Last updated on January 14th, 2025
Just outside downtown Palm Springs, the Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium features cacti, succulents, and other desert plants from around the world in a lovingly-landscaped setting.

You’ll find an interesting mix of desert plants at the Moorten Botanical Garden.
I’m a big cactus fan. But even if you think of cacti as prickly things that are best avoided, anyone who enjoys being outdoors will find something they like here. If nothing else, it’s a surprisingly green oasis in the city. And desert gardeners and other fans of desert plants will find themselves in a bit of an arid garden paradise!
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A garden with much more than cacti
I’m a big cactus fan, so the idea of a cacti-filled garden first drew me to this place almost 15 years ago. And I was not disappointed by the number of spikey cacti in the garden.

View from above a cactus.
But there is more than cacti here. This privately-owned garden is thought to have over 3000 varieties of plants representing more than a dozen arid areas of the world. So, cacti share the stage with a lot of other interesting plants.

This would be a cool houseplant if it weren’t taller than me!

Take a closer look to see beautiful details.
And many trees and plants in the garden are large, mature specimens. Some of the palms and other trees were probably planted in the 1930s. Many other plants and trees were planted in the 1950s. That’s when former Keystone Cop Clark Moorten and wife Patricia bought the property and planted it with desert plants as a demonstration garden for their landscaping business. (The Moortens collected plants in Mexico and far beyond and installed desert landscaping for Palm Spring residents like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Walt Disney.)

The garden has been here more than 60 years, so some of the plants are huge.
Wandering through the garden, you’ll discover cacti, agave, aloe, palms, and other plants from near (the Mojave Desert) and far (the South African Succulent Karoo). And, of course, lots of plants from neighboring Baja California and other parts of Mexico.

You’ll see agave of all sizes and varieties throughout the garden.

Not everything in the garden is huge. None of these plants were even a foot high.
You’ll also find a variety of large minerals, fossils, crystals, and old mining equipment scattered about. So, if you are into rocks or rusty old tools and equipment, keep an eye out for those too.
And watch for hummingbirds. There are always a few around!

Even hummingbirds like to take a break and rest in the garden.
It’s lovely all year, but visit in spring to see cacti in bloom
Of course there are lots of cacti in the garden. And, if you are like me, you probably want to see them in bloom.

Cactus blossoms are often brilliant colors.
While a few will put on a show at other times, most cacti bloom in spring or early summer. They were beginning to burst into bloom when I visited in late March as part of a California desert wildflower road trip some years ago.

Cactus blossoms on what I think is a barrel cactus of some type.
There usually aren’t any cacti blooming in the gardens when I’ve visited in winter. However, there are other flowering trees and plants in the garden – and some bloom in winter.

January is too early for the ocotillo to bloom, but some trees were covered with yellow flowers.
Inside the Cactarium
There’s a small greenhouse at the Moorten Botanical Garden called the “cactarium.” It’s packed with interesting cacti and other plants that are too rare, too fragile, or too small to go out in the gardens.

Inside the Cactarium.
While both Chester and Patricia Moorten collected and grew desert plants of all types, the Cactarium was Patricia’s special project. She likened it to a terrarium for cacti and succulents.
Look closely and you’ll find all sorts of interesting plants. You may even find some in bloom.

Such a cute little cactus!
Plan your visit to the Moorten Botanical Garden
Moorten Botanical Garden is an easy stop if you are staying in or passing through Palm Springs or nearby desert cities. Most visitors can easily tour the garden in about an hour.
When you are planning your visit, keep in mind that the garden is always closed on Wednesdays. (I tend to forget this.) And in summer the garden is only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – and only for limited hours. Always check the garden’s website for the latest information.
Getting to the garden
Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium is located just south of downtown Palm Springs. (It’s almost exactly 2 miles south of the Palm Springs Art Museum.) You can stay right on Palm Canyon Drive (the main road through downtown) heading south. Keep going straight when the main road curves to the left. The garden will be just ahead and on the right.
The garden is tucked behind a lot of greenery and the sign by the road can be rather hidden in the vegetation. That means it’s easy to drive by if you aren’t paying close attention. Basically, you are there once you get to El Camino Way and should immediately look for a place to park.
Parking
Because this is just a large city lot with a house (the Cactus Castle) tucked into a palm grove, the Cactarium greenhouse, various sheds, and the actual gardens, there isn’t space inside the garden for parking. However, there is parking all along the street in front of the garden and around the corner on El Camino Way. (The garden is on a corner lot.) Even when there isn’t parking on Palm Canyon, there’s often parking along El Camino Way.
Street parking was still both legal and free when I visited a couple of years ago, but it can be hard to find a spot when the garden is busy. If you are staying in town and have access to a bike, biking there might be easier than finding a parking spot!
Once you arrive
You pay your admission fee at a small building near the gate. The regular adult admission in 2024 was $7. Discounts are given to veterans and children between 5-12. Younger children are free. There is no senior discount. (There’s a story connected to that fact.)
Most of the garden is surprisingly shady, making it a good place to enjoy being outdoors without being in full sun the whole time.

