I visited Coachella Valley Preserve at New Year’s Eve 2014 with my wife and wrote an article about it in Finnish. On January 12th 2020 was a time to revisit the area as it is so unusual as a nature preserve sitting on San Andreas Fault in the valley. The location allows at some places dense vegetation and also ponds. There are several trails around the area – and everything for free.
First thing we realized was that ponds were closed for public for restoration. A lady at the Visitor Center told us about some of the history of the area with homesteaders tens of years ago populating the area and also starting to grow crayfish and later also tilapia, which destroyed all native pupfish. About three years ago the efforts to restore the original pubfish into the ponds started and later also USC joined the project, which now has emptied the ponds from water and the non-native species to a reserve and since 2019 July there has been no crayfish in the ponds. The plan is to start populating the ponds with desert pupfish this year.
Even though the ponds are now closed the area is worth a visit. Ground around the Visitor Center is really damp as the fault contains water which seeps to ground surface and this allows heavy vegetation of bushes and also numerous native palms to grow. First part of the trails go through a real jungle-like area and for example the McCallum Trail goes eventually higher to really dry area called Moon Country. Hill formations and views around the valley are really great. No wonder the parking lot was very busy 😉
I truly suggest a visit to the area, which you can reach from Ramon Road’s eastern end turning north to Thousand Palms Canyon Road. The attached photos with text give some idea about what to expect.
