Angel Cove

Angel Cove. Shiprock. , Angel Cove is named for an angel-shaped rock formation located at the top of the cove's largest canyon. The formation, depicted to the right, is best viewed from a distance across the valley. The naming of Angel Cove is also attributed to a settler of the cove who believed an angel had saved her very sick child. , The Cahuilla people, native to this region since time immemorial, referred to this general area as "pe on bel", which translates to "cool wind blowing". Along with evidence of early use of the area by the Cahuilla people near the base of the mountain, there are remains of three home sites from the 1920's and 1930's. , Angel Cove was preserved for its scenic and wildlife habitat values, and fortunate visitors may catch a glimpse of grazing endangered peninsular bighorn sheep on the slopes above the cove. , Angel Cove was preserved under the leadership of Friends of Palm Springs Mountains, through funding from the Coachella Valley Mountain Conservancy and the City of Palm Springs. The entire area was donated to the City of Palm Springs in 2017. , Shiprock , The name Shiprock likely derives from the abundance of stories of fast ships and stranded Spanish Galleons in the lower Sonoran Desert area, but there is no known documentation on how it was given its name. Its significance is its geology, which is dramatically different from its granitic neighbor, Mount San Jacinto., Shiprock was formed at the bottom of a prehistoric tropical sea over 250 million years ago. Layers of silt and decaying sea organisms were laid down, compressed, heated and slowly moved northward for thousands of miles along the west side of the San Andreas Fault. In the process, it was uplifted, tilted and exposed by the upthrusting granite of Mount San Jacinto. So, is it an ancient ship, or a metamorphosed, rocky formation from the late paleozoic era, or, as known to the Cahuilla people, "kista cavel", which means "sharp pointed rocks"? , This historic site, including the surrounding property of Angel Cove, was preserved through the leadership of the Friends of Palm Springs Mountains with a grant from the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy. It was donated to the City of Palm Springs in 2017.