I do not know how many people get to see the Indian Canyons, but it always seems like it is a sightseeing sight overlooked by many. It is off the beaten path so many may not take the drive to the end of Indian Canyon Drive where the entrance booth is. The price of admission is very cheap - $6 an adult. At the booth you are given a brochure, which describes the three major canyons you can choose to explore. There is the Palm Canyons, Andreas Canyons, and Murray Canyons. You can choose just one or all depending upon the time and energy that you have.We decided upon the Palm Canyons first. At the top of the descent is a trading post, which you can browse through for unique gifts or to delay the hike if you are so inclined. At some point, you check your water supply and if your camera is set, off you go. I usually take a picture of the start (when I am fresh and excited about hiking) and one at the end (when I am barely moving and asking myself why I ever thought I was in shape to do a hike of this difficulty)!
The good news about Palm Canyons is that the first descent is down steep "stairs", and then you can choose to take only the easy (pretty straight) trails rather than steeper trails within the "network" of trails. There are several picture-taking items of note: of course the miles of palm trees, the waterfalls, and other vegetation. You can hike as long as you want, but as I get older, I turn around sooner than later (I think it is billed as 15 miles long, but we have NEVER made it to the end).
After the Palm Canyons we returned to our car and then drove to the fork for the Andreas Canyon and Murray Canyon. However, in looking at the maps and all of the rock ledges (that I remember climbing in the past), we decided to reminisce about the beauty of those canyons and skip the actual hiking.
There is another canyon, the Tahquitz Canyon that has just opened to the public, which we might try next time. See info about the canyons by visiting the following web site:
palmsprings.com (has map and other info).