We were thinking of seeing Palm Springs for the day & going on the cable car.
Is is worth driving from LA to do this. Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Denise

I would either recommend staying overnight in Palm Springs or Palm Desert, there is a wonderful Marriot resort in Palm Desert, it would make your trip more worthwhile. I would not suggest doing a day trip to Palm Springs.

In a word, YES !! Drive time from LA to Palm Springs should be about 2-1/2-3 hrs if I remember correctly.

We live in the L.A. Area and do day trips to Palm Springs very often. It is only about 2 hrs. away. It is nice to spend the night there too. But, you can do a day trip.

The aerial tram up the San Jacinto Mountains is awesome and well worth the drive. However it may not be running at thi time. It was shut down for awhile and I do not know if it has reopened. Make sure that you check first before heading overs to PS.

Dear Denise:
The aerial tram was closed for a while for the installation of new cable cars. It should have reopened by now.
For the latest update, go to
http://www.pstramway.com/facts/geninfo.html
By the way, you'll really enjoy the drive a lot more if you go to Palm Springs by way of the mountains on CA 74.

the new tram cars are being installed this summer. The tram is operating as it always does. The only time it ever ceases operations is in August for scheduled maintenance (other than the new cars which will shut it down all summer this year) or in bad weather/wind conditions. It is a great ride.

Agree that as a day trip it's too far. Take the mountain route (scenic but slower) spend the night and go back via highway. Given unpredictable traffic and construction 2-3 hours can easily get stretched and make for a very long day.