If you drive along I-10 in southern California, for miles it looks like parched earth where no living thing could possibly dwell Red Jeep tours takes you to magical places that reveal a world of teeming, blossoming, thriving life, in that very desert you thought empty (Red Jeep supplies plenty of bottled water in that desert!)
In jeeps that are indeed red (very red!), you head off I-10 and deep into the desert world to see how Nature has provided an endless supply cool, clear water for birds, kit fox, coyotes, rabbits (and many other small rodents), bob-cats, snakes, lizards, and, in the higher country, bighorn sheep; you'll see a hidden, thriving eco-system made possible by that living water.
Not for the casual tourist, these are open-air jeeps (if you go in the summer, take the morning tour; if you go in the winter, take the afternoon tour), and the terrain is rocky and dusty (much like a desert...). The good news is that the sights you get to see are all pretty much on level ground, with several options for some fairly easy short walks off the path up gentle slopes through gorgeous rock formations.
Be sure to ask for the tour-driver Donna - a love for, and vast knowledge of, the desert "secrets" combines with a fun and happy personality, making the tour not just a dry look at desert history, but a very rewarding experience.
One of the best features? We never felt "rushed" or hurried.....you probably remember some place you went, or tour you took, where the tour stops were timed to the second, or the guide would say just a few words about what you were looking at and then move quickly off, or you were at the back of 30 or 40 people and never even knew what it was you were supposed to be seeing! None of that with Red Jeep: i was one of four people in the tour, Donna let us ask as many questions as we wanted (and she had the answers), she let us look to our hearts' content, and never once said All right everyone, back in the bus! The tour pace was as relaxed and peaceful as the beautiful scenery around us.
Final note: i had just bought some fairly expensive sun-screen for the trip...the tube was not in my pocket when i got to the hotel: the office manager, Emily, miraculously found it in the jeep i'd toured in, then dropped it by my hotel on her lunch hour the next day! Talk about going the extra mile!
Don't just speed past the desert on a highway......take the tour that will take you into the proverbial and fascinating Living Desert.