Desert Hot Springs is a city in

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

, United States. The city is located within the

Coachella Valley The Coachella Valley ( ) is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County. The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic promine ...

geographic region. The population was 32,512 as of the 2020 census, up from 25,938 at the 2010 census. The city has experienced rapid growth since the 1970s when there were 2,700 residents. The city is commonly referred to by its initials, DHS. It is named for its many natural

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s.Howells, John (2015). ''Where to Retire: America’s Best & Most Affordable Places''. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 70. . It is one of several places in the world with naturally occurring hot and cold mineral springs.Desert Hot Springs Historical Society (2014). ''Desert Hot Springs''. Arcadia Publishing (Images of America). . More than 20 natural mineral spring lodgings can be found in town.Vokac, David and Joan (2017). ''Desert Hot Springs, California: Spa Town, U.S.A.'' Westphalia Press. p. 3. . Unlike hot springs with high sulfur content, the mineral springs in town are odorless.

History

The only people residing in areas north of

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

before the 20th century were the Cahuilla Indians in the village of Seven Palms. Although Cahuilla people never settled permanently in today's Desert Hot Springs, they often camped here during winter times due to the warm climate. According to early homesteader and writer Cabot Yerxa in his newspaper columns published in The ''Desert Sentinel'' newspaper, the first homesteader in the area of the city of Desert Hot Springs was Hilda Maude Gray, who staked her claim in 1908. Cabot Yerxa arrived in 1913 and soon discovered the hot water aquifer on Miracle Hill. Due to the Mission Creek Branch of the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...

bisecting the area, one side is a cold water aquifer, the other has a hot water aquifer. His large Pueblo Revival Style architecture structure, hand built over 20 years, is now one of the oldest adobe-style buildings in Riverside County and houses Cabot's Pueblo Museum, designated a state historical site after his death in 1965. Cabot's Trading Post & Gallery opened there in February 2008. The town was founded by L. W. Coffee on July 12, 1941. The original town site was centered at the intersection of Palm Drive and Pierson Boulevard and was only one square mile. Coffee chose the name Desert Hot Springs because of the area's natural

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

. Desert Hot Springs became a

tourist destination A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beau ...

in the 1950s because of its small spa hotels and

boutique hotel Boutique hotels are small-capacity Hotel, hotels that provide more personalized service than typical hotels. They typically have fewer than a hundred rooms, and are considered more "trendy" and "intimate", often due to their location in urban ar ...

s. The city is popular with "

snowbirds Snowbird may refer to: Places * Snowbird, Utah, an unincorporated area and associated ski resort in the United States * Snowbird Lake, a lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada * Snowbird Glacier, a hanging alpine glacier in the Talkeetna Moun ...

." Realtors arrived to speculate, and thousands of lots were laid out over a six-square mile area. Some homes were bought by retirees, and the area was incorporated as a city in 1963, with 1,000 residents. Desert Hot Springs experienced periods of significant growth in the 1980s and 1990s when most of the vacant lots were filled with new houses and duplex apartments. The city's population doubled in the 1980s and increased by 5,000 in the 2000 census. Desert Hot Springs was the first city in Southern California to legalize medical marijuana cultivation and has since been overwhelmed by marijuana developers and growers. It was later featured in a CNBC special as California's first city to permit the commercial cultivation of marijuana in 2014.

Geography

Before the development of the city began in the 1930s, Desert Hot Springs was a treeless place in California's Colorado Desert. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which 98.73% is land, and 1.27% is water. Desert Hot Springs is nestled between two mountain ranges:

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

and

San Jacinto Mountains The San Jacinto Mountains ()Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. are a mountain range in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles in southern California i ...

. It is located just south of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...

. It is located in the

Colorado Desert The Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to ...

region of the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

Climate

Desert Hot Springs has a

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

BWh) similar to the rest of the Coachella Valley, with less than six inches of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

per year. Summers are very hot with days frequently exceeding in July and August while night-time lows tend to stay between . The winters are mild with days typically seeing temperatures between and corresponding night-time lows between . Heat waves during the summer months involving temperatures higher than are not unusual. Summer winds and the higher elevation keep Desert Hot Springs on average 5–7 degrees cooler than other communities in Coachella Valley. However, the winter season can be warmer due to the surrounding mountains blocking north winds. Since it lies at a higher elevation than the cities further south, cold air drains into the lower elevation of the

, which results in warmer night-time lows, producing an example of

thermal inversion In meteorology, an inversion (or temperature inversion) is a phenomenon in which a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air. Normally, air temperature gradually decreases as altitude increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inver ...

Geology

The Mission Creek Fault, a branch of the San Andreas, separates two

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

s. On one side, the Desert Hot Springs Sub- Basin contains an aquifer with hot water. This aquifer supports the area's spas and resorts. Mission Springs Sub- basin, on the other side of the fault, the Miracle Creek sub-basin has cold water. This aquifer provides fresh water to the city and has received awards for exceptional taste.

