In 2011, William and Lillian Vanderzalm contacted Shields Date Gardens with a wonderful opportunity. The Vanderzalm’s owned a biblical garden in Vancouver, Canada. They had recently sold the property and were looking to relocate the statues to the Palm Springs area.

The details were finalized and on March 1, 2011. Shield’s horticulture and landscape team then began construction.

The Garden was open on a limited basis October 2012 and fully completed October 2013. The garden path winds through our 17 acre date farm. It depicts 14 scenes and includes 23 statues that chronologized Christ’s life.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

The world’s largest rotating tram car—travels over two-and-one-half miles along the breathtaking cliffs of Chino Canyon, transporting riders to the pristine wilderness of the Mt. San Jacinto State Park.

During your approximately ten-minute journey, tram cars rotate slowly, offering picturesque and spectacular vistas of the valley floor below.

Once you reach the Mountain Station—elevation 8,516 feet—enjoy two restaurants, observation decks, natural history museum, two documentary theaters, gift shop and over 50 miles of hiking trails.

Lively Downtown Palm Springs is a compact hub that draws crowds with eclectic shops, the Walk of Stars, and the Palm Springs Art Museum, home to 2 sculpture gardens and a performing arts theater. Farm-to-table bistros, classic Italian restaurants, and bars with live music and drag shows bring evening crowds, while weekly night market VillageFest has stalls with art, vinyl, gourmet foods, and crafts.

The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens has been a beloved institution in Southern California for over 50 years. An Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoo and botanical garden, The Living Desert represents the desert environments of North America, Australia, and Africa with more than 150 species, 1,200 protected acres, and miles of hiking trails.

Where Two Deserts Meet

Two distinct desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, come together in Joshua Tree National Park. A fascinating variety of plants and animals make their homes in a land sculpted by strong winds and occasional torrents of rain. Dark night skies, a rich cultural history, and surreal geologic features add to the wonder of this vast wilderness in southern California. Come explore for yourself!

After arriving in Niland, CA, Leonard finally gave up on his dream of a hot air balloon, but not the dream of spreading his message. In one last attempt to promote his message, Knight began erecting a small 8’ monument of his balloon. After completing it and realizing it wasn’t big enough, he got a bigger idea! Armed with only a bucket, a shovel, and a half a bag of cement, Knight began to create what would become Salvation Mountain along that same ledge.

As time went on, Knight added more cement, sand, and junk that he collected from the dump. After the cement, clay and debris were added, Knight would then decorate the mountain with painted artwork. The mountain featured his famous “God Is Love” and his version of the Sinner’s Prayer.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Each day, Leonard would put a little more cement and a little more paint on the side of a forgotten riverbank. As his monument grew taller and taller, he would pack old junk he found at the dump onto the side of his “mountain,” fill it with sand and cover it with cement and paint. Cement was hard to come by, so he would mix a lot of sand into it. Leonard’s mountain soon grew to 50 feet and higher.

“I used to spend half a day at the dump to find half a gallon of paint of which only half was usable.” recalled Leonard.

After three years, Knight had added so much sand to the mountain that it collapsed in a huge pile of rubble creating a huge cloud of dust. Instead of accepting defeat, Knight’s optimism once again prevailed as he took the collapse as a positive message from God. Knight reportedly said, “Thank you, God, for taking the mountain down before someone got hurt”. He vowed to begin the monument again, but this time it would be done the “right way”.