The Center of the Coachella Valley is Palm Desert, California USA 92210, 92211, 92255, 92260, 92261

Country clubs and villas that double as second homes give Palm Desert the look of a city at rest. In summer when withering heat forces cafe owners to switch on their mist machines and even the rattlesnakes seek shade. Come winter, mild weather brings the outdoors into play, and Palm Desert shows its active side. Just 2 hours from Los Angeles, Palm Desert serves as a weekend escape for those seeking inland adventure. Cyclists and Hikers take to well-marked trails that wind for miles through the surrounding desert. Jeep tours make off-road excursions into the lonely, lunar landscape of nearby Joshua Tree National Park. And then there is golf, of course, on many of the same fairways where pros compete, and scores of available tennis courts. Though sowhat confused with Palm Springs, its older neighbor, Palm Desert has character of its own, with its swank El Paseo shopping district and a range of fine restaurants. The best places draw crowds well into the evening, which is to say that life goes on in Palm Desert, long after the last early-bird special is served.

Friday

5 p.m.
1) Jeep Thrills

Never mind midnight at the oasis. Early evening will do just fine. Take a nighttime Jeep ride into the desert with Desert Adventures (760-324-5337; $69 for two-hour tours; $89 for three hours), the same company that offers daytime tours of Joshua Tree National Park ($99 for four hours; $125 for five hours, lunch included). Temperatures drop quickly when the sun goes down, so wear a hat and jacket as you rumble through terrain where the San Andreas Fault buckles upward and oases sprout like mirages in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Tour guides bring black lights to search for wildlife: fox, coyotes, birds of prey. Scorpions, which glow phosphorescent when illuminated, are hard to come by in winter, but Scorpio stands out in the sky. Borrow a high-power telescope from your guide, who will teach you how to track the constellations. It's a breathtaking vista, one that's lost in the bright lights of city life.

8 p.m.
2) Time to Dine

Bland chain restaurants are as common as cactuses around Palm Desert, but relief from them is never far away. One refuge is Cuistot (72-595 El Paseo; 760-340-1000), a refined French-Californian restaurant featuring the haute cuisine of the city's best-known chef, Bernard Dervieux. Whet your appetite with wild mushroom soup ($11.50) or house-made lobster ravioli ($14.75) before moving on to short ribs braised in cabernet ($33.50). Another option is Castelli's Ristorante (73-098 Highway 111; 760-773-3365), a local hot spot with a Venice-meets-Vegas atmosphere. Rat Pack standards serve as background music. Murals near the entrance depict the drift of gondoliers. The "Godfather's Dinner" ($30), a three-way combo of beef spiedini, shrimp scampi and veal piccata, captures the red sauce ethos of the menu, and the chef, Brian Altman, embodies the spirit of the place. He emerges periodically to greet regulars with a bear hug and backslap.

Saturday

8:30 a.m.
3) Analyze This Swing

Every golfer needs a guru, and a great place to find one is the Marriott's Shadow Ridge resort, home of the Faldo Golf Institute (9002 Shadow Ridge Road; 760-674-2700). Named for the three-time Masters champ Nick Faldo, the institute offers three-hour short-game and full-swing sessions ($225). The sessions include a coupon for a free round of golf at the resort. You'll also get a video of yourself, replete with frame-by-frame analysis by your instructor, who compares your swing side-by-side with Mr. Faldo's. Criticism is constructive only. Hang on to the tape as a helpful reference — or comic relief.

Noon
4) Short-Order Nostalgia

Grab lunch at Keedy's Fountain & Grill (73-633 Highway 111; 760-346-6492), a throwback soda fountain recognized by the city as a local landmark. It's been in business since 1957 and has all the old-fashioned fixings: yellow Formica counters, apron-clad waitresses who call customers "Hon" and straightforward burgers ($4.29) that wash down well with a chocolate malted ($4.25) or a thick date shake ($4.59). Keedy's bills itself as `'a blast from the past," but it makes concessions to the present with the TV's mounted behind the counter, tuned fittingly to the Golf Channel.