Demographics

2020

From having 20 residents in 1941, Desert Hot Springs had 32,000 residents in 2020. The 2020 United States census reported that Desert Hot Springs had a population of 32,512. The population density was . The racial makeup of Desert Hot Springs was 34.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.1%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 2.4% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.2%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 35.7% from other races, and 17.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 61.2% of the population. The census reported that 99.4% of the population lived in households, 0.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.1% were institutionalized. There were 10,608 households, out of which 41.2% included children under the age of 18, 39.3% were married-couple households, 10.1% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 29.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 21.5% had a male householder with no partner present. 22.6% of households were one person, and 9.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.05. There were 7,392

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(69.7% of all households). The age distribution was 28.2% under the age of 18, 9.7% aged 18 to 24, 27.4% aged 25 to 44, 22.6% aged 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 33.0years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. There were 11,595 housing units at an average density of , of which 10,608 (91.5%) were occupied. Of these, 49.4% were owner-occupied, and 50.6% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 23.8% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 50.3% spoke only English at home, 46.8% spoke

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, 1.3% spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, and 1.5% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 81.0% were high school graduates and 15.9% had a bachelor's degree. The median household income was $50,349, and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $23,980. About 15.5% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Desert Hot Springs had a population of 25,938. The population density was . The racial makeup of Desert Hot Springs was 15,053 (58.0%)

(34.4% Non-Hispanic White), 2,133 (8.2%)

, 357 (1.4%) Native American, 675 (2.6%) Asian, 84 (0.3%)

, 6,343 (24.5%) from other races, and 1,293 (5.0%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 13,646 persons (52.6%). The Census reported that 25,820 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 118 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 8,650 households, out of which 3,713 (42.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,468 (40.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,603 (18.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 711 (8.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 843 (9.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 206 (2.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,071 households (23.9%) were made up of individuals, and 691 (8.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98. There were 5,782

(66.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.59. The ages of the resident population range from 8,064 people (31.1%) under the age of 18, 2,712 people (10.5%) aged 18 to 24, 6,893 people (26.6%) aged 25 to 44, 5,781 people (22.3%) aged 45 to 64, to 2,488 people (9.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 98.4 males. There were 10,902 housing units at an average density of , of which 4,166 (48.2%) were owner-occupied, and 4,484 (51.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 8.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 16.6%. 11,533 people (44.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units, and 14,287 people (55.1%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Desert Hot Springs had a median household income of $32,883, with 28.6% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Diversity

Desert Hot Springs has a diverse population. Several racial or ethnic groups live there, with the largest group being of Mexican and

Central American Central America is a Subregion#North America, subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Ce ...

ancestry. There is a

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

ethnic section of the city at 8th Street and Cholla Drive. Thousands of

American Jews American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

made the city their home. According to the Desert Chapter of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

(NAACP), the city's population is over 10 percent

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

or Black. The city has a high proportion of Native Americans, most of whom are members of the

Cahuilla The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. ...

tribe in proximity to the Agua Caliente Cahuilla tribal board in Palm Springs. A large percentage of the city population is LGBTQ.

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Desert Hot Springs is in , and in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Desert Hot Springs is in . The 25th District covers most of the desert communities of Indio, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, and Cathedral City. Desert Hot Springs is in the Riverside County Supervisor 4th District.

City government

Desert Hot Springs is served by a five-member City Council: Mayor Scott Matas and Council Members Jan Pye, Russell Betts, Roger Nunez and Gary Gardner. Council members and the Mayor serve four-year terms. It operates as city manager form or government. Desert Hot Springs's outlying areas include non-county areas of Desert Hot Springs and nearby communities of Desert Edge, Sky Valley and North Palm Springs. On the western perimeter of the city (within city limits) are the newer master-planned communities of Mountain View Country Estates and Skyborne. Adjacent to Mountain View Country Estates is the older master-planned community of Mission Lakes Country Club in unincorporated Riverside County.

Public safety

The city of Desert Hot Springs contracts for fire and paramedic services with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with

CAL FIRE The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as CAL FIRE, is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various are ...

. Desert Hot Springs has their own municipal police department. In two separate municipal ballot measures, Desert Hot Springs residents approved a utility users tax and a public safety tax by majorities of over 75 percent. Both measures provide added funding to the police department and other public safety services.

Economy

The city is home to windmill farms in the west and also by the

San Gorgonio Pass The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation Gap (landform), gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Faul ...

. The growing use of solar power accompanied by many windmills make Desert Hot Springs a leading city in renewable energy. The main economy is based on spas, which are mostly owner-operated. The mild climate and hot springs make it a popular tourist destination.

Municipal bankruptcy

In 2001 the town filed for a Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was resolved in 2004 by selling municipal bonds when it faced a legal judgmentThe city issued $12.78 million in 40-year bonds to pay a $10.85 million debt. Of that amount, $8.85 million was paid to Silver Sage Partners, Ltd., which had successfully sued the city for discrimination under the Federal

Fair Housing Act The Civil Rights Act of 1968 () is a Lists of landmark court decisions, landmark law in the United States signed into law by President of the United States, United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots. Titles ...

, and $2 million was paid to other creditors. The remainder was put into the general fund or used for other purposes. of almost $6 million.

