Anza-Borrego State Park

Distance: 99 Miles

If you’re taking the drive to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park you might want to just make a camping trip out of it. There are plenty of places to park an RV or trailer, or you can basically pitch a tent anywhere. Camping will allow you to explore more of the park by going further in, check out various hiking trails, climb rocks, shine a flashlight into a cave or two, and experience the star filled sky mentioned earlier.

When visiting the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park be sure to keep in mind that visiting in the fall versus winter may present you with different wildlife, beautiful flora, and different weather conditions. It’s really worth visiting the park in different seasons just to explore the differences. One thing remains, the park is large, rugged, and more than one can really explore in a lifetime –and like mentioned earlier, it really is a world by itself.

Palm Desert Center

UCR Palm Desert expands the reach of University of California, Riverside into one of the fastest growing regions of California, the Coachella Valley. Established as a teaching and research center in 2005, UCR Palm Desert is a catalyst for diversification by providing relevant regional research, offering innovative academic programs that attract and retain world class talent to the region, convening and creating partnerships that advance the public good, and enriching the cultural life of the community.

For more than a decade, UCR’s Palm Desert Center has organized hundreds of lectures, conversations, art shows, movie screenings, and other life-enhancing programs – mostly for free – all while teaching others and conducting renowned research.

Our mission from the beginning has been to provide cultural and life-long learning offerings to the entire desert community. We continue to be committed to that mission.

• We curate more than 60 free public lectures in numerous academic fields, bringing together our community with the extraordinary intellectual wealth of UC Riverside’s faculty to explore, discuss, and deepen our understanding of the world around us.

• We conduct environmental research in Coachella Valley locations, such as the Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, the Salton Sea, Snow Creek and other biologically diverse locations.

• UCR Extension offers a wealth of certificate programs that help educate professionals in the Coachella Valley.

• UCR’s nationally acclaimed Low-Residency MFA program in creative writing provides a springboard for emerging writers to jump-start their careers in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, television and screenwriting.

California State University, San Bernardino is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in Inland Southern California. Opened in 1965 and set at the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, the university serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.

The “value added” by a CSUSB education ranks in the top 4 percent in the nation, according to the Collegiate Learning Assessment, a sequence of tests used by hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide that measure student learning in the freshman and then in the senior year. First-to-second year retention rates are third highest among all CSU campuses.

CSUSB reflects the dynamic diversity of the region and has the most diverse student population of any university in the Inland Empire, and it has the second highest African American and Hispanic enrollments of all public universities in California. Seventy percent of those who graduate are the first in their families to do so.

The university offers more than 70 traditional baccalaureate and master’s degree programs, education credential and certificate programs, and a doctoral program. In recent years, CSUSB added its first doctorate (educational leadership), engineering program (computer science and engineering) and M.F.A. programs in creative writing and studio art/design. Every CSUSB academic program that is eligible has earned national accreditation. The university also is home to the California Professor of the Year (Stuart Sumida).

Cal State San Bernardino has seen records in enrollment, diversity of faculty and students, grant and contract funding, overhead funds, fundraising and international programs development. CS u SB ranks as the second-safest among all 33 public universities in California.

43-500

We’re one of the fastest-growing community colleges in California. From Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs in the west to Indio and Mecca/ Thermal in the east, with our Palm Desert Campus in the middle, we’re committed to helping you reach your education- and careeroriented goals throughout the Coachella Valley.

That commitment hasn’t changed since 1958, when the College started on 160 acres that once produced dates and grapes in Palm Desert.

We serve more than 15,000 students, with thousands more expected in the coming years through our tuition-free plEDGE program that launched in 2017.

College of the Desert is one of over 112 community colleges in California and a vital part of the world’s largest system of higher education. The governing body of College of the Desert is the Desert Community College District, which has five elected members on its Board of Trustees and a Student Trustee elected by the Student Body.

As a two-year college, COD offers transfer students an affordable option for starting college and transferring to a four-year institution. College of the Desert is the number one source of transfer students to California State University at San Bernardino.

In January, the College won the very prestigious national Bellwether Award in recognition of our EDGE academic boot camp. Many of you have successfully completed that program and know its value in helping prepare students for collegelevel coursework in English and math.

COD also offers a number of popular vocational and technical programs, including Nursing and Health Sciences, Digital Design and Production, Turf Grass Management & Ornamental Horticulture, Advanced Transportation Technologies, Culinary Arts, and a full range of Administration of Justice courses at the Public Safety Academy training facility.