Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

There is running water in this canyon

Big Morongo Canyon sits at the western edge of the high desert above Morongo Valley, where geology pushes groundwater to the surface. The result is a genuine marsh in the middle of a desert: cottonwoods and willows overhead, cattails and mud below, and a boardwalk built across ground that is actually wet.

That water is why the birding is good. The canyon works as a migration corridor and is one of the more reliable stops in this part of California, drawing species you will not find out on the creosote flats a few miles east. Birders arrive at first light with scopes and tripods, and the preserve keeps a sightings board near the entrance that is worth reading before you walk in.

The shade is the other reason to come. On a warm afternoon the difference in temperature under the cottonwoods against the open desert is immediate, and this is one of the few places out here where you can walk without doing arithmetic about sun exposure.

Flat walking, early hours, and stay on the boards

The boardwalk loop is flat, short and easy, which makes this a good outing with small children or with anyone who is not up for a rock scramble. Longer trails run down the canyon from the same trailhead, and they get progressively less shaded and more committing as they go. Read the map at the start rather than guessing from the loop.

Early is better for two reasons. Birds are active at dawn and largely quiet by mid-morning, and the parking area is small enough that a weekend in migration season fills it. The preserve is gated and its hours shift with the season, so check before you drive over rather than after.

Bring bug protection in the warmer months. Standing water does what standing water does, and the shade that makes the canyon pleasant makes it hospitable to mosquitoes as well.

Stay on the boardwalk. The wet ground is the entire reason the place works, and it is not a large piece of it. Your local manager can tell you whether the preserve is open on the morning you are thinking of going, which saves a drive down the hill for nothing.