Sooner or later you will hear nature calling you, and you just have to put on those hiking boots and go. Never alone, but, in the company of your special man or a whole entourage, you will discover the immense pleasure of exploring our desert and the mountains around it.

The list on this page should include trails to suit any taste. Let it be known right away that the 75 trails featured are culled from an excellent book named "75 Great Hikes in and around Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley" by Philip Ferranti / Bruce Hagerman / Denice Hagerman. It details each trail and tells you exactly how to find it -- we strongly recommended you to buy it. Click here, and then click on "Search and Order Any Book or CD", and then enter "75 great hikes" and click on "Search", and then click on the book -- it's yours! This list alone can only give you an idea about what joy awaits you and your feet.

There are summer trails and there are winter trails. The summer trails are found high up in the mountains, where it is nice and comfortable in the summer but where cold and snow reigns during the winter. You find the winter trails down on or near the desert floor where it is nice and comfortable in the winter but where you, during the summer, would be much happier staying cool in the pool (or on a summer trail) than sweating it out in the hot desert wilderness.

Therefore, we present you with one list for winter and one for summer, and the best months for each individual trail is shown. Within each list, the trails are arranged by level of difficulty (and not by location). Use the numbers (trail length, time required, the ups and downs) in the list to find your best choice, and then just go to wherever the trail is and take a hike. Carry water (a quart for each three miles), a hat and sunglasses (the sun is strong), a map (specific for the trail or the Geological Survey), and whatever else you may need where there is nothing for sale.

The picture of your Webmaster was taken on a hike in October 1998 from the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway (altitude 8516 feet) to the top of Mount San Jacinto (altitude 10804 feet). The hot October day in the valley turned into a very windy experience on the top with the temperature in the 40's. It was tough standing still even for a few seconds in the howling wind on the top boulder of the world and it was good to be able to scuttle down into some warming clothes afterwards -- after all, it was necessary to survive in order to tell the story.

The area column uses the following codes:

• COA = Trails in the Coachella Preserve, the hills just north of La Quinta.
• DES = Trails just south of Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert.
• JTP = Trails in the Joshua Tree National Park, northeast of our desert.
• MEC = Trails in the Mecca Hills, southeast of Indio.
• PIC = Trails near Palm Springs and its Indian canyons.
• SGP = Trails around the San Gorgonio Pass, which is the hump you must get over on your way to or from Los Angeles.
• SJM = Trails in the San Jacinto Mountains, topped by the 10804 feet peak just west of Palm Springs.
• SRM = Trails in the Santa Rosa Mountains, south of the desert cities.

The trail numbers refer to the detailed descriptions of the trails in the "75 Great Hikes" book.