The garden is a lot shadier than you might expect.
There are even a few picnic tables where you can sit in the shade and relax. (A few beverages and snacks are usually available at the garden.)

The garden has a few shady picnic tables and benches.
Water and a few snack items are usually available for purchase right in the garden. But you still need to have sunscreen and a hat. Even with a good deal of shade, the sun can be really intense.
Have questions about something in the garden? Ask!! All of the gardeners are happy to visit with you and answer questions. You may even discover that you are talking to one of the garden’s owners.
Bring a bit of the desert home with you
Since the Moortens started out as landscapers, it’s not surprising that the family propagates a wide variety of desert plants to sell. And, while they have plants of all sizes, there is always a great selection of small cacti and succulents suitable for packing in your luggage to take home.

Plants are available in all sizes, but there are lots of small ones that travel well!
Yes, really! Moorten’s plants are hardy and healthy and staff will pack them up so well you can tuck them right in your suitcase and they will be in excellent condition when you get home and unpack them. (This assumes you’ll be arriving home within a few days or at least a week. Before buying, check with staff to see how well the plants you are eyeing would travel.)
I didn’t buy any plants on my first trip because we were still going to be traveling for a while. But I’ve bought plants since then and they arrived home in great shape.
Lodging in Palm Springs
There are so many things to do in Palm Springs and the surrounding area that it is a great place to spend a few days, a week, or longer. Palm Springs and the other desert cities offer a wide variety of options, but the entire region will be very busy (and expensive) during festivals, special events, and when spring brings perfect weather to the area.
Want to immerse yourself in a retro vibe? Palm Springs has several mid-century motels that preserve that feel. While you can pay a lot at the best of them, a few are more affordable. We stayed at one of these years ago and it was a lot of fun. TripAdvisor lets you search for “historic” hotels, which includes mid-century modern as well as other “historic” hotels. Visit Palm Springs has a list by decade, but it seems to only include top end offerings.
Of course, the greater Palm Springs area has an overwhelming number of hotel, motel, inn, and resort options. There’s more on the luxury end of the scale than at the mid-range, but there are affordable options if you book well in advance and aren’t visiting during a major festival or other event.
You’ll find a mix of everything (including whole house rentals) on Expedia, but there isn’t a good way to sort through them if you are looking for a particular vibe. On the other hand, Booking.com actually brings up a list of cool hotels in Palm Springs, none are cheap, but none are standard chain hotels either.
It’s also worth checking vacation rentals on Vrbo or Airbnb. (Vrbo tends to be cheaper, but not always. And you get can get cash back through Rakuten, so I would start there.) I’ve rented both condos and houses (the house I booked for a girlfriends get-away had a gorgeous pool). The best deals here are usually out at the edge of the desert or in more commercial areas. As with other lodging, timing is a key factor in pricing.
Other things to do while in Palm Springs
Palm Springs is the best known of a group of desert cities, some of which seem to blend into one. Once the winter residence of Hollywood stars, musical stars, and celebrities of all sorts, you’ll still find upscale hotels, vintage shops, and dining in Palm Springs and the surrounding area. While it sometimes seems there’s a golf course everywhere you look, there’s also plenty of wilderness hiking just beyond the developed areas.
I’ve listed a few of the things I like to do in and around Palm Springs below. For information on other things to do and see, check the Visit Greater Palm Springs website. (Warning: This is a website that usually doesn’t actually link to the venue or activity you are reading about. Instead, it links back to the same page you are already on.) The Visit Palm Springs website isn’t as comprehensive, but it provides in-depth info on what it does cover. (And it links directly to relevant websites for those places, events, and activities.) If you plan to spend most of your time right in Palm Springs itself, start your planning with their website.
Once you get to town, stop at the Palm Springs Visitor Center. You’ll get great advice on what to see and do (and how to see and do it) and a chance to shop for really cool things. . . and it’s in what was once one of the USA’s coolest gas stations.
Explore downtown Palm Springs
Even if you are only window shopping, there’s plenty to keep you occupied in downtown Palm Springs. . . and you’ll probably end up finding something that just has to go home with you!
The weekly Village Fest
Spend a Thursday evening shopping, eating, and enjoying local entertainment during the weekly Palm Springs Village Fest. Shops, the Palm Springs Art Museum, and other businesses along Palm Drive stay open late as automobile traffic through downtown is replaced by vendors selling arts, crafts, food, and more.

As always, Marilyn steals the spotlight.
The Palm Springs Art Museum
Palm Springs has a great art museum, unfortunately it’s open on a rather limited schedule. This isn’t a particularly large museum, but you’re sure to find something that delights you, moves you, or makes you think – and maybe all three all at once.
Note that the museum is free during the Thursday night Village Fest. Entry is limited to manage crowding, but that leads to incredibly long lines.
Want to see more? The museum has a satellite location just down the street. The Architecture and Design Center (the Edwards-Harris Pavilion) focuses on midcentury design. (I’ve never managed to fit it into my visit to Palm Springs, but it looks very worthwhile – the building itself is mid-century landmark.)
Look for mid-century architectural landmarks
The Palm Springs area is a treasure-trove of mid-century modernism. Many structures have been lost over the decades, however, so much remains. It’s really pretty amazing. A variety of self-guided walking tours are available. (Visit Palm Springs has one with a lot of information.) However, it’s challenging to do this on your own because so many historic homes are hidden behind vegetation or fences or are very far from any place to park a car and walk over to get a good look. (None of this is surprising, as many are still privately owned homes. But it does make it more challenging.)

