With all the chic midcentury galleries and groovy tiki bars populating Palm Springs’ downtown, you could easily spend a weekend hunting for Eames chairs and sipping retro cocktails. Browse and brunch all you want — no one will judge. But sooner or later, you’ll glance up at the furrowed hills that hug the city and feel an urge for something wilder.

The desert does that.

Tucked into an abutment of the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountain ranges, the Coachella Valley offers a wealth of wildness. Beyond the manicured golf courses south of Palm Springs lie 35,000 acres of rugged desert, the ancestral home of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. More than 60 miles of trails ramble through four canyons, where bighorn sheep clatter across the hillsides and glistening waterfalls appear like a revelation.

To the south, the San Andreas Fault knifes through the Mecca Hills, exposing the earth’s skeleton. Footpaths lead through colorful canyons formed by the mighty forces of plate tectonics, water, wind and time. And on the Coachella Valley’s north side, seismic activity has forced underground water to the surface to create wetlands, marshes and ponds at the 17,000-acre Coachella Valley Preserve.

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Blooming desert wildflowers served as the perfect backdrop for Friends of the Desert Mountains to receive the $25,000 Coachella Valley Spotlight grant from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation. Each year more than 20,000 valley residents and visitors enjoy the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center, off Highway 74, and hiking trails, which the organization supports.

Friends of the Desert Mountains recognizes the ever-increasing popularity of the Coachella Valley hiking trails among residents and visitors, and aims to improve safety, usability, and the enjoyment of the entire trail system. Grant funds will benefit the organization’s Trail Stewardship Program.

“We plan to use a portion of the grant proceeds to enhance the Ed Hastey Trail, which is the trail accessible to strollers and wheelchairs, to include tactile and other sensory experiences specifically designed for those with vision, hearing, and other sensory impairments,” said Tammy Martin, Executive Director of Friends of the Desert Mountains.

Friends of the Desert Mountains maintains more than 500 miles of recreational, hiking, biking, equestrian trails in the Coachella Valley. Although much of the work for the program is carried out by volunteers, the program incurs costs associated with the upkeep and replacement of tools, sign and exhibit printing, signposts and associated materials, and staff time related to coordination and design.

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Discovered flower-clad yucca and wildflowers, and discover a fan palm oasis and an alpine wilderness high above the desert floor.

Two different ecosystems, the Mojave and Colorado deserts, meet in Joshua Tree National Park, resulting in a large number of plants and landforms sculpted by strong winds across this 794,000-acre park. The Mojave sits on the western side at 4,000 feet above sea level, and it’s home to forests of the whimsical, spiky Joshua tree, a star attraction in itself.

Hike the Maze Loop Trail, a see-all-the-park-features circuit that begins near the park’s west entrance and leads through stands of Yucca brevifolia or Joshua trees, with its treelike trunk and spiky, prickly branches all akimbo. Some bear clusters of white, waxy flowers, ready to bloom. Each tree is distinctive.

Scramble over strange rock formations and through desert washes and slot canyons to reach a maze of high walls and twisting canyons. Here, granite rock piles look like someone stacked them to resemble an eagle’s head or a recumbent Snoopy.

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Philip Ferranti, founder of the Coachella Valley, CA Hiking Club and author of “140 Hikes In and Near Palm Springs,”echoes Wilde’s thoughts: “Spiritually, hiking can take us on the journey inwards where we discover our inner strengths and calm centers … Hiking tells us that indeed we are united to the whole of life, plant and animal. This ‘prayer-in-motion,’ a hike, at best offers us a space and time to discover and connect to what really matters.”

The Palm Springs chapter of Great Outdoors benefits from the region’s inherent natural attractions. According to Ferranti, nowhere in the Lower 48 can you find more hiking trails (more than 140) or trail miles (more than 1,250) than within the 60-mile-plus radius around Palm Springs. This section of the Colorado Desert hosts a concentrated diversity of topography and flora, with elevations from 11,000-plus feet to below sea level. The traditional hiking season runs from October to May, but whisk up on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in the middle of summer, and you’ll find cool Alpine conditions that make hiking possible year-round.

Moreover, the region around the Coachella Valley is home to five state parks and recreation areas, three national wildlife preserves, and one humungous (1,240-square-mile) Joshua Tree National Park. In 2000, more than 272,000 acres of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains on the eastern flank of the Coachella Valley were deemed a national monument, the second-largest in the state.

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