Indian Canyon West Fork Trail

Wildflowers pretty much done for the season, still a nice hike winding up through rocks, cholla, and cactus. Stumbled upon a rattlesnake on the trail, but had no problem passing since it was busy with a chipmunk about 1/3 down its gullet.

The Agua Caliente Reservation is one of our favorite areas to hike in the Palm Springs Area. Although there isn’t anything technically hard about this hike it is a long, steady, consistent uphill. Our lungs and heart were happy to reach the top. Our shins were happy to reach the bottom. At the sign for Jo Pond we went right down to the river. It’s a nice break to cool off. We started about 8am, had a little shade behind some rocks going up, but none going done. Bring water and sunscreen. The views are great, wild flowers were in full bloom when we went. It was very quiet and peaceful. Only saw a few other hikers.

Best hike of the week. We’ve been hiking in the area for the last five days and this had been our favorite. The flowers are amazing right now and it’s a nice mellow climb to the top. Didn’t see a single other hiker. Highly recommend!!

Trail conditions are perfect now. Water levels make for easy stream crossings, wildflowers are everywhere and the cactus are blooming as well. We only saw one other group all day.

Incredible hiking conditions! Colorful flowers blooming and even the cactus flowers were out. We kept going and did the full loop which is roughly 10 miles. there was a nice river flowing as well!

Nice trail, for both hike and trail run, Keep in mind there's no shade. Not many want to hike as far so nice and quieter than other hikes around the area. $9 dollars to get into the reservation, good idea to arrive early and enjoy the most you can. I also did the Palm Canyon, Victor Loop and Andreas in the same day.

Nice out & back... as a bonus, we saw a small herd of mtn goats along the way!

Made this into a loop by doing the West Fork North Trail to the Coffman Trail and finally to the Alexander Trail (hot) to the Trading Post. Ended up being 8.4 miles with 2133' of elevation. This is a great trail to do in the Spring when the creek is running strong, the waterfall is raging, and the cactus and plants are in full bloom. One of my favorites in the desert. Link to recording: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/recording-oct-21-12-59-pm--3

A nice hike. Saw no one else on this trail; very quiet. Start off on the Palm Canyon trail and branch off at the trail sign about 1/4 mile or so from the trading post. Note that you need to pay a $9 per adult fee to enter this general area (Indian Canyons) as you are on Agua Caliente Indian lands. Entry area open from 8 AM to 5 PM (last vehicle allowed in at 4 PM. Website is indian-canyons.com

Excellent trail for a scenic view of the Indian Canyon area. A strenuous hike with the first mile pretty aggressively climbing switchbacks, then the remaining 2 miles a shallower climb to the marker post. At the marker post, follow the trail to the right about 1/4 mile to the stream. It's a great place to have lunch and cool down before reversing your path for the decent.

This was an excellent hike. It doesn't take too long, but is uphill most of the way. The views get better with each step.

Trail head is behind the trading post, on the opposite side of the Palm Canyon trailhead.