Drove down to the southwest part of the park for panoramas at Keys View atop the Little San Bernadino Mountains. An informational sign gives basic info and details how haze/pollution can limit views across the Coachella Valley.
Looking southeast from the sign on a clear day you might view the Salton Sea some 20 miles away. Glare from the sun & haze prevented me from sharing it with you here but the views are still fantastic. Down below in the valley lies the San Andreas Fault and cities such as Coachella, Indio, and Palm Springs.
Looking southwest you can see the neighboring Santa Rosa Mountain range in the far distance. According to the NPS site elevation drops nearly 1 mile from this viewpoint into the valleys below.
Here’s a zoomed-in view of snow-covered San Gorgonio Mountain. It’s hard to express through a camera lens how big this is – looks like it’s 20 miles away but dwarfs everything in sight..
On the mountainsides near the parking area we found a group of bighorn sheep grazing. Against this backdrop their natural camouflage works extremely well.
This area started to fill with cars coming in for the weekend so I kept moving – more hikes ahead!
Lat = 33.92659 , Long = -116.1877823 -- Show at Google Maps