Thermal, CA
Named for Jacqueline Cochran — the most decorated woman pilot in US history. First woman to break the sound barrier (1953, in an F-86 over Edwards), founder and director of the WASP, first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic, holder of more speed/distance/altitude records than any pilot of any gender during her lifetime. Cochran lived on a date ranch nearby. The field sits in the Coachella Valley at -114ft elevation — one of the lowest airports in the US. The Salton Sea is 22nm SE, a slowly evaporating accidental inland sea. Palm Springs and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden are 20-30 minutes by car. KTRM is the alternate to crowded KPSP Palm Springs and handles corporate and GA traffic.
Where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet — an alien landscape of granite monoliths and twisted Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia, named by 19th-century Mormon settlers). 800,000 acres of dark-sky preserve. Spectacular from 4,500-6,500ft AGL — the rock formations cast long shadows at golden hour. Pilots flying Palm Springs to Las Vegas often take a detour over Skull Rock and Hidden Valley.
One of the world's largest collections of flyable WWII aircraft, sitting on the edge of the field at Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley. The difference from most museums is that these airplanes still fly — and inside the air-conditioned hangars there are no ropes; you walk right up to a P-51, a B-17, a Bearcat, a Corsair. The collection runs from WWII through Korea and Vietnam, the docents are often veterans, and on a given weekend you might see one of the warbirds fire up and take to the desert sky over the valley.
Created by accident in 1905 when an irrigation canal breach flooded the Imperial Valley for two years, filling a prehistoric dry lake bed 226 feet below sea level. For decades it was a Hollywood resort destination — Sinatra played Bombay Beach. Today it's a slowly evaporating, salt-encrusted relic with abandoned resorts, an ecosystem in collapse, and an eerie post-apocalyptic beauty unlike anywhere else in California. Bombay Beach has become an art-installation enclave. From the air, the bright blue water, salt-rimmed shores, and ghostly resort skeletons are unforgettable.
California's largest state park — 600,000 acres of badlands, slot canyons, palm oases, and Anza-Borrego's famous metal sculptures by artist Ricardo Breceda (life-size dinosaurs, dragons, and a 350-foot-long sea serpent that crosses a desert road). Spring wildflower bloom (March-April) is a major event when winter rain has been adequate. Borrego Valley Airport (L08, private) is on-site; pilots based at KSEE (Gillespie Field) can be at the springs in 25 minutes.