Dos Palmas Spring

Dos Palmas Spring, an artesian oasis at the foot of California’s Orocopia Mountains, long served as a crucial watering place in the Salton Sink for Native Americans traveling between the Colorado River and Southern California. Its reliable water also made it an important camp on desert routes leading toward Yuma. Beginning in 1862, it became a stop on the Bradshaw Trail for gold seekers and other travelers heading to Arizona mining districts, and a stage stop was established there. The site is also associated with Herman Ehrenberg’s murder in 1866 and a short-lived post office in 1877. Today it lies within the 14,000-acre Dos Palmas Preserve, protecting a wetland refuge for rare desert species.

California · United States