On Saturday, October 31, the public telescope night at the Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory runs from 8 to 9:30 p.m. By Tuesday, November 3, the observatory's evening program starts at 6 p.m. Over those same days, Sunnylands Center & Gardens sets up its Día de los Muertos displays and keeps the gardens open until 9 p.m. for one evening.
For anyone living at The Springs Country Club, the first days of November are when evenings out start at the dinner hour. Most of what's on the calendar is free, and some of it is drop-in. A morning round on a course that is starting only its second full season since renovation fits around all of it.
Nine days, two venues, one earlier start
This is how the stretch from Halloween to the following Sunday lines up at the two venues:
| Date | Venue | What's on | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory | Observatory Public Exploration Night | 8:00–9:30 p.m. |
| Tue., Nov. 3 | Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory | Deep Space Night, an advanced-level program | 6:00–7:30 p.m. |
| Wed., Nov. 4 | Sunnylands Center & Gardens | Coachella Valley Days of Los Muertos begins; Estate Tree Walk at 10 a.m. | 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Thu., Nov. 5 | Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory | OPENight | 6:00–7:30 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Sunnylands Center & Gardens | Gardens open late; ofrendas lit; outdoor screening of Coco | until 9 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory | OPENight | 6:00–7:30 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Sunnylands Center & Gardens | Last day of Days of Los Muertos; aerial performances | 10 a.m.–3 p.m. |
Another OPENight follows on Thursday, November 12, again from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The two-hour move in start time between October 31 and November 3 is the clearest sign the season has turned. Telescope viewing can now come before dinner.
What 6 p.m. at the observatory actually offers
The library's evening observatory programs are drop-in and need no registration. Capacity is limited, so there may be a short wait. Anyone in line by the scheduled end time is guaranteed admission. For a 6 to 7:30 p.m. OPENight, that leaves room to finish an early dinner and still get in.
Each program is a different kind of night:
- OPENights are offered most Thursdays and Saturdays all year. Staff and volunteer docents guide views of planets, nebulae and star clusters, magnified 30 to 1,232 times, weather permitting. The library calls OPENights its most popular program.
- Deep Space Night on November 3 points the observatory's PlaneWave Instruments CDK 700 telescope at a single faint object, such as a distant galaxy, a supernova or a dwarf planet. The library's own description says that if you want to be blown away by celestial splendor, this is not the program for you. It is a night for seeing something you have likely never seen before.
- Swoon @ the Moon is a monthly night with every telescope aimed at the Moon. From October through May it falls on a Tuesday, usually in the week of the First Quarter Moon.
The library asks visitors to keep light to a minimum after dark. That means no phone or tablet screens, no flash photography and no light-up shoes. It's worth knowing before bringing visiting grandchildren on a Saturday. Children under 13 are directed to the pre-registered SPACEducation Sessions instead.
The one night Sunnylands stays open after dark
Sunnylands' regular public hours for the Center & Gardens are Wednesday through Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission and parking are free. Visiting has usually meant going in daylight.
Coachella Valley Days of Los Muertos changes that for one evening. The festival runs November 4 through 8. During regular hours, the gardens are decorated with papel picado, nichos and ofrendas. Craft boards along the paths offer skull masks, and there's a community display where guests finish the sentence "Before I die…" on paper butterflies and flowers. All of it is free and family-friendly.
Friday, November 6, is the longest day of the festival:
- 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. A bird walk through the gardens led by an expert birder, in Spanish.
- 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop-in craft: decorate a candle piñata at the West Gardens Performance Circle.
- 5:30 to 9 p.m. The ofrendas and nichos are lit.
- 6:30 p.m. Pixar's Coco screens outdoors in the West Gardens. It is rated PG and runs 1 hour 45 minutes.
The lit displays are on a full hour before the film starts. On the weekend, a free Seed Mosaics workshop runs Saturday from noon to 1:30 p.m. and requires registration. On Sunday, Art Flying Aerial performs a 15-minute Day of the Dead aerial piece every hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Mornings on the estate, and the date to book December
The November walks at Sunnylands are scheduled for the morning hours:
- Birding on the Estate, November 4 to 28, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:45 a.m., $41.55.
- Historic Walk, November 4 to 29, $28.03. It's a one-mile outdoor route that does not go inside the historic house.
- Estate Tree Walk series, starting November 4 at 10 a.m., one hour, $26.99.
The tree walk goes well with the current free exhibition, Curating Canopy: Trees at Sunnylands. It's a photography show about the estate's trees, open Wednesday through Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with no registration. If you're at Sunnylands the day after this post goes live, the Art Workshop: Tabletop Nicho runs Friday, October 30, from 1 to 4 p.m. It costs $28.29, requires registration and is open to ages 12 and up.
The historic house tours sell on a fixed schedule. Sunnylands reopened for tours on September 9 after its summer break. Advance tickets are sold online only and go on sale on the 15th of each month at 9 a.m. Pacific for the following month. December tours go on sale November 15. The Historic House Tour is 90 minutes for $58.19, and the Open-Air Experience is 45 minutes for $30.11. Both are capped at seven guests. Tour guests must be at least 10, and same-day tickets are sometimes available onsite. For anyone hosting family over the holidays, November 15 is the date to put on the calendar.
A second season on the renovated course
The day at home starts on a course that is still new to many members. The Springs scheduled a $16 million course and irrigation renovation to begin on April 7, 2025, as KESQ reported. The plan rebuilt the green complexes and replaced their Bentgrass with Bermudagrass. It also added forward tees, rebuilt the driving range, reshaped the bunkers, improved drainage and irrigation, and removed some trees. The original announcement aimed for completion by November 2025. On November 13, 2025, The Desert Sun reported that architect Cary Bickler was happy with the finished work.
Cary Bickler Golf Course Design describes the project as recontoured bunkers and redesigned greens built on improved substructure and drainage. The club's history page adds the new Rain Bird IC irrigation system. In an April 8, 2026 post, the club described the season then wrapping up as the first full season on the renovated course. That makes this fall the second.
The golf page lists the Desmond Muirhead Signature Course at par 72 and 6,638 yards. It also lists a 30-tee driving range, a new short-game area and a refined putting green. The club's stated policy is that members can get a tee time whenever they want to play. On Thursday, November 5, that could mean a morning on the Bermudagrass greens and a 6 p.m. OPENight at the observatory the same day.
If the new season has you thinking about how life at The Springs fits your next few years, DWA Team follows the Rancho Mirage clubs closely, from course renovations to the calendar around them. We're glad to talk through what the second season on the new greens means for your home, whenever the timing is right.
