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A pleasant family oriented hike at the base of the San Jacinto mountains, just a few miles from Palm Springs. One minute you are in a desert city and the next you are in an oasis of lush vegetation from the water from the mountain. In Frank Capra's movie "lost horizons", it is called "shangrilla". The scene where the plane crash survivors meet under a water fall was shot here.

The canyon is owned and maintained by the Agua Caliente group from the Cahuilla tribe of native Indians.
http://www.aguacaliente.org/default.aspx/?tabid=36
http://www.palmsprings.com/points/canyon/
I went there before the rains and the waterfall was dry. Basically it was a 60 foot trickle. I'm planning on going back next spring.

The hike itself was only a couple of miles but the first half is almost straight up hill. You overlook the palm desert area from the entrance to the canyon then over the hill you are in the middle of a wonderful forest. Getting back is a little easier and the visitors center shows you a 10 minute video about the legend behind the canyon.

According to the legend; Centuries ago, a great shaman misused his powers and was kicked out of the tribe. Now he resides in the canyon, just waiting for someone to wander lost in the canyon so he can eat their souls. According to the elders of the tribe, people have been found dead sitting on a rock, killed by the Shaman who consumed their souls. In fact, his evil powers are what causes bad things to happen in the area, from lightning storms to car accidents. So the next time you get a ticket in Palm Springs, you know who to blame.

Another, more recent, story is about how it was abused for three decades. Basically, the canyon was taken over by the hippies and the homeless and used as both the ultimate crash and party site. Then the local indian tribe kicked them out, threw out the trash and removed the graffiti from the rocks. So much for the idea that the flower children of the times were all for nature. So anyways, the tribe opened it up only for guided tours, but later let the public use it.

Click here for a good article on it at the Orange County Register.