![]() Nevertheless, the area is extraordinarily beautiful, especially during a good wildflower year in the spring and summer. These features are subtle and harder to see on the ground. Besides the dramatic fault itself, a bird's-eye view reveals stream beds that have been offset by the fault's movement, hills torn apart in the middle, and sagging bits of the earth's surface. Geologists swoon over this bit of California geology. Yet nearly everyone has seen the classic image of the San Andreas Fault taken from the air at Carrizo Plain. At Soda Lake, the fault runs just at the bottom of the hillside beyond the water. Highway 101, the Carrizo Plain National Monument is one of California's least-visited sights, with many state residents unaware of its existence. In the summertime, you can take the Nightwatch Adventure, which covers much of the same terrain and ends with a spectacular look at the evening sky. Desert Adventures' San Andreas Fault Adventure will take you through the desert and into the canyons and oases along the fault, going right up to a spot where the Pacific and North American geological plates intersect. You can see an oasis (and stand directly over the fault line) at 1000 Palms Canyon in the Coachella Valley Preserve in the town of Thousand Palms.Īll those little cracks also give rise to hot mineral springs. Most of them are located around the town of Desert Hot Springs.Īn even better way to get up close to the fault near Palm Springs is to take a jeep tour with a knowledgeable guide. ![]() Underground fissures caused by the faults give underground water an easy route to the surface and are responsible for the many desert oases found along the east side of the Coachella Valley. The monolithic geological feature fractured into many smaller ones running in various directions. Near Palm Springs, the San Andreas Fault is less well defined than further north. The mud pots near the Salton Sea are a result of its action, but your best bet to see the Southern San Andreas Fault is at Palm Springs. The San Andreas Fault begins near the Salton Sea, runs north along the San Bernardino Mountains, crosses Cajon Pass, and then runs along the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles.
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