Say Coachella Valley, and it’s likely you’ll think of music concerts, golf courses, gated communities, swank hotels and endless shopping.
The cities along the valley’s Highway 111, having grown exponentially in recent decades, are now known as the Palm Springs Metro Area. Rush-hour traffic and congested parking lots, especially during high season, are not uncommon.
Thank goodness for the 1,200 serene acres that are the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert. This well-designed oasis supports 1,200 species of desert flora and 600 animals (150 species) native to the deserts of North America, Africa and Australia.
We arrive on an early-March weekday morning and are pleasantly surprised that we encounter large animals not far from the entry gate. We get within a few feet of several of the zoo’s 10 giraffes, thanks to an elevated platform where visitors’ outstretched hands offer leafy greens to these strangely graceful creatures. In the background, additional giraffes roam the palm-tree studded landscape.
“The romaine lettuce that visitors feed the giraffes is mostly water,” says a longtime volunteer docent. “We don’t want them eating calorie-rich food. That would be a problem.”
The day is warm but there are ample benches and shade throughout the park’s three sections: African Safari, Australian Adventure and Wild Americas.
It’s difficult to leave the giraffes, but we’ve got ground to cover. We have yet to see more of the zoo’s residents: black rhinos, zebras, wolves, mountain lions, cheetahs, foxes, desert tortoises, warthogs, bighorn sheep and so many more.
And speaking of the usually elusive bighorn sheep…
Unlike the many times I’ve scanned desert and mountainous landscapes in futile attempts to spot just one bighorn sheep, visiting the Living Desert made it embarrassingly easy to see them. After easily spotting a half-dozen sheep on top of Bighorn Mountain, we gather at the base and watch several sheep trot right past.
Easy viewing also is available through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Bighorn Café, where you can watch these amazing animals deftly pick their way down steep, rocky slopes that few humans could navigate.
Still high from our up-close encounter with the bighorn sheep, we unexpectedly discover the Bighorn Railroad, a masterful presentation of miniature landscapes that weave through 3,300 feet of model railroad track. It is believed to be the largest outdoor, G-scale railroad in existence, and it underwent a total revamp in 2024.
I’ve never had a desire to get involved with model railroading, but I’m endlessly fascinated by them. This Bighorn Railroad layout can support up to 18 trains running simultaneously over intricate trestles, around giant boulders, across water features, and through tunnels and tiny landscapes representing nine nearby desert cities.
Also included in the layout are the mountain town of Idyllwild, Joshua Tree National Park and Twentynine Palms Marine Base. The miniature, detailed buildings, stores, tiny trucks and landscaping features are mesmerizing and the cherry on top of our visit.
If you go: Plan at least four to five hours for your visit, wear a hat and sunscreen, and bring ample water.
The Living Desert also is involved in 80 animal conservation and environmental projects around the world, including conservation initiatives in the Mongolian Gobi Desert and saving black rhinos in South Africa. Zoo personnel also work with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and others to protect and propagate desert tortoises.
For a sneak peek of some of the animals at the zoo, go to the website and click on “Live Cams.”