Hot mineral water spas

Desert Hot Springs is home to a number of hot

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. It is usually still, but may be sparkling ( carbonated/ effervescent). Traditionally, mineral waters were used or consumed at t ...

spas. During the 1950s and 1960s, the town had over 80 spa hotels. From the late 1990s to the present a number of these

s have been renovated and revived. With their

mid-century modern Mid-century modern (MCM) is a movement in interior design, product design, graphic design, architecture and urban development that was present in all the world, but more popular in North America, Brazil and Europe from roughly 1945 to 197 ...

architecture, they appeal to those wanting a unique hotel/spa experience. Some of the better-known spa hotels in Desert Hot Springs include: * The Miracle Springs Resort & Spa, which has been the filming location for multiple movie productions, including ''

Mulholland Falls ''Mulholland Falls'' is a 1996 American neo-noir Crime film, crime Thriller (genre), thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori, written by Pete Dexter, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michae ...

'', '' Senior Moment'', and '' Hot Springs Hotel''. * The Two Bunch Palms Resort, which was used as a 1992 filming location for the movie '' The Player''. * The Desert Hot Springs Hotel and Spa, which was featured on '' California's Gold'' In 2001 by

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...

Productions, in association with

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

/Los Angeles.

Modernist architecture

At one time, there were 43 small spas (6 to 10 guest rooms) in the city. Some were located atop the hot water aquifer on Miracle Hill, where Cabot Yerxa, one of the early settlers, lived. His home is now Cabot's Pueblo Museum. Across the street is Miracle Manor Retreat, built in 1949, one of the first spas in town. It was built by the Martin Family, who eventually sold it in 1981 to a local legend, Lois Blackhill. Upon her death in 1996, her family sold it in 1997 to two longtime regulars and close friends of Blackhill's, trans-media designer April Greiman and architect-educator

Michael Rotondi Michael Rotondi (born June 26, 1949) is an American architect and educator. He has been a member of two international practices (Morphosis from 1976-1991, and RoTo Architects 1991–present, which he founded). He attended the Southern Californi ...

, who restored it to its original state. The Desert Hot Springs Motel, designed by architect John Lautner is located just outside the city limits. The motel was purchased and restored in 2000 by Steven Lowe. In 2006 the architectural firm of Marmol Radziner + Associates designed a

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

prefab home featured in the November 2006 issue of '' Dwell'' magazine. The home served as a

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

for the firm's efforts to develop a series of prefab homes.

Media

The '' Desert Star Weekly'' newspaper is published in the city.

Education

The vast majority of Desert Hot Springs is in the Palm Springs Unified School District. The city territory extends into the Banning Unified School District. Desert Hot Springs High School, of the Palm Springs district, opened in 1999.

Culture

* Museums: Cabot's Pueblo Museum named for Cabot Yerxa.

Notable people

Although never a resident,

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

occasionally visited the spas in Desert Hot Springs. She spent a week in the town shortly before her death. * John L. Gaunt, photographer *

Janet Gaynor Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American actress. She began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century-Fox) in 1926, she ...

, actress * Gus Henderson, football coach * Knute Hill, Democratic politician *

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American writer and satirist. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine ''The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a key figure in t ...

, author, journalist, comedian * Noel Langley, South African novelist * Robert McAlmon, author * Jerome Storm, film director * Joan Woodbury, actress * Rick Zumwalt, wrestler

Wildlife

Desert Hot Springs lies just south of large nature preserves such as Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and

. Surrounding areas are home to a number of species adapted for the desert climate and temperature extremes. Species include pronghorns,

desert bighorn sheep The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The ...

desert tortoise The desert tortoise (''Gopherus agassizii'') is a species of tortoise in the Family (biology), family Testudinidae. The species is native to the Mojave Desert, Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico ...

, kit fox, desert iguana,

horned lizard ''Phrynosoma'', whose members are known as the horned lizards, horny toads, or horntoads, is a genus of North American lizards and the type genus of the Family (biology), family Phrynosomatidae. Their common names refer directly to their horns or ...

chuckwalla Chuckwallas are lizards found primarily in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Some are found on coastal islands. The five species of chuckwallas are all placed within the genus ''Sauromalus''; they are part of th ...

, roadrunners,

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

s, raptors and

Gila monster The Gila monster (''Heloderma suspectum'', ) is a species of venomous lizard native to the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexico, Mexican state of Sonora. It is a heavy, slow-moving reptile, up to long, and it is the only ve ...

s. Although black bears are not common here, a bear was sighted on Palm Drive and Dillon Road in October 2010.

References

Informational notes Citations Further reading * – a partial compilation of Yerxa's commentaries and articles published in the Desert Hot Springs ''Desert Sentinel'' from 1951 to 1957 * (republished 2008) * * *

External links

*
Desert Hot Springs Historical Society
{{Authority control 1963 establishments in California Cities in Riverside County, California Coachella Valley Government units that have filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1941 Populated places established in 1963 Populated places in the Colorado Desert Spa towns in California Chicano and Mexican neighborhoods in California