On this California desert hike, rangers won't let you start without water

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-desert-hike-requires-water-19941564.php

On this California desert hike, rangers won't let you start without water
Tahquitz Canyon is one of the only desert trails that require you to have water to hike

After I paid my entrance fee at the front desk of the Tahquitz Canyon Visitor Center on the southern edge of Palm Springs, the cashier had one question for me before I could exit through the glass doors and embark on the inviting desert trail outside: How much water was I carrying?

The cashier asked the question in a casual tone, but they weren’t just making conversation. The water question would determine, then and there, if I could continue on my way.

Amid high-profile deaths and rescues of dehydrated and heat-exhausted hikers on popular desert trails this summer, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians that manages this popular and relatively short waterfall hiking trail has come up with a unique but relatively simple solution: making visitors bring enough water on their hike.

“We were seeing a lot of people just didn’t really understand the protocol that you should go through to be prepared,” said Kate Anderson, director of public relations for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. “And so that’s when we began actually requiring the water and making sure that people who are going on the trails have the proper amount of water.


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Now, hikers must carry 32 ounces each to head out on Tahquitz, Andreas and Palm canyons, or 48 ounces on the longer Murray Canyon hike. It’s likely the only trail in the hot California desert area where water is a firm requirement, with someone actively checking that each visitor has water before they head out on the trail.

In this way, Agua Caliente was an early adopter of the concept of “preventative search and rescue,” a tactic that southwest national parks are increasingly turning to in an attempt to keep people safe while juggling both increased visitation and increasingly hot days.