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Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Review
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Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
- Category: Parks
- Location: Borrego Springs
Fodor's Review:
One of the richest living natural-history museums in the nation, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a vast, nearly uninhabited wilderness where you can step through a field of wildflowers, cool off in a palm-shaded oasis, count zillions of stars in the black night sky, and listen to coyotes howl at dusk. The landscape, largely undisturbed by humans, reveals a rich natural history. There's evidence of a vast inland sea in the piles of oyster beds near Split Mountain and of the power of natural forces such as earthquakes and flash floods. In addition, recent scientific work has confirmed that the Borrego Badlands, with more than 6,000 meters of exposed fossil-bearing sediments is likely the richest such deposit in North America, telling the story of 7 million years of climate change, upheaval, and prehistoric animals. They've found evidence of saber-tooth cats, flamingos, zebras, and the largest flying bird in the Northern Hemisphere beneath the now-parched sand. Today the desert's most treasured inhabitants are the herds of elusive and endangered native bighorn sheep, or borego, for which the park is named. Among the strange desert plants you may observe are the gnarly elephant trees. As these are endangered, rangers don't encourage visitors to seek out the secluded grove at Fish Creek, but there are a few examples at the visitor center garden. After a wet winter you can see a short-lived but stunning display of cacti, succulents, and desert wildflowers in bloom.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is unusually accessible to visitors. Admission to the park is free, and few areas are off-limits. Unlike most parks in the country, Anza-Borrego lets you camp anywhere; just follow the trails and pitch a tent wherever you like. There are more than 500 mi of dirt roads, two huge wilderness areas, and 110 mi of riding and hiking trails. Many of the park's sites can be seen from paved roads, but some require driving on dirt roads, for which rangers recommend you use a four-wheel-drive vehicle. When you do leave the pavement, carry the appropriate supplies: a cell phone (which may be unreliable in some areas), a shovel and other tools, flares, blankets, and plenty of water. The canyons are susceptible to flash flooding, so inquire about weather conditions (even on sunny days) before entering.
To get oriented and obtain information on weather and wildlife conditions, stop by the Visitors Information Center. Designed to keep cool during the desert's blazing hot summers, the center is built underground, beneath a demonstration desert garden. A nature trail here takes you through a garden containing examples of most of the native flora and a little pupfish pond. 200 Palm Canyon Dr., Hwy. S22. 760/767-5311; 760/767-4684 wildflower hotline. www.parks.ca.gov. June-Sept., weekends and holidays 9-5; Oct.-May, daily 9-5.
At Borrego Palm Canyon (Palm Canyon Dr., Hwy. S22, about 1 mi west of the Visitors Information Center), a 1 1/2-mi trail leads to one of the few native palm groves in North America. There are more than 1,000 native fan palms in the grove, and a stream and waterfall greet you at trail's end. The moderate hike is the most popular in the park.
Yaqui Well Nature Trail (Hwy. 78, across from Tamarisk Campground) takes you along a path to a desert water hole where birds and wildlife are abundant. It's also a good place to look for wildflowers in spring.
Coyote Canyon (Off DiGiorgio Rd., 4 1/2 mi north of Borrego Springs) has a year-round stream and lush plant life. Portions of the canyon road follow a section of the old Anza Trail. The canyon is closed between June 15 and September 15 to allow native bighorn sheep undisturbed use of the water. The dirt road that gives access to the canyon may be sandy enough to require a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The late-afternoon vista of the Borrego badlands from Font's Point (Off Borrego Salton Seaway, Hwy. S22, 13 mi east of Borrego Springs) is one of the most breathtaking views seen in the desert, especially when the setting sun casts a golden glow in high relief on the eroded mountain slopes. The road from the Font's Point turnoff can be rough enough to make using a four-wheel-drive vehicle advisable; inquire about its condition at the visitor center before starting out. Even if you can't make it out on the paved road, you can see some of the view from the highway.
Narrows Earth Trail (Off Hwy. 78, 13 mi west of Borrego Springs) is a short walk off the road east of Tamarisk Grove campground. Along the way you can see evidence of the many geologic processes involved in forming the canyons of the desert, such as a contact zone between two earthquake faults, and sedimentary layers of metamorphic and igneous rock.
Geology students from all over the world visit the Fish Creek area of Anza-Borrego to explore a canyon known as Split Mountain (Split Mountain Rd., 9 mi south of Hwy. 78, at Ocotillo Wells). The narrow gorge with 600-foot walls was formed by an ancient stream. Fossils in this area indicate that a sea once covered the desert floor.
The easy, mostly flat Pictograph/Smuggler's Canyon Trail (Blair Valley, Hwy. S2, 6 mi southeast of Hwy. 78, at Scissors Crossing intersection) traverses a boulder-strewn trail. At the end is a collection of rocks covered with muted red and yellow pictographs painted within the last hundred years or so by Native Americans. Walk about 1/2 mi beyond the pictures to reach Smuggler's Canyon, where an overlook provides views of the Vallecito Valley. The hike is 2 to 3 mi round-trip.
Just a few steps off the paved road, Carrizo Badlands Overlook (Off Hwy. S2, 40 mi south of Scissors Crossing [intersection of Hwys. S2 and 78]) offers a view of eroded and twisted sedimentary rock that obscures the fossils of the mastodons, saber-tooths, zebras, and camels that roamed this region a million years ago. The route to the overlook through Earthquake Valley and Blair Valley parallels the Southern Emigrant Trail.
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