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About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators. Desert Slot Canyons – South Anza Borrego State Park region, just off County Road S-2 east of the ‘badlands overlook’ view point is a whole network of narrow walkways & skinny canyon trails to explore. Some are so tight you have to turn side ways to fit through. There are more than one of these sandstone topless caverns. Dramatic colorful canyons, big horn sheep enjoying the ocotillo, and a beautiful sunny California day. It’s a perfect time to hike the slot trail in Anza Borrego Desert State Park! We are starting the new year already with a little adventure and hiking, exploring, and navigating through this picturesque and historic state park.

1. Anza Borrego Desert State Park Campgrounds
2. Anza-borrego Desert State Park Slot Canyon

Park Information

ALERT: Camping is Prohibited in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for a minimum of three weeks, beginning Monday, December 7, 2020, to help limit the surge of COVID-19.

Park Watch: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has a “Park Watch” program to help reduce theft, burglary, resource damage, and other crimes in the park. You are invited to participate and help in the safety and protection of Anza-Borrego DSP, your campsite, as well as other campsites, other areas & park visitors around you. If you see any of crimes or other crimes, please call the Anza-Borrego Desert Visitor Center at: 760-767-4205

To reduce theft and other crimes, State Park Peace Officers ask you to take the following steps:

-Secure valuables in your vehicle trunk when leaving your campsite.

-Introduce yourself to those camped around you and agree to help in watching each other’s campsite and personal belongings.

-Mark your belongings for easy identification.

-Report any suspicious Activities immediately.

By following these few, simple tips, you may be assuring yourself and your neighbors of a safe, fun, and relaxing stay at your California State Park.

General Park Regulations:

This list of regulations is intended to make your camping stay at Anza-Borrego DSP a more enjoyable experience. Anytime during your stay, if you need assistance, please contact park staff and they will help you out.

Check in Time is at 2:00 PM each day. (Sorry, No Exceptions)

-Camping fees include entry for 1 vehicle and 1 legally towed vehicle or trailer. Additional vehicles must register and pay additional fees (Currently $10.00 each vehicle.)

-Campers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent / legal guardian, or provide, upon arrival, a letter from a parent / legal guardian granting permission to camp. All juveniles must be in their own campsite at 10:00 PM.

-Quiet hours are from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. Visitors not staying overnight must be out by 10:00 PM.

-Generators may be operated in the park between the hours of 10:00 Am and 8:00 PM.

-Campsites are limited to 8 people maximum and is designed for individual family use. Large groups may require a Special Event Permit.

-Campsites are limited to 2 vehicles. There is no parking for more vehicles. A trailer is counted as a vehicle.

-Animals must be on a leash less than 6 feet in length at all times, and may not be left unattended or outside at night.

-Alcohol and glass containers are prohibited beyond your campsite.

-All park plants and animals are protected. Do not cut, attach items, or harass any plants or animals.

-Along all park designated dirt roads, vehicles must be parked no more than one (1) car length off a given road where it will not disturb any natural features.

-Bicycles, mountain bikes, and skateboards must remain on all paved roads. All riders under the age of 18 years of age must wear a bicycle helmet.

-Illegal ground fires are prohibited. Campfires must be kept inside a camp stove or in a metal container provided the camper with a bottom and sides.

-All natural & cultural features are protected. Nothing may be removed or disturbed.

-The entire backcountry area of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is defined as a camping facility. Occupancy by the same persons, equipment, or vehicles of any camping facility within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is limited to a total of thirty (30) days in any calendar year.

-No person shall launch, land, or operate a powered unmanned aircraft or Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

-All roadways in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park-dirt, sandy wash, or paved are considered a road. The California Vehicle Code applies to all roadways in the park and all vehicles must be highway legal and must remain on all designated roadways. All Off-Road Vehicles are prohibited in the park.

-Firearms and fireworks are prohibited anywhere in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Superintendent's Closure Orders click here

ATTENTION: ALL OVERNIGHT CAMPING is PROHIBITED in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park effective Monday, December 7, 2020.

A DAY USE FEE of $10 per car is now being collected at The Slot (Buttes Pass area) and at Hellhole Canyon.

