Right now, the peak that shapes the skyline behind Indian Wells sits closed. It has been since May 31, and it will stay that way for another seven weeks. Then, on October 1, the gate at the base of Eisenhower Mountain opens again, and the loop trails that climb its western flank become the closest thing this city has to a hiking season kickoff.
What makes the trail worth knowing, beyond the calendar, is how strange the access actually is. You cannot park at a trailhead off Highway 74 and start walking, the way you can for most of the Coachella Valley's canyon hikes. You have to walk through a zoo first.
The Only Trailhead in the Valley Behind a Ticket Booth
The Eisenhower Mountain trail system sits inside The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, the 1,200-acre park on Portola Avenue in Palm Desert. The mountain itself, and most of the trail, is technically within Indian Wells city limits, but the only way in is through the zoo's front gate. That means a paid admission or membership before your boots touch dirt, and a trailhead gate that closes at 4:00pm regardless of how much daylight is left.
This is not how the rest of the valley works. Trails off Highway 74, like the ones through Carrizo Canyon and Dead Indian Canyon, use a public parking lot at the Art Smith Trailhead, across from the Santa Rosa-San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center, with no zoo gate or ticket window between the car and the canyon. Eisenhower Mountain doesn't work that way, and it's easy for a resident who has hiked the rest of the valley to assume this trail follows the same rules. It doesn't, and showing up without admission in hand is the fastest way to turn a planned hike into a wasted morning.
Three Loops, One Mountain, and a Fault Line Along the Way
Once you're through the gate, the system breaks into three named loops of increasing commitment. The Discovery Loop is a half mile, flat and short enough to do with kids before or after a zoo visit. The Adventure Loop stretches to a mile and a half and stays mostly on the valley floor. The Wilderness Loop is the real hike: five miles, roughly 700 feet of elevation gain, climbing into a rocky wash before switching back along a ridge.
The Wilderness Loop is also where the trail earns its reputation. Partway up, a short side path leads to an interpretive stop overlooking the San Andreas Fault, which runs in a visible line across the valley floor toward Indio and Desert Hot Springs. Higher up, near 1,000 feet, a shaded picnic shelter marks the trail's high point, with Eisenhower Mountain's summit rising just beyond it and views back down over Indian Wells and Palm Desert. From here, the return leg descends through a boulder-strewn draw, the same stretch where hikers most often report spotting bighorn sheep working their way along the rock walls.
Dogs aren't permitted on any of the three loops, which is worth knowing before you plan a hike with one. The zoo's own restriction lines up with the same protective posture the valley takes toward its bighorn population elsewhere, even if the reasoning behind it is a little different depending on which trail you're standing on.
Same Reopening Date, Two Different Reasons
October 1 isn't unique to Eisenhower Mountain. It's also the day Carrizo Canyon and Dead Indian Canyon reopen after their own summer closures, and it's tempting to assume all three trails are following the same rule. They're not, and the distinction matters if you're deciding which hike to prioritize once the gate swings open.
The Living Desert's closure is tied to its own operating calendar. Every October 1, the park returns to its standard 8:00am to 5:00pm daily schedule, with last admission at 4:00pm, and the hiking trails reopen as part of that same annual reset.
Carrizo Canyon and Dead Indian Canyon close for a different reason entirely. Both trails sit in Peninsular bighorn sheep habitat, and the sheep have been listed as endangered since 1998. Their closure during the spring lambing season and again through summer exists so the herd can reach its water sources without human or canine traffic in the way. The Bighorn Institute, which monitors several herds across the valley including the population near La Quinta, has documented new lambs across its study herds as recently as this year, a reminder that the conservation stakes behind these seasonal closures are active and ongoing, not a formality carried over from decades past.
Knowing the difference means knowing what to expect if a hot October delays anything. A late heat wave might push back the zoo's return to full hours by a few days. It won't move the bighorn sheep's water needs, which means Carrizo and Dead Indian Canyon are the trails more likely to reopen exactly on schedule no matter what the thermometer says in the first week of October.
The Mountain Was Named for a Neighbor
There's a reason the peak carries a president's name, and it has nothing to do with a plaque installed after the fact for tourism value. Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower spent winters at the base of the mountain after his retirement in 1961, golfing and wintering in what was then a much quieter stretch of desert. Locals started calling it Eisenhower's Mountain long before it was official, and the name wasn't federally recognized until 1973, with Mamie Eisenhower's consent secured as part of the process.
That same year, The Living Desert received permission from the Bureau of Land Management to build a trail up the mountain's west slope. The City of Indian Wells bought the 640-acre slope from the federal government for $2.50 an acre, folding it into The Living Desert's holdings to keep it protected rather than developed. The trail was dedicated on October 14, 1976, deliberately timed to Eisenhower's birthday, and that same day marked the start of a 69-year lease of the land to The Living Desert, an agreement that still governs how the mountain is managed today.
It's a piece of civic history that most residents driving past the peak every day have never had reason to look into, but it explains why a mountain named for a former president sits inside a zoo's boundary instead of a national park's, and why the city itself had a direct hand in preserving it.
Getting There This Fall
If you're planning to be on the Wilderness Loop the first week it reopens, a few practical notes make the difference between a good morning and a rough one. Admission or membership is required before you reach the trailhead, and the gate closes at 4:00pm sharp, so plan a start time that gives you real margin, especially on the five-mile loop. Early October in the Coachella Valley still runs warm, so a sunrise start beats a midday one every time. Leave the dog at home. And if the goal is simply to be outside before the rest of the valley's calendar fills back in for the season, Eisenhower Mountain's reopening is as good a marker as any that the quiet stretch of summer is ending and the valley's outdoor routines are about to start up again.
For residents thinking about what else changes as the season turns, from the country club calendars to the rhythms of daily life in the surrounding communities, Kathleen Galigher has spent years tracking how Indian Wells and the wider Coachella Valley move through the year. Let's Connect if you'd like a local's read on what the season ahead looks like.
