Scenic 17 Mile Drive Self-Driving Audio Tour

23 Reviews | Palm Springs, USA

3 to 5 hours (Approx.)

Mobile Ticket

Instant Confirmation

Overview

Embark on an enchanting journey through Joshua Tree & Palm Springs with this pair of self-guided driving tours. Cruise through open desert in Joshua Tree National Park, where you’ll discover imposing boulder formations, mystical Joshua trees, a history full of miners and bandits, and so much more! And head to Palm Springs to experience the world of yesteryear’s movie stars. Check out houses that once belonged to Elvis, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, and more as you hear about the wild and wonderful history of this glittering city.

After booking, check your email to download the separate Audio Tour Guide App by Action, enter your unique password, and access your tour. These steps require good internet/Wi-Fi access. From there, follow the audio instructions and the route.

New, extra validity — now yours for an entire year! Use multiple times over multiple trips!

Description

Pass By: Palm Springs Visitor Center, 2901 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, California 92262

Our tour begins in the parking lot of the Palm Springs Visitor Center at 2901 N Palm Canyon Drive. If you’re not there already, you should head there now. Before we get started, there’s something important you should know about this tour: Palm Springs is bursting with historic celebrity homes, but most of them are hidden behind walls, hedges, or fences.

Note: This is a Joshua tree route 68+ mile-long tour that covers the essentials of Joshua Tree

Pass By: Liberace House, 1441 N Kaweah Rd, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

In just a moment, we’ll have the option to take a detour to see the Kaufmann and Liberace Houses, two of Palm Springs’ most famous homes. The detour takes about five minutes, and I’d recommend it if you’re not in a rush. To visit the houses, turn right onto West Vista Chino ahead. Otherwise, continue straight to skip the detour.

Pass By: Kaufmann House, Kaufmann House, 470 W Vista Chino, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

The Kaufmann Desert House is on our right, beyond that white gate. It’s considered one of the finest examples of mid-century modern architecture in the US! Businessman Edgar Kaufmann owned a successful department store in Pittsburgh. And he absolutely loved architecture. He even had famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright create a home he called Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. So when he decided to build a vacation home here in Palm Springs, he knew he wanted to hire the best. He contracted architect Richard Neutra for the job. Neutra was famous for designing open and adaptable houses with a distinctly modern appearance. And he put all his skills to use for the Kaufmann House.

Stop At: The Movie Colony, The Movie Colony, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

We’re driving through the Movie Colony, the neighborhood where many of Hollywood’s darlings moved in the 1900s. Frank Sinatra had a home here. Dinah Shore. Cary Grant. David O. Selznick. Jack Benny. Tony Curtis. They all lived here. The neighborhood owes much of its allure to El Mirador Hotel, which opened in 1928. It had an Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis courts, stables, and a bell tower that became a Palm Springs landmark. In the early days of Hollywood, movie stars would flock to that hotel for a bit of peace and quiet out here in the desert. And once they came here, many didn’t want to leave! So they contracted famous architects like Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, and Donald Wexler to build them permanent houses here.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Robolights, 1077 E Granvia Valmonte, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

Once we pass the next intersection, find a spot to pull over and park. Then get out and look for the colorful sculptures peeking out from behind the trees on the corner of East Granvia Valmonte and North Arquilla Road. It’ll be on our right.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Walk of the Stars Palm Springs, 10 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

Here, 450 stars honor larger than life figures in Palm Springs history. But they honor more than movie stars. Humanitarians, architects, artists, soldiers, athletes, and city pioneers are all over this walk! If they made a contribution to Palm Springs in some way, they get a star!

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley, Palm Desert, CA 92211, USA

We’re going to leave downtown Palm Springs now to see more of Coachella Valley. Does that name sound familiar? It should! This valley is home to the world-renowned Coachella Music Festival. But there’s so much more to it than that!

