Shadow Hills RV Resort

A quarter of an hour’s drive away, the Coachella Valley Preserve is a perfect introduction to the landscape and the walking trails; take the Pushwalla Palms circular route for a high ridge experience giving views of the San Andreas Fault whilst spotting coyotes, bobcats and horned owls en route.

For even more dramatic surrounds, the Painted Canyon and Ladder Canyon trails start just outside Mecca, half an hour away. At times, entering the canyons on wooden ladders or squeezing yourself down narrow slots, you feel as if you’re underground, until everything suddenly opens up and you could be the only person underneath a massive sky. Equally good on the visuals, two deserts converge with alien rock formations and eccentric foliage throughout the Joshua Tree National Park, also half an hour away.

If you want the vistas without the blisters, take a half-hour drive to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, for a cable car ride taking you two and a half miles over Chino canyon and into the Mount San Jacinto National Park. If you prefer, you can walk up to the mountain's 11,000-foot summit, or link up with the Pacific Crest Trail, a hiking route stretching from Canada to Mexico.

The border (with Mexico) is around an hour and three quarters away if you’re heading onwards, and it’s two hours to Los Angeles and the ocean.