I recommend the Carrizo Plain (see TripAdvisor reviews) as the best place to see, study and interpret the actual fault on the ground if you know where to look. Its northern end is near Ferndale, Calif and it nearly touches San Francisco, San Jose, San Bernardino and, yes, Palm Desert before it merges into the Gulf of California rift zone in Mexico. It extends much, much further than Palm Desert, where TripAdvisor has erroneously catalogued it. Evidence of one of the world's most famous continental and tectonic boundaries is viewable at many locations in California.