We've recently changed the Value Awards to an almost-monthly version, the new and improved Value Guide. By submitting your best travel tips you are eligible to win one of two fabulous prizes from WestJet: one week at the Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica or four nights at ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas!

If you know of a great restaurant, the most relaxing spa or best hotel, we'd love to hear about them. Each Friday we will be featuring a tip from travellers just like you so keep sending us your tips!

This week's value tip comes from Elizabeth Ling about hiking the Painted Canyon Trail located close to Palm Springs:

Take an amazing hike through deep canyon walls that meander like a maze in the Mecca Hills, just east of Palm Springs. The rock walls go up 200 feet and at its narrowest point, you can suspend yourself off the canyon floor, it's that narrow!

The canyon walls of Painted Canyon Trail are so colourful they look like a giant canvas.  The ladder trail has three ladders that you climb to come out of "holes" in the canyon. This hike is fantastic for pictures with its spectacular scenery and the best thing is that it's free!

More about the Mecca Hills Painted Canyon Trail

Located 40 miles southeast of Palm Springs, the Mecca Hills Painted Canyon Trail offers hikers a unique way to explore the area using ladders to navigate the trail. The hills formed when two plates, the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate, coverged leaving behind some very unusual rock formations.

Approximately five miles in length with an elevation gain of 450 feet, the Painted Canyon Trail gives visitors a glimpse of the natural terrain, wildlife and fauna found in the region. More information on the Painted Canyon Trail can be found at hiking-in-ps.com

Photo courtesy of hiking-in-ps.com