What’s New for Families in Palm Springs

The multiple towns in Palm Springs, Southern California’s resort center, already offer plenty of attractions encouraging families to travel there. More than 300 days of sunshine a year, natural hot mineral springs, the world’s largest rotating tramway ride, flight simulator experiences at Palm Springs Air Museum and free outdoor concerts draw families to Palm Springs year-round.

This summer adds even more reasons to visit. In May, Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert opened more than 35 new hands-on exhibits. The museum is designed to engage children under age 8 with activities and experiences inspiring curiosity and creativity.

Set in the desert landscapes of The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, Australian Adventures opens this year, inviting kids to meet emu, wallabies, singing kookaburras and other animals from “down under.” This new, immersive experience includes close encounters with animals and free-flying birds that live in life-like settings replicating their native environments. Elsewhere in the park, kids can sample the experience of an African safari in a savannah landscape, where giraffes graze alongside kudu and ostriches, and where black rhino, cheetah, zebra and springbok roam.

Stroll through the art installations along Happy Alley on Miles Avenue in downtown Indio, where kids will love the canopy of umbrellas overhead and the bright murals decorating the walls. Return after dark to see one that incorporates black light elements. Also in downtown Indio, Food Truck Fridays enliven the intersection of Towne Street and Bliss Avenue with local feed vendors and outdoor activities from 5 to 10 p.m.

Find unique and kid-pleasing family lodging at Acres Landing, where you can stay in a renovated vintage Air Stream or other vintage camping trailer. Decks, patios, kitchens, even luxury linens and a soaking tub filled with water from the natural hot springs bring these to 21^st-century comfort standards.