Coachella Valley Preserve

In aptly named Thousand Palms, dense groves of California fan palms rise like a leafy mirage from sand and alluvial gravel. At this island in the desert, you’ll find not only stately fan palms, but also smoke-tree-lined washes, marshes and ponds nourished by underground springs. Stop in at the Palm House visitor center — a 1930s log cabin constructed from palm trunks — to check on current trail conditions. Torrential rains on Oct. 12 wiped out several trails, but the junglelike marsh of Thousand Palms Oasis is still accessible. A raised wooden walkway winds though a grove of venerable, thick-skirted palms, their century-old roots nourished by water pushed upward from an underground aquifer.

29200 Thousand Palms Canyon Road, Thousand Palms; 760-343-2733 or 760343-1234; www.coachella valleypreserve.org. Free, but donations suggested.

San Andreas Fault Jeep Tour

For a substantially less taxing way to see the desert’s wild side, hop on an open-air Jeep and ride through the labyrinthine cuts and canyons of the San Andreas Fault. Desert Adventures’ Red Jeep Tours travel through the fault zone on the private, 800-acre Metate Ranch. The threehour tour shows off the artistry that seismic energy can create from a landscape of ancient rock. You’ll stop at a palm oasis where water oozes up from below the Earth’s crust, and guides will offer up tidbits on plate tectonics, date farming and Cahuilla Indian culture. Sunset and stargazing tours are available in addition to day tours.

Meet your Jeep at Coco’s Restaurant, 78-375 Varner Road, Palm Desert; 760-3245337; www.red-jeep.com. Fee: $139 adult; $114 children 12 and under.