On my last trip to Palm Springs we decided to venture over to Andreas Canyon for a short, toddler-friendly hike. In all of our years visiting Palm Springs we’ve never been here, mostly because “hiking” and “baby” don’t often mix (or if they do, they don’t end well).

Now that my daughter is three and is generally okay walking quite a bit on her own before demanding a ride, I figured it was a good time to try it, especially since our adventure options are fairly limited right now.

We set out on our hike in the AM since mid-day desert temps are easily over 110 degrees right now, but not so early that the sun wasn’t already pretty brutal. Andreas Canyon charges an admission to enter the land (there are several other hiking trails located in the same canyon) and once you enter it’s easy to follow signs to get to the proper parking lot and head out in the right direction.

One important note (although I’m not sure how/if this is enforced): there is a water minimum requirement per person. Andreas Canyon requires all people carry at least 16 ounces of water with them on this short one mile hike (and trust me, you’ll go through at least some of it).

The start of the trail is a magical palm oasis that looks like it’s straight out of a movie. I have never seen anything like it and instantly was happy about our decision to venture out. The trail then leads through the canyon past amazing rock formations and, the part I found the most stunning, the Andreas Creek. For the majority of the walk you’re right next to a beautiful creek and can easily hop off the trail and do some exploring by the water.

When you reach the end of the trail it crosses a little bridge and then leads back to the palm oasis but the return is not nearly as shady (actually it was boiling) but it isn’t too far so even with an exhausted 35-pound toddler dead-weighting on me, it was still manageable.

I really loved this hike and am eager to do it again on my next visit. I also plan on exploring some of the other hikes in the canyon although they seem slightly less toddler friendly.

Happy hiking!

- Callie