Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
47900 Portola Ave
Palm Desert, CA
A zoo and botanical garden built entirely around desert life, where you walk from an African oasis to the wildlife of the American Southwest below the mountains.
The Living Desert takes an idea most zoos treat as an afterthought, the desert, and makes it the whole show. Spread across a large site at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains in Palm Desert, it is both a zoo and a botanical garden devoted to the arid lands of the world, from the deserts of Africa to the sun-blasted Southwest right outside its gates.
That focus makes it feel less like a collection of cages and more like a series of dry-country landscapes you walk through. One moment you are among African hoofed animals and big cats, the next among the cactus and creosote and bighorn sheep of the very desert the park sits in. It is a place that teaches you to see the desert not as empty, but as full of life.
What Guests Love
- A zoo devoted entirely to desert animals, from cheetahs and giraffes to bighorn sheep and coyotes
- Gardens showcasing cactus and desert plants from around the world
- A hopper-fed giraffe feeding and a walk-through with the region's own wildlife
- The setting right against the Santa Rosa Mountains, with hiking trails beyond the exhibits
Worth Knowing
- Summer in the Coachella Valley is extremely hot, so the park is best from fall through spring and, in warm months, in the early morning
- It is a large site with a lot of walking on open paths; bring water, a hat, and sun protection any time of year
- As a living zoo and garden the animals and blooms on view change with the season and the day
- The desert-plant gardens are a highlight in their own right and reward a slow walk
Details
Palm Desert, CA
Learn about Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
A zoo built for the desert
The Living Desert opened in 1970 and grew from a small nature preserve into a full zoo and garden accredited for its animal care. Its exhibits are organized around the world's deserts, so animals are shown alongside the plants and landscapes they belong to.
The African side includes cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, and other species of the continent's dry country, while the North American side features the wildlife of the Southwest, from mountain lions and coyotes to the desert bighorn sheep of the surrounding mountains.
Gardens of the world's deserts
Half the park is really a botanical garden, with collections of cactus, succulents, and desert plants gathered from arid regions across the globe. Paths wind among towering cactus, spiny ocotillo, and desert wildflowers that bloom after the rains.
The gardens make the point that deserts are astonishingly diverse, each with its own plants adapted to survive on almost no water. For gardeners in dry climates, it is also a living catalog of what will thrive with little watering.
The mountains beyond
The park backs right up to the Santa Rosa Mountains, home to the endangered desert bighorn sheep, and trails lead from the grounds out into the wild desert beyond the exhibits. The setting ties the zoo to the real landscape it celebrates.
From here the Coachella Valley spreads out below the peaks, a bowl of desert that human effort has turned green in patches with the resort towns and golf courses of Palm Springs and its neighbors.
The Coachella Valley around it
The Living Desert sits among the string of desert resort towns that run along the valley floor, with Palm Springs and its mid-century architecture, hot springs, and mountain tramway a short drive northwest.
The valley is a place of dramatic contrasts, snow sometimes visible on the high peaks above palm-lined streets, and it makes a fine base for exploring both the built desert of the resorts and the wild desert of Joshua Tree and the surrounding parks.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Palm Desert
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
About 15 miles northwest
A rotating cable car that climbs from the desert floor to alpine forest near the top of Mount San Jacinto, a temperature drop of many degrees in minutes.
Palm Springs
About 12 miles northwest
A resort town famous for its mid-century modern architecture, hot springs, and the shops and restaurants along Palm Canyon Drive.
Joshua Tree National Park
About 40 miles northeast
The meeting of two deserts, with forests of Joshua trees, giant boulders, and some of the darkest night skies in Southern California.