The Local Questions, Vol. 8 | Field Notes from Palm Springs: Presidents, Cougars and Other Suspicious Characters

‍ ‍ Sunnylands, known as “Camp David of the West”

Welcome to Field Notes, our occasional collection of questions about Palm Springs, the desert, and the increasingly unlikely things that happen here.

By now you know the drill. Our guests have questions. Lots of questions. Enough to maybe call them issues. We’ll answer the questions and make a referral for the issues. In either case, we’re here to help. 

We’re tackling a couple of recent questions today about the suspicious characters lurking around the vicinity. First, the various presidents who made the pilgrimage to Palm Springs. Second, mountain lions.

Be careful with both of these species. They are occasionally known to bite.

So what's the deal with all the presidents who lived here?

Well, first of all, there aren't that many. As far as anyone knows, Millard Fillmore never even visited.

But there are enough to make you wonder whether the Electoral College has a clause nobody told us about.

Dwight Eisenhower was an early Palm Springs area enthusiast, arriving in 1954 and eventually wintering at a home at Eldorado Country Club in nearby Indian Wells. The mountain above the club was later named Mount Eisenhower, because apparently being president isn't enough. You also get a mountain.

Interestingly, he didn't own the home; it was provided for the Eisenhowers' lifetime winter use. I guess they liked Ike (as his campaign slogan said), and apparently liked Mamie too.

And there was Ronald Reagan.

Ron and Nancy owned a home in Palm Springs beginning in the 1960s, long before he became president. So Reagan was a Palm Springs resident, then governor of California, then president of the United States.

That's a pretty impressive career trajectory. Move here and eventually become president.

Hasn't worked for me. Yet. 

Palm Springs was generally happy to have Reagan come back later.

Well... not everyone.

This is Palm Springs. There are at least as many opinions as people.

Reagan also spent considerable time at Sunnylands, the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage that became something of a presidential clubhouse. Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, both Bushes, Bill Clinton and eventually Barack Obama all passed through. That’s enough visitors to make me think they had good reviews on Airbnb.

It was called the Camp David of the West, but with more palm trees and presumably less archery than most camps.

And, oh yes, golf too.

Sunnylands has its own course.

There was a lot of golf—apparently running the country wasn't sufficiently frustrating.

Gerald Ford and Betty Ford eventually moved to Rancho Mirage, near Thunderbird Country Club, after leaving the White House. Ford played golf and Betty enjoyed life here rather enthusiastically. There were parties. There was dancing. She later became remarkably candid about her struggles with addiction, and the Betty Ford Center became one of the great legacies of their desert years.

So the presidential history of Palm Springs is a little unusual.

Presidents came here to relax, play golf, entertain, conduct diplomacy, escape Washington and, in Nixon's case, recover from Washington.

Which may explain the appeal.

Palm Springs has always been a place where famous people can come to be relatively ordinary.

We know who you are.

We're just not going to make a big deal about it.

Unless you're playing slowly in front of us.

So, you already warned us about rattlesnakes, scorpions and bears. Are there any mountain lions? Do I have to worry about them too?

Sorry to inform you, but yes. 

Mountain lions—also called cougars—live in the mountains around Palm Springs. And they don't always stay in the mountains.

In January of this year, an adult mountain lion wandered into the 500 block of Vista Chino, right here in town, around six in the morning. Someone got a quick photo before it disappeared. Palm Springs PD posted a reminder that wildlife does, in fact, frequent our desert community.

Which is their polite way of saying: yes, that really happened near somebody's espresso machine.

And before anyone gets too alarmed, let's clarify something.

When most local people hear the word cougar, they're generally not thinking about a 150-pound cat.

They're thinking about a woman in a bar (although in some cases, that description might fit, too).

Both can pose a threat, although only one is likely to drag a deer up a canyon.

Mountain lions are elusive and generally avoid people. Fatal attacks on humans are exceedingly rare—the last one in California happened in El Dorado County in 2024. Seeing one on a hike is unusual. A mountain lion strolling down Vista Chino at sunrise is unusual enough to make the news.

They mostly want what all sensible Palm Springs residents want:

A quiet place to live, something good to eat, and for everyone to leave them the hell alone.

So yes, they're out there.

But if you're walking in the mountains, don't worry too much.

Go with others. Keep your eyes open. And don’t approach the wildlife.

If you see a mountain lion, give it plenty of space.

Make yourself look big. Raise your arms. Make noise. Stand your ground.

If you see a cougar at a Palm Springs bar, the advice is considerably more complicated.

But in either case, don't run.

It triggers the predator instinct. 

More history, fewer wildlife encounters: that's basically the pitch for our Artisan Food Tours. Join us for a tour. We'll keep an eye out for cougars of both varieties.

Enjoyed this article? The Local Questions are just one part of Devour the Desert. Explore our other "Local…" series for stories about the food, architecture, history, celebrities, and culture that make Palm Springs unlike anywhere else.

Dave Ball is a local tour guide and co-owner of Artisan Food Tours with his wife, Phyllis. He spends an inordinate amount of time wandering Palm Springs in search of forgotten stories, interesting architecture, and restaurants worth recommending to strangers. He occasionally worries, but not about cougars or becoming president.