Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, approximately 111 miles (177 km) east of Los Angeles and 136 miles (225 km) northeast of San Diego.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 42,807. Golf, swimming, tennis, horseback riding and hiking in the nearby desert and mountain areas are other major forms of recreation in Palm Springs.

It is one of nine adjacent cities that make up the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area). The area code for Palm Springs is 760. The ZIP codes for Palm Springs are 92262 through 92264.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Palm Springs has a total area of 95.1 square miles (246.3 km²), of which, 94.2 square miles (244.1 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.2 km²) of it (0.88%) is water.

Palm Springs is sheltered by the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the north, the Santa Rosa Mountains to the south, and the San Jacinto Mountains to the west. This geography gives Palm Springs its hot, dry climate, with 354 days of sunshine and less than 6 inches (150 mm) of rain annually. Winter temperatures average in the 70s with nights in the low-to-mid 40s, but the dry desert heat of summer pushes daytime temperatures well above 100, with overnight temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s.

Average seasonal temperatures:

• January: Daytime highs of 70 °F (21 °C), with overnight lows of 40 °F (4 °C)
• April: Daytime highs of 87 °F (31 °C), with overnight lows of 52 °F (11 °C)
• July: Daytime highs of 108 °F (42 °C), with overnight lows of 73 °F (23 °C)
• October: Daytime highs of 91 °F (33 °C), with overnight lows of 57 °F (14 °C)