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Palm Springs International Airport, 3400 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

In 1939, the United States Corps of Engineers sought out space to build an Army Air Corps landing field. The country was on the brink of war, and they needed space for training more soldiers. Coachella Valley had pretty good weather almost all year round, and the mountains shielded the area from strong winds. It was perfect! After the war, it soon became a civilian airport.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Desert Memorial Park, 31-705 Da Vall Dr, Cathedral City, CA 92234, USA

Sinatra passed away in 1998. He was buried with: A bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey, a zippo lighter, a pack of Camel cigarettes, and… 10 dimes. Okay, the first few make sense, but what’s with the dimes? Those go back to December of 1963.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Willis Palm Trailhead, 29200 Thousand Palms Canyon Rd, Thousand Palms, CA 92276, USA

Just ahead is the Willis Palm Trailhead. This moderately strenuous 4-mile hike takes about three hours and climbs 500 feet of elevation along the way. But on the loop, you can see birds, desert wildlife, and desert wildflowers if you’re visiting during the spring!

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Pushwalla Palms Trailhead, Thousand Palms Canyon Rd, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92241, USA

Pushawalla Palms trail is coming up on our right. This is right at the bottom of the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve, but it actually goes in the opposite direction. It’s a moderate 4.5-mile hike with an elevation gain of 700 feet. But oh the views! You’ll be walking on the ridge of the San Andreas Fault, and you’ll see those palm tree oases where the water is bubbling up from way down deep in the Earth! There are groves and groves of palm trees! It takes around three hours to complete.

Duration: 10 minutes

Pass By: Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve, Thousand Palms Canyon Rd, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92241, USA

We’ve reached the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve! This magical place is home to plentiful walking trails, wildlife, and lush scenery. Officials are renovating a lot of this preserve at the moment after a storm hit it pretty hard, so the visitor center is closed until further notice. But the trails are open from sunrise to sunset!

Stop At: Forever Marilyn, Museum Wy, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

This huge statue of Marilyn Monroe stands here courtesy of sculptor Seward Johnson, who designed this 26-foot-tall statue in 2011. He got the money to put it up first in Chicago for a year, then he got sponsorship to put it here in Palm Springs. The statue stood here in Palm Springs for two years, then toured the world showcasing the artist and his work. It moved to Australia for a while.

Duration: 10 minutes

Pass By: 1326 N Rose Ave, 1326 N Rose Ave, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

This house at 1326 North Rose Avenue was ostensibly Marilyn Monroe’s house. Bus tours and maps of famous houses here have been saying that for years. But according to locals, it may not have been hers!

Pass By: Frey House II, 686 Palisades Dr, Palm Springs, California 92262

The Frey House II at 686 Palisades Drive isn’t open to the public, but the Palm Springs Museum hosts guided tours of the property. It’s famous for a couple reasons. First of all, the architect who made it was known as the father of “desert modernism.” Albert Frey was Swiss. He got his architecture diploma in Switzerland, and he worked in Zurich, Belgium, and France. When he was 27, he moved to the United States. In New York, he started to build the American modernist architecture movement. After finishing work on the Museum of Modern Art in New York, he settled in Palm Springs. It was just after World War II and the population here was booming! Those people needed homes.

Stop At: Palm Canyon Trail, Palm Springs, California

Palm Canyon Trail is a pretty easy hike. It’s only 2 miles out and back again and has an elevation gain of only 200 feet. Most people take around an hour to complete it. Hikers are treated to some fabulous canyon scenery along the way. But be aware before you set off: There is an entrance fee to do this trail. The little building in this parking lot is called The Trading Post. You can pay the entrance fee there.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Andreas Canyon Trailhead, S Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264, USA

Andreas Canyon is an easy hike. It’s only a mile loop with an elevation gain of about 175 feet. Most people do it in about a half hour. Along the trail, you’ll see more than 150 plant species within a half a mile! The trail features tons of palm trees, lots of interesting rock formations, and Andreas Creek. Plus, you can still see dents in the rock where Cahuilla people would grind down their food to cook too. It’s just a beautiful hike!

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Moorten Botanical Garden, 1701 S Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, California 92264

The Moorten Botanical Garden is a must-see for desert plant lovers. Chester “Cactus Slim” and Patricia Moorten created this garden in the 1940s. You see, Cactus Slim had been an actor in movies in the 1920s and 30s. He’d also been a stand-in for Howard Hughes! But he developed a bad case of TB on a film set and discovered he needed the dry desert air to breathe.

