Pin itPalm Springs Aerial Tramway
A 5,783-foot ascent from desert floor to alpine forest in 10 minutes, with the valley spread below.
- Duration
- 2-4 hours
- Cost
- Adults $34.95, Seniors $31.95, Children 3-10 $20.95
- Type
- Cultural
- What stands out
- A 5,783-foot ascent from desert floor to alpine forest in 10 minutes, with the valley spread below.
Adults $34.95, Seniors $31.95, Children 3-10 $20.95
Booking via Viator
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the largest rotating tramcar in the world, climbing 5,783 vertical feet from the desert floor to Mountain Station at 8,516 feet in roughly ten minutes.
The experience
The car rotates slowly during the ascent for a full 360-degree view of the Coachella Valley below and the San Jacinto Mountains above. At the top, temperatures run 30 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the valley, and the landscape shifts from Sonoran Desert to subalpine forest with ponderosa pine and white fir. Mountain Station has a restaurant, observation deck, a small natural history museum, and access to hiking trails inside Mt. San Jacinto State Park, ranging from short nature walks to multi-hour backcountry routes. Standing in a pine forest looking down at the valley you played that morning is the kind of geographic dissonance no other golf destination delivers.
Logistics
Monday through Friday: first tram up at 10 a.m., last up at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: first up at 8 a.m. Last tram down most days at 9:45 p.m. Bring a jacket regardless of valley temperature. Restaurant dinner reservations are required. Base station at 1 Tram Way, Palm Springs, about 15 minutes from downtown. Adults $34.95, seniors $31.95, children 3 to 10 $20.95. Plan two to four hours.
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