1:30 p.m.
5) A Hornbill, a Hyrax

Save time for a leisurely stroll through the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens ($10.95 general admission; 47-900 Portola Avenue; 760-346-5694), a spectacular preserve that pays tribute to the world's most arid landscapes and the plants and animals that make them home. Winding footpaths lead you through 10 desert ecosystems, from East Africa to Madagascar to the American Southwest. Wonderfully exotic wildlife includes the Abyssinian ground hornbill, a prehistoric-looking bird that flies only when disturbed, and the Cape rock hyrax, a woolly cat-size mammal that lives on rocky outcrops but whose distant relative is the elephant. You'll gain fresh appreciation for the adaptability of the coyote at an exhibition devoted to its scat.

4 p.m.
6) Shop Talk

Many an hour and dollar has been spent on El Paseo, often described as Palm Desert's version of Rodeo Drive. You can get it all here: Coach bags, cashmere cardigans, cosmetic surgery. Tommy Bahama's Tropical Café and Emporium (73-595 El Paseo; 760-836-0188), in the Gardens shopping center, has a clothing store downstairs and a restaurant upstairs with umbrella-drink décor. Not to worry. You're here for the view. Grab a seat on the veranda, order a Caribbean Bloody Mary ($7.25) and watch the daylight wane over the desert.

5:30 p.m.
7) Dinner . . .

Not much time to dine, but you won't need it at Casuelas Café (73-703 Highway 111; 760-568-0011), a family-run Mexican restaurant that serves good carnitas ($13.95) and chicken enchiladas ($10.50) in substantial portions and flan that's better if you ask for it without whipped cream ($3.95).

7 p.m.
8) . . . And a Show

Drive a few towns west on Highway 111 to Palm Springs and watch the curtain open on the "Fabulous Palm Springs Follies" at the Historic Plaza Theater (128 South Palm Canyon Drive; 760-327-0225), an acclaimed variety show with a chorus line of "long-legged lovelies." Every member of the cast is over 55. The oldest, Beverly Allen, 87, first performed at age 6 in a show with Mae West. In this, its 14th season, the show pays homage to burlesque, and its feathered female dancers perform a mock striptease. It all moves smoothly in the hands of its impresario and M.C., Riff Markowitz, who's both unabashedly patriotic and politically incorrect.

Sunday

7:30 a.m.
9) Hit the Links

Test your improved swing by cashing in your coupon for a free round of golf at Shadow Ridge (9002 Shadow Ridge Road; 760-674-2700). A lot of desert courses are long on yardage but short on character. Shadow Ridge has both. Mr. Faldo's design has contoured fairways that call out for shaped tee shots. The greens are smooth but deceptive, especially the 13th, which requires a blind approach from the fairway. The 446-yard 18th hole, with a creek flanking the fairway and a pond guarding the green, will send even the best players back to the drawing board.

11:30 a.m.
10) Brunch for the Road

After golf, make your rounds of the Champagne brunch buffet at Agua Caliente Casino ($20.95; 32-250 Bob Hope Drive; 760-321-2000), where slot machines and blackjack tables aren't the only temptation. The brunch, which includes all the Champagne you can drink, is a meal of unapologetic indulgence. The Atkins diet might well have approved of a made-to-order omelet with smoked salmon, roast beef and bacon, but it's unclear where it would stand on the Snickers cheesecake. On your first trip to the buffet, conduct a wide sampling to find your favorites. Use subsequent visits for more surgical strikes. Diet starts on Monday, if at all.

The Basics

Palm Desert is served by the Palm Springs International Airport. Cabs to the downtown area, about 15 miles away, cost about $35, but you will probably do better with a rental car. In light traffic, the drive from Los Angeles to Palm Desert on Interstate 10 takes about two hours. Take the Cook Street or Monterey Avenue exit.

Golfers come in droves to the Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa (74855 Country Club Drive, 760-341-2211), which has two 18-hole Ted Robinson courses. Both have water everywhere. The resort has a full-service spa, swimming pool, health club and 844 rooms, $259 to $425.

One of the city's newest boutique hotels, the Mojave Resort (73721 Shadow Mountain Drive, 800-391-1104), is done up in the retro-chic décor of the 1940's. It is built around a palm-shaded courtyard and offers in-room spa services. Its 24 rooms, including a luxury suite, are $139 to $209