Things to do / Travel Guide
In southern California, the car is king. Indeed, with long, wide-open highways dominating the relatively remote landscape, cruising around the California Desert in your car is the most practical way to get from place to place in the region. In the region's larger cities of Palm Springs and San Bernardino, there's public transportation available. San Bernardino, in particular, is somewhat of a regional bus hub, with inter-city bus service available to many other regional destinations.
By Car
The long distances between and remote locales make an automobile essential to getting around and exploring the region in any depth. The major east-west thoroughfare running through the southern areas of the region is I-10, which passes near Indio, Palm Springs and, farther west, San Bernardino. Further north, I-15 heads northeast through Barstow, linking to State Road 127 on the way to Las Vegas and U.S. Highway 395 in the south, near San Bernardino. State Road 127 is your route for heading to Death Valley National Park, while U.S. Highway 395 will take you up to Independence and Lone Pine. Big Bear Lake can be reached from the San Bernardino area via State Road 18.
The following are approximate distances and driving times to Palm Springs from other destinations within the California Desert region:
- Big Bear Lake: 80 miles; 1 hour 40 minutes
- Barstow: 125 miles; 2 hours
- Badwater (Death Valley): 300 miles; 5 hours
- Joshua Tree: 35 miles; 45 minutes
- San Bernardino: 55 miles; 1 hour
- Indio: 25 miles; 30 minutes
- Lone Pine: 245 miles; 4.5 hours
- Independence: 260 miles; 4 hours 50 minutes
By Bus
The area in and around San Bernardino is well served by about 90 different bus routes, both intra-city and inter-city. The Omnitrans bus network runs scheduled service to almost every town within a 20-mile radius. In addition, the city's morning-to-midnight bus system makes it easy to reach most parks, shopping malls, and other popular spots within San Bernardino itself.
Palm Springs, by contrast, has a more limited public transportation system, with its SunBus system serving points in and around the city including Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, and Thousand Palms. A bit further southeast, very limited SunBus service is also available near Indio and Coachella.
Thus if your itinerary won't take you too far out of the region's main cities, you can manage without a car. And when the buses run a little late or it's just too hot to wait around, there's always a contingent of taxis ready to zip you from one locale to another.
By Train
While Amtrak trains stop in the region's major cities, it is not a truly feasible way to get from one place to another within the California Desert, as only a couple trains pass through each day at very specific times. Amtrak's Southwest Chief rail line passes through the California Desert, making stops daily in San Bernardino, Victorville, and Barstow, and taking about 2 hours to pass from San Bernardino to Barstow or vice versa.
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