Palm Spring’s mid-century classics include public buildings like Albert Frey’s 1952 City Hall.
Of course, there’s also a Mid-Century Modern Tour app you can use as a guide.
If you’re up for some biking, get a good list and a good map and plan a route that will take you by a few of them. Otherwise, your best bet is to book a tour, some of which will actually take you inside a few structures (or at least inside the fence). There are MANY tours available through local companies. Viator has a guided bike tour available, but if you want to get inside into secure neighborhoods, you should book with a local company or a private guide that has access to places not generally open to the public.
If you are really into this sort of architecture, make plans to someday attend Modernism Week in February.
If the homes of celebrities in general are more your thing, there’s also a Palm Springs Stars self-guided tour on the Visit Palm Springs website. Like the architecture tour, you’ll find lots of pictures and info, even if you can’t see very much of most of their houses.
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Just beyond the Palm Springs visitor center, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway whisks visitors 2½ miles and 6,000 feet to a station near San Jacinto Peak. It’s a 12-minute trip (via giant slowly rotating cars) from the Sonoran Desert to an alpine forest with a temperature change of up to 40 °F.
At the top you’ll find stunning views (weather permitting), a couple of restaurants, shops, and the wilderness hiking trails of Mount San Jacinto State Park. In winter, you can now rent cross-country skis when you get to the top. Which is nice, because all the trails were closed when I visited (years ago) due to a little snow!

The rotating cable cars have big windows.
It’s a great way to spend a few hours or a full day. . . as long as you don’t have a fear of heights.
Tahquitz Canyon and the Indian Canyons
Palm Springs and the surrounding area has been the home of the Cahuilla people for thousands of years. Today the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians share their Palm Springs home on the Agua Caliente Reservation with visitors in a variety of ways. While golfing, casinos, and spa at the band’s resorts hold no interest to me, the community has a Cultural Museum (which I have not been to yet and is high on my list for my next visit) and many, many miles of hiking trails (some of which I have explored).
Tahquitz Canyon is described as the “most beautiful and culturally sensitive areas” of the Agua Caliente Band’s reservation. I hiked this short trail on my first trip to Palm Springs on our California spring flower road trip. This trail is short, however, it’s also steep and rocky, so it is not easy. But it leads to a lovely waterfall and lots of flowers in spring.

It’s a lovely waterfall in spring, but the light might be better later in the day!
Indian Canyons has over 60 miles of hiking trails in Palm Canyon, Andreas Canyon, and Murray Canyon. Trails vary in length. Many wind through groves of native California fan palms and the Murray Canyon trail ends at a waterfall.

Dramatic rock along one of the Indian Canyons trails.
Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage
Sunnylands was the home of US Ambassadors Walter and Leonore Annenberg and a gathering place for national and international leaders (for example, Queen Elizabeth and seven US presidents) and celebrities (Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, and such). And the house itself is a mid-century beauty filled with the family’s period furniture and artwork.
Today the historic estate serves as a high-level retreat center, a historic house museum, visitor center/museum, and gardens. The visitor center and gardens are open to the public at no cost. Ticket tours are the only way to see the house. (House tours sell out as soon as tickets are available, so this is something you need to plan in advance.) The rest of the property is reserved for guests using the retreat center.
I came for the beautifully landscaped “desert” gardens. It’s a different aesthetic than you usually see and very pleasant to visit.

Sunnylands features acres of contemporary desert gardens.
The museums in the visitor center focus on people and events the Annenberg’s were involved with. And they were part of a lot of things. While I’m perhaps not as interested in the Sinatras or Reagans as some, the history this place touches is pretty amazing. Even if you only came for the garden, spend some time in the museum. After all, it’s free and you will undoubtedly come across something interesting that you hadn’t known before arriving at Sunnylands.
The Artists Center at the Galen and Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden in Palm Desert
The Artists Center hosts juried shows featuring mostly local and regional artists. It’s definitely NOT the Palm Springs Art Museum, but the exhibit we saw had some wonderful pieces.

We saw an exceptionally fine exhibit on our visit.
Make sure to look around outside too. The Palm Springs Art Museum’s wonderful Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden is also here.

“Walks Among the Stars” by Dave McGary is in the sculpture garden.
Palm Desert has a lot of sculpture in a wide variety of forms. To see it all, make a copy of the outdoor sculpture tour guide created by one of the area’s RV resorts.
It’s a little far out from Palm Springs, but if you happen to out in this area, it is definitely worth a stop.
Joshua Tree National Park
It takes about an hour to drive there, but Joshua Tree National Park is an easy day trip from the Palm Springs area. This is one of my favorite national parks and I highly recommend you spend more than a day exploring here, but don’t skip it if you only have a day.
Like cacti as much as I do? Find more photos from Moorten Botanical Garden here.