Duration: 10 minutes

Pass By: Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, 1 Tramway Rd, Palm Springs, CA 92262, USA

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the world’s largest rotating tram car. It travels 2.5 miles along Chino Canyon and climbs high up to the wilds of Mount San Jacinto State Park. Along the way, the tram car slowly rotates 360 degrees for a spectacular view of the valley below! The mountaintop has restaurants, a gift shop, and plenty of hiking trails

Pass By: Pioneertown, Pioneertown, California

Yeehaw! There’s no place like Pioneertown! This is a town created by Hollywood to mimic the Wild West. In 1946, Dick Curtis, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and several other show biz people invested in making this little spot in the California desert a living, breathing movie set. They bought 32,000 acres of land and transformed it into Pioneertown. They could film movies out here, they could vacation, and they could even have second homes out here!

Pass By: Joshua Tree Visitor Center, 6554 Park Blvd, Joshua Tree, California 92252

Your tour of Joshua Tree begins at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center. From here, you'll drive through this weird, one-of-a-kind park where two deserts meet. Along the way, get ready to marvel at the bizarre Joshua trees for which the park is named, embark on awe-inspiring hikes, and catch a sunset you'll never forget.

Stop At: Joshua Tree, Joshua Tree, California

Before you enter the park, you'll pass through the town of Joshua Tree. It's full of quaint little shops and restaurants and is the perfect place to pick up a snack or a souvenir before or after your trip through the park.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Samuelsons Rock, Samuelsons Rock, California 92252, USA

This peculiar landmark can be accessed via a moderate, 3.3-mile trail. Almost 100 years ago, an enigmatic man named John Samuelson etched various musings and declarations onto these rocks. They remain to this day as a strange, almost mystical sight.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Willow Hole, Willow Hole, California 92277, USA

A 7-mile trail leads straight to Willow Hole, a seemingly miraculous oasis in the middle of the desert. The oasis is surrounded by willow trees and just has to be seen to be believed. Many visitors at first think it's a mirage!

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Hemingway Buttress, Hemingway Buttress, California 92277, USA

The Hemingway Buttress is one of the most popular climbing spots in the park. It juts up dramatically from the earth, seeming to dare visitors to scale it. The buttress features a huge pile of boulders which are lots of fun to scramble up, and climbers of all skill levels can find something to enjoy here.

Duration: 10 minutes

Pass By: Hidden Valley Nature Trail Trailhead, 74485 National Park Dr, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277, USA

Ever wanted to see the hideout of a Wild West gang? You'll find it on this trail, as well as some seriously stunning desert scenery to boot. The Hidden Valley Nature Trail is an easy trek and only goes for about a mile, making it one of Joshua Tree's must-see hikes.

Pass By: Intersection Rock, Directly Across The Street From Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree, California 92277

Intersection Rock is considered to be a sort of hub within Joshua Tree. Thanks to its towering size, it can be seen from a great distance and casts a striking silhouette against the blazing desert sky. It's also a hugely popular climbing spot, featuring numerous different climbing routes with names like Knuckle Cracker, Ignorant Photons from Pluto, and Sympathy to the Devil.

Pass By: Cap Rock Trail, California 92277

Cap Rock is a strange sight, featuring a small boulder almost impossibly perched atop a larger rock formation. Here, you'll find a quick quarter-mile trail chock full of information about the local flora.

Pass By: Lost Horse Valley, California

Lost Horse Valley is a sweeping desert valley that gets its name from some of the McHaney Gang's misdeeds back in the days of the Wild West. You'll hear all about that as you drive through this valley, including what one overconfident miner did to try to get his stolen horses back!

Pass By: Queen Valley Road, Queen Valley Road, California

Another abandoned mine waits in Queen Valley. The gold found in this mine was the motive behind at least one murder and a whole lot else.

Pass By: Skull Rock, California

This iconic desert granite formation looks uncannily like a human skull. It's easily accessible from the roadside, and is also the trailhead for an easy 2-mile trail that's among the most popular hiking trails in the whole park.

Pass By: Sky's The Limit Observatory and Nature Center, 9697 Utah Trail, Near the North Entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms, California 92277

Sky's The Limit Observatory and Nature Center is a phenomenal spot to learn not just about the flora and fauna of Joshua Tree, but also about the stars above. As a dark sky area, Joshua Tree makes for some seriously impressive stargazing, so try to stick around after dark if you can!

Pass By: Oasis Ranger Station, 74485 National Park Dr, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277, USA

The Oasis Visitor Center is the last stop along the main tour route. It sits in the town of Twenty-Nine Palms, not far from where you began your tour. If you'd prefer to continue journeying through Joshua Tree, you can also follow the detour route, which proceeds south through the rest of the park and exits out the southern gate.

