California Desert’s Thousand Palms Oasis as “Nobody” has ever seen it before until… NOW!

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In 1905, visionary stock rancher Louis Wilhelm traded two mules and a buckboard wagon for the Thousands Palm Oasis, an 80-acre jewel of land in the heart of the Southern California desert. But even he didn’t see it like this…

“Whatever it will become,” Wilhelm said, “it is too beautiful to belong to one man.”

Standing in a grove of giant California fan palms, their stately trunks soar as high as 60 feet; their grass skirts remain still as a hula dancer at rest on this bright windless morning in early spring.Take a deep breath, close your eyes and lift your face to the shaft of sunlight peeking through the majestic canopy of palm fronds. Everything is silent, save for the birdsong and precocious white-tailed jackrabbits and lizards hopping and skittering amid the jungle-like desert brush.

That’s one way to see it. Here’s another, that nobody has ever seen until… Now in Richard Shelton’s “Shredding the Palm Oasis” Epic 280 Video!

You can find this oasis in the Thousand Palms Canyon of the Coachella Valley Preserve. This now nearly 20,000 acre Preserve, is so close and yet far enough away to immerse yourself in the beauty and solitude of the magnificent Coachella Valley desert.

From the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard to the Desert Pupfish, both endangered species found nowhere else on earth, the Coachella Valley Preserve serves as a sanctuary for a countless array of indigenous desert flora and fauna.

Many can be spotted from the vast network of trails—more than 25 miles—that weave through rugged wide canyons and lush palm oases, desert washes, riparian forests and majestic sand dunes. Part of the Preserve’s unique geological features stems from its location atop the San Andreas Fault, the most famous and visible fault of its kind in the world.

For those who want to experience the magnificence of the Preserve without undertaking a strenuous trek, make your way to the McCallum Trail adjacent to the rustic, log cabin-style Visitor Center. This two-mile round trip adventure will take you through a palm oasis, across the Fault zone, through a desert wash to the McCallum Oasis, one of the largest groves of desert fan palms in California.

There, the McCallum Pond serves as refuge for the Desert Pupfish. When you go, be sure to stop at the Visitor Center to pick up a trails map, learn more about the history of the Preserve, and check out the fascinating “touch” displays for kids filled with rocks and fascinating artifacts found on the Preserve.

The Preserve and trails are open-year round; the Visitors Center is closed June, July and August. — Jan Maguire edited by CoachellaValley.com

Getting There – From Palm Desert: take Monterey Avenue to Ramon Rd., then go east on Ramon Rd. for 3.4 miles to Thousand Palms Canyon Rd. Turn left onto Thousand Palms Canyon Rd. and go for 2.0 miles to the entrance of the Coachella Valley Preserve, which will be on the left side of the road. www.coachellavalleypreserve.org.