For current fire restrictions please call 760-767-4037

The Borrego Palm Canyon Trail will be open for DAY USE ONLY - Sunrise to Sunset

Your cooperation will help the Palm Grove recover and keep the trail open. See map of closed area.

Anza-Borrego Desert SP and the Anza-Borrego Foundation are excited to announce a new partnership with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics for the upcoming 2020/2021 desert season. This new partnership and the Leave No Trace Initiative will encourage and educate new and returning visitors to Anza-Borrego to care for the local desert and public lands through the “Seven Principles of Leave No Trace”, available in English and Spanish. The initiative also reminds the public on their role to slow the spread of COVID-19. With many activities limited during the pandemic, outdoor public spaces have been essential to many Californians. As a result, California State Parks and partners are expecting high visitation and increased use with the beginning of the desert season this month through March/April of next year.

Below are links to the Leave No Trace principles and recommendations for getting outside during COVID-19. You can also find more information on the partnership and the Leave No Trace initiative here.

• The Leave No Trace Seven Principles (English Spanish)
• The Leave No Trace Recommendations for Getting Outside During Covid-19 (English Spanish)

Tips to Safely Enjoy Anza-Borrego Desert State Park During the Winter Season

It is important for visitors to plan their outdoor adventure at Anza-Borrego Desert SP or any desert properly. Simple actions such as taking plenty of water (1 gallon/per person/day) and food, and knowing that cell coverage is extremely limited or non-existent can help you be better prepared to safely enjoy the desert.

During the winter season, temperatures can range from mid 80s to high 90s degrees during the day to nearly freezing temperatures during the night. It is important to plan properly for your California desert adventure.

Below you will find just a few tips to safely enjoy the desert:

Vehicles

• Have a proper vehicle for your outdoor desert activities to be able to navigate through rough roads.
• Check ROAD CONDITIONS before heading out on dirt roads.
• We encourage you to travel with a second vehicle when on dirt roads.

Cell Phone Use

• Cell phone coverage is spotty or nonexistent. Have a way to communicate if there is an emergency.

First Aid Kit

• Bring a first aid kit and become familiar with it.

Outdoor Plan

• Leave an itinerary of your trip with a family member or friend with information such as name and age of hikers/campers, trailhead or campsite name and location, and expected return date.

Hiking/Camping NOTICE: ALL OVERNIGHT CAMPING is PROHIBITED in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park effective Monday, December 7, 2020.

• Make sure to have plenty of water and food for duration of your trip to avoid dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
• Check Weather. Weather can change instantly.
• Dress appropriately with layers of clothing and appropriate shoes such as hiking boots and close-toed shoes.
• Mark tents and ropes so they are visible at night.
• Keep it clean: pack it in & pack it out.

For more tips for visiting the desert, check out our news release for additional details.

PLEASE NOTE: Many interpretive activities have been cancelled due to the governor's call for 'social distancing.' Please call the Visitor Center (760-767-4205) for information about specific programs.

Our Behind-the-Scenes Tours have ended for the 2019 - 2020 season. We hope to see you in the 2020 - 2021 season.

Tell us how you liked the interpretive programs you attended. Fill out the Visitor RAPPORT Survey.

Self-Guided Activities

You can print out a Black-and-White cover to color! Spanish cover.

NOTICE: ALL OVERNIGHT CAMPING is PROHIBITED in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park effective Monday, December 7, 2020.

When using map apps., it is best to use Anza Borrego Desert State Park^® Visitor Center for directions to the Visitor Center. Using only Anza-Borrego Desert State Park^® in some map apps. may result in directions leading to a dirt, 4 wheel drive road.

Borrego Springs, Calif. — California State Parks collects day use fees of $10 per vehicle per day at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center, at developed campgrounds, and at The Slot, Hellhole Canyon, Mountain Palm Springs, Bow Willow, and Horse Camp . The day use fee ticket is valid at any State Park in the Colorado Desert District for the date of purchase.

Reservations for Borrego Palm Canyon Campground are made through Reserve California (www.reservecalifornia.com or 1-800-444-7275). Primitive campgrounds are first-come, first-serve. Calendar-year limit of 30 days applies.