Pass By: General Patton Memorial Museum, 62510 Chiriaco Rd, Chiriaco Summit, California 92201

The location of the General George S. Patton Memorial Museum is no accident. It sits on what was once the site of Camp Young, part of the World War II Desert Training Center. The museum houses all manner of historic artifacts, including actual tanks!

Schedule

What's Included

What To Bring

Additional Info

Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
How to access: Once you book a tour, you’ll get a confirmation email with instructions. Follow the instructions right away: • Download the separate app • Enter the password • Download the tour • MUST DO while in strong wifi/cellular.
How to start the tour: Open Action’s separate audio tour guide app once onsite. • If there is just one tour, launch it. • If multiple tour versions exist, launch the one with your planned starting point and direction. • Go to the starting point. (Note: no one will meet you at the start. This tour is self-guided). • The audio will begin automatically at the starting point. If you face audio issues, visit the FAQ. • Stick to the tour route & speed limit for the best experience.
Amazing Savings: why pay for an expensive, crowded, and limited bus tour — priced per person! — when you can have ONE amazing audio guide on your OWN phone for your WHOLE group?
Flexibility and Convenience: • Use the tour app anytime, on any day, and over multiple days. It's perfect for tailoring your exploration and revisiting your favorite spots on future trips. • Start and pause the tour whenever you like, taking breaks and exploring side excursions at your own pace, free from the constraints of a group.
Comprehensive Tour Experience: •The app provides a full itinerary, travel tips, narrated audio stories, scripts, images, videos, and recommendations for additional activities. • Enjoy a private experience without the crowds, ideal for personalized stops and photo opportunities.

Ease of Use and Accessibility: • The app is hands-free and activates stories via GPS, offering support through call, chat, or email. • There is no need for a continuous cell or Wi-Fi connection as the GPS map works offline.
Memorable Keepsakes: • Utilize the app’s images to create a photo book or share on social media, ensuring you have high-quality, crowd-free memories from your trip.
Preparation: • After booking, download the app and the tour using a strong Wi-Fi connection. • Review the tour at home before your trip for a better experience.
Starting the Tour: • Open the app upon arrival at your destination. • Select the appropriate tour based on your starting point. • Head to the starting location; the audio will begin automatically. • Follow the suggested route and adhere to the speed limit for an optimal experience. • By following these instructions and taking advantage of the app's features, users can enjoy a personalized, flexible, and in-depth exploration of their destination at their own pace and convenience.
Minimum Mobile OS Requirement: iOS 14 or later / Android 9 (Pie) or later. It is compatible with iPad models that have a GPS chip.
CarPlay and Android Auto are not yet supported. Connect your phone via Bluetooth, USB, or Aux for audio. Use phone speakers if needed.
Operated by Adventures with Action

Cancellation Policy

Reviews

4.43

23 reviews

Average 4.43 out of 5 stars based on 23 traveler reviews collected by Cool Destinations and partner sites such as Trustpilot, Viator, and TripAdvisor

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Still have questions?

We’re here to help. Call Us, Text Us, or Live Chat to speak with a Cool Palm Springs specialist!
Product code: C-259648P5

Similar Tours & Activities

Private-24 Hour Adventure in Joshua Tree National Park

16 to 24 hours

from
$907.26

Merlin's Magic School Escape Room Game for Private Group

186

1 hour Free Cancellation Instant Confirmation

from
$42

Joshua Tree National Park Offroad Tour

338

5 hours Free Cancellation Instant Confirmation

from
$235

Travelers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Admission Ticket

1,249

1 to 2 hours Free Cancellation Instant Confirmation

from
$32.95

Palm Springs Windmill Tours

254

1 to 30 minutes Free Cancellation Instant Confirmation

from
$59.99

Joshua Tree Open Air Hummer Adventure

277

5 hours Free Cancellation Instant Confirmation

from
$179

Are you interested in?

Scenic 17 Mile Drive Self-Driving Audio Tour

Palm Springs Tours

Attractions

Guides

Calendar

Overview

Description

Schedule

What's Included

What To Bring

Additional Info

Cancellation Policy

Reviews

Still have questions?

Similar Tours & Activities

Private-24 Hour Adventure in Joshua Tree National Park