How to See the Windmills in Palm Springs!

Have you always been curious about the windmills in Palm Springs? Did you know you can get up close and learn all about them by checking out the Palm Springs Windmill Tour? Read on to get all the details about self-driving windmill tours available now!

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The Windmills in Palm Springs: My Childhood Fascination

If you’ve ever driven to Palm Springs from the LA area, you know that there are some huge windmills dotting the hillside that seem to suddenly appear out of nowhere. I remember seeing these windmills as a kid driving out to visit my uncle. When I found out the windmills generated power? Mind blown! How was this even possible?

As a kid that grew up with NKOTB and Full House, you know that internet was not even a thing. Solar power and wind power were shiny and new concepts to me. I thought these windmills and the science behind them were like something out of the movie, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!” Now, if you don’t know what decade I’m talking about, you can just assume that I’m 21 😉

I suspect that the windmills are every bit as intriguing to kids today. My entire family was excited to get up close to the windmills and finally learn more about them. I was so happy to see they were still just as excited when we got through the tour.

How do I get a tour of the windmills?

Palm Springs Windmill Tours allows you to get up close and see the windmills. New in the era of COVID, you can now drive through the tour in your own car with an audio tour narrating and directing you where to go.

Just make a reservation for your car in one of the 15 minute time slots and you’ll be on your way. The tour is set up so that each car can stop at designated stops and get out to look up close. You will be reminded to allow the party ahead of you to finish up and move on to the next stop before you get out and take your turn. This is a tour that you can be confident will be COVID safe and socially distanced.

What makes the windmill tour entertaining?

Here are just some of the reasons we found the windmill self-driving tour entertaining:

Learning opportunities

There will be no shortage of learning on this tour. In fact, the very first thing we learned was that each blade is 125 feet long and weighs about 14,000 pounds! That is for EACH BLADE. When you stand next to one of these windmills, you can’t help but be in awe.

The tour contains 10 stops total with an additional 2 suggested stops after. During the tour, you will see and learn about the fails and wins on the way to developing the windmill technology we see along the freeway today. There are multiple wind turbine prototypes you will see spanning across the years as evidence of the process required to refine this technology.

Other things you will see include a solar farm, active wind turbine, and a view of the valley of windmills if you head over to the 12th suggested/optional stop.

Picture opportunities

There are so many fun picture ops while driving through the windmills. In fact, the guide that greeted us at the gate even gave us suggestions on a fun TikTok video we could make while in front of the active wind turbine!

My favorite pictures included:

The field of windmills
The breathtaking view of the windmills while parked atop a hill
My daughter with “wings” in front of a fallen old windmill prototype
My car parked in front of the windmills (how many people get to do that?!)
And yes, even a a short video suggested by the guide 😉

Be sure to head to our Instagram and check us out @asocalwayoflife We share some of the fun pictures we got and placed stories in our “Palm Springs highlights.”

Trying a date shake at the Windmill Market

One of the very last suggested stops on the tour is a stop at Windmill Market for a date shake. There are many date farms in this valley and therefore delicious dates are found in the area. We stopped for a date shake at this little market and sat in the nice patio area. The shakes are absolutely delicious and perfect for a hot day!

Bragging rights!

If nothing else, taking a tour of the windmills in Palm Springs is a must do for the bragging rights! How many kids (or even adults) can say they’ve been up close to these beauties? I’m proud to be among the people that can say I finally went and found out what these windmills are all about now that I’m a whopping 21 years old 😉

Is the tour good for families?

I headed out with the entire crew and we were amazed by some of the facts that we learned about windmills and the power generated with them. Even if you have very little ones that do not completely understand the technology being described, I think that they will be amazed to learn things like how many homes just one of those windmills can provide power for.

You can even head to their website for some kid-friendly information about wind power before heading out! You can check it out HERE.

If you’re looking for another great place to go with the family, we HIGHLY recommend you check out our visit to the Aerial Tramway! Check out our post about it here: Palm Springs Aerial Tramway: Visitor Tips!