Oasis in the Desert

Jill's Journal: Doesn’t the thought of an oasis in the desert conjure up images of some exotic foreign spot, perhaps in Arabia or the Sahara? And, of course, the additional image of a weary, parched traveler desperately crawling toward it in a last-ditch effort for a drink of life-sustaining water?

Much to our surprise, we found there’s a place near Thousand Palms, right here in California, which boasts not one, but two oases (and although it was hotter than Hades, we didn’t even have to crawl, completely parched, to get there).

A visit to the Coachella Valley Preserve starts seemingly in the middle of nowhere, with a dusty parking lot and a tiny visitor’s center. And then, a few steps beyond the visitor’s center, one is thrust into the Thousand Palms Oasis. The native fan palm trees are amazing and absolutely huge – can you spot the girls in the photo above for a comparison of their size?

It almost feels like a jungle, especially with the vast community of birds calling it home and constantly “talking” and flying about. But wait. One doesn’t have the full effect of an oasis yet.

To truly appreciate an oasis, one must first hike through desert that looks like this (in blazing heat, of course).

And this. Can you see the next oasis in the distance, that group of trees?

Dripping with sweat, we annihilated several bottles of water on the way. There were plenty of lizards to spot too, by far the girls’ favorite part of the hike.

Almost there! Madelyn triumphantly rested in the shade for a few moments while waiting for her sisters to catch up. She’s our champion hiker.

And then we were rewarded with this: McCallum Oasis. It’s smaller than the first one, but absolutely gorgeous with a stunning natural pond. The clear, strikingly green water is an astounding feast for the eyes given the desert surroundings. An oasis has an almost otherworldly feel in a hot desert. They’re 20 to 30 degrees cooler than open desert, have a cool breeze, and are so lush. What an amazing respite and contrast to the desert all around.

What is the cause of these oases in the desert? The answer is simple but perhaps unsettling. In this case, the oases are clustered on a branch of the massive San Andreas Fault, cause of so many earthquakes. The fault creates an underground dam; the water surfaces where gaps in the earth’s plates force the water up in the form of springs. Voila! An oasis. The fan palms need wet soil to survive.

Although it was only two or 2 1/2 miles long and hotter than blazes, this was seriously one of my favorite hikes we’ve ever done because it was so unique and the reward so beautiful.