Want to learn about the San Andreas fault? Take a tour of the area on Desert Adventures Red Jeep Tours on their San Andreas fault tour.
Desert Adventures
Desert Adventures offers one-of-a-kind tour experiences in the greater Palm Springs area in their fun jeeps. They offer a variety of tours including:
- Indian Canyon Jeep and Hiking Tour
- Painted Canyon/Mecca Hills Jeep tour
- Joshua Tree National Park Van/Suv tour
- Palm Springs City and Celebrity Home tour
- San Andreas Fault tour.
San Andreas Fault Tour
The kids and I went on their San Andreas Fault tour and although it was a little toasty outside we had the best time, even the teenagers like it! I knew we would learn some stuff about the fault, but what I didn’t expect is to learn the history of the area, the Native Americans that lived there, the plants, current-day farming techniques, and so much more. After experiencing this tour first hand I cannot recommend it highly enough. I really feel like it is a must-do with kids in Palm Springs.
What is the San Andreas Fault?
The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends about 1,200 kilometers through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The Pacific Plate is moving to the northwest at 3 inches (8 centimeters) each year, and the North American Plate is heading south at about 1 inch (2.3 cm) per year.
Private Guides
From the moment we met our guide Phil he was fun and engaging. It can be difficult to hold a teenager’s attention, much less a tween and a school-age kid too. As we drove through town he gave us an in-depth history of the area. As we passed farmland he taught us about the irrigation methods farms are currently using and explained the waterways we were driving past as well. I just cannot emphasize enough how much in-depth knowledge our guide possessed.
Desert Adventures is the only tour company with private access to the 800-acre Metate Ranch. It’s out on this ranch where you get to experience the fault. Now those of you that don’t do well off-roading don’t worry. There’s no off-roading. If you want you can take a short hike, which of course we did. I hate to even use the word hike because really it’s just a short walk, but our guide referred to it as hiking. We walked through an extremely narrow crevice in between the rocks which were super fun for the kids.
Native American Education
A small section features a recreated Cahuilla Native American village. We got to see how they lived and each of the kids received a new Native American name. Noah was named Wise Eagle, Eden Flowering Owl, and Jonah Smiling Eagle. Once again I was blown away by how in-depth Phil went in educating us on the Cahuilla Indians. 
I highly recommend this tour if you have tweens and teens.
And if you are looking for more things to do in Palm Springs check out our Palm Springs Travel Guide! We recommend staying at Omni Rancho Las Palmas.
