter, in the summer the heat can be unbearable- one of the hottest spots in Southern California. Even in December it was over 90F.

The oasis is now a park, run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). You can drive out to a parking lot and walk in. I don't believe you can camp there, because the area is so sensitive to disturbance, but a series of trails runs through the largest oasis, and it's easy to traverse the open desert landscape to access the rest.