Reporting by Ema Sasic, Palm Springs Desert Sun
The Coachella Valley is where people go to when they need a little rest and relaxation in their life. Some also claim it’s the go-to destination for enjoying peace and quiet in one’s afterlife.
With spooky season in full swing, The Desert Sun is taking a look at some supposedly haunted places in the Coachella Valley. Of course, there’s no true way to know for sure if places are haunted or not, but some local sites have fascinating stories attached to them, and many have even been “confirmed” by paranormal investigators.
Here are a few haunted places in the Coachella Valley to check out
Joshua Tree Inn
Though it’s not located in the Coachella Valley, the Joshua Tree Inn is worth the 45 minute drive from Palm Springs, especially for those who want an immersive spooky experience. This historic, hacienda-style motel near the national park offers a laid-back spot for patrons to unwind, and it’s where musician Gram Parsons spent his last hours.
On Sept. 19, 1973, Parsons, 26, headed to the desert to relax after recording his second album, but the night ended with him dead from a drug and alcohol overdose in Room 8 of the motel. Guests can stay in that exact room to this day, and some say that his spirit is still felt.
Coachella Valley History Museum campus
The next time you’re visiting the Coachella Valley History Museum in Indio, look out for any potential paranormal sightings. Staff members shared that they invited a group of ghost hunters to come by the Indio campus a few years ago, and they found evidence of paranormal activity.
Inside the 100-year-old Smiley-Tyler Adobe House, where a number of exhibits are housed, there are stories of two female spirits residing in a hallway bathroom and a young boy, around 5 years old, residing in the basement. Neither room is accessible to the public, and Sarah Romero, marketing and private events coordinator for the museum, said that she has not felt those two spirits.
Adjacent to the home is the Date Museum, where it’s been said that a “guardian” walks in front of the building. Romero said she has felt a presence often around sunset, and she described the feeling to that of being watched. The area where the strongest presence is felt is in the archive building.
Romero said a male spirit is said to be in the space, and she similarly felt like she was being watched when in there. She added that an archivist, about an hour from the end of their shift, once felt a presence tell him that he needed to leave the area immediately, and the worker obliged.
Triada Palm Springs
The Triada Palm Springs hotel, located in the Movie Colony District near downtown, has a storied past in the desert. Back in the 1940s, it was known as the Ambassador Hotel, and it later became Alan Ladd’s Spanish Inn during the 1970s. Over the years, Hollywood elite such as Tyrone Power, Lana Turner, Jimmy Durante, Esther Williams, Elizabeth Taylor and Howard Hughes would head to the resort for a little rest and relaxation.
Rumors are that some spirits still linger there, including that of aviator/business magnate/film producer Hughes. The websites Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours and US Ghost Adventures, which spotlight haunted places in Palm Springs, claim that he haunts room 223 and that guests have experienced shifting bed linens and ghostly figures while staying on the property.
La Quinta Resort & Club
Who says only the living get to rest and relax in the desert? The La Quinta Resort & Club is allegedly the spot where mortals and those who have passed on get to mingle. On the forum website ghostsofamerica.com, a former guest of the property wrote that they heard strange noises during the night and that other members of their family heard the same.
Another claimed that they heard footsteps and later saw a mist or a light that was “white and approximately 4 to 5 feet off of the ground,” according to a post.
There’s even a YouTube video of what appears to be a shadowy figure that claims to be from the resort’s security camera. The Coachella Valley Independent even teamed up with the Palm Springs Paranormal Investigation Team for a visit to the hotel, where they claimed to have seen a figure of a tall man wearing a hat, a woman wearing white with a small dog and several other spirits.
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com, on X @ema_sasic or on Instagram @emasasic.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun.