Roads and Trails: Most dirt roads remain open for street-legal vehicles. Hiking trails are open for Day Use only.

See ROAD CONDITIONS as of 11/28/20.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California. Five hundred miles of dirt roads, 12 wilderness areas and many miles of hiking trails provide visitors with an unparalleled opportunity to experience the wonders of the California Desert. The park is named for Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish word borrego, or bighorn sheep. The park features washes, wildflowers, palm groves, cacti and sweeping vistas. Visitors may also have the chance to see roadrunners, golden eagles, kit foxes, mule deer and bighorn sheep as well as iguanas, chuckwallas and the red diamond rattlesnake. Listening devices for the hearing impaired are available in the visitor center.
The Park is located on the eastern side of San Diego County, with portions extending east into Imperial County and north into Riverside County. It is about a two-hour drive from San Diego, Riverside, and Palm Springs.

Many visitors approach from the east or west via Highways S22 and 78. From the coast, these highways descend from the heights of the Peninsular range of mountains with spectacular views of the great bowl of the Colorado Desert. Highway S2 enters the park from the south off of Interstate 8.

Once in Borrego Springs, the easiest way to find the Visitor Center is to drive to the far west end of Palm Canyon Drive. From the parking lot ($10 fee per car per day), follow the sidewalk down about 200 yards past the flagpole to the front doors of the building, which is hidden, mostly underground!

The 3-mile (roundtrip) Borrego Palm Canyon Trail is accessed from the trailhead at the end of the main campground road ($10 Day-use parking fee).

Most visitors approach from the east via Highways S22, S2, or 78. Visitors from San Diego via Highways 79 and 78 have the added pleasure of driving through the mountainous Cuyamaca Rancho State Park--quite a different experience from Anza-Borrego. The highways from the east climb to 2,400 feet or so and then descend about 2,000 feet to the valley. Where the highway breaks out of the high-country vegetation, it reveals the great bowl of the Anza-Borrego desert. The valley spreads below, and there are mountains all around. The highest are to the north--the Santa Rosa Mountains. The mountains are a wilderness, with no paved roads in or out or through. They have the only all-year-flowing watercourse in the park. They are the home of the peninsular bighorn sheep, often called desert bighorn. Few park visitors ever see them; the sheep are justly wary. A patient few observers each year see and count them, to learn how this endangered species is coping with human encroachment.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park^®has been named an International Dark Sky Park and the town of Borrego Springs a Dark Sky Community!

This recognition for our efforts in protecting and interpreting the dark skies over the park comes from the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), and will help ensure that dark skies over Anza-Borrego remain an unspoiled resource. Read the Press Release.

The online video journal of the Colorado Desert District covering Anza-Borrego Desert State Park^®, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and Palomar Mountain State Park.

Additional Visitor Services

• California Overland (Vehicle tours and interpretive programs)
• Bike Borrego (Interpretive Bike Tours)
• County of San Diego (Agua Caliente Hot Springs)

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Anza- Borrego Desert State Park’s rugged landscape formed largely by the forces of erosion attacking the uplifted mountains. The higher the mountains rise, the more vigorously they are attacked by rain, snow, ice, and wind, as they yield to the constant pull of gravity.

^{(Photograph by Mike Fuller)}

The full Geo Gems report Geological Gems of State Parks

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When using map apps., it is best to use Anza Borrego Desert State Park® Visitor Center for directions to the Visitor Center. Using only Anza-Borrego Desert State Park® in some map apps. may result in directions leading to a dirt, 4 wheel drive road. more information under 'About Us - Location - Directions'.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park will blow your mind. It’s one of the most remarkable wilderness areas in the United States. A mix of natural beauty, vastness, relative obscurity, and a challenging, rugged landscape makes this an outdoor playground to intrigue the most jaded of park visitors.

This guide offers a general introduction to the park, as well as some suggestions for starting your adventures in Anza Borrego, including lodging, camping, offroad adventures, and more. For more detailed information on trails, camping, and other destinations, check out the list of the additional resources at the end of this intro guide.

As backup when your off-the-grid, get our free printable version of the guide here.

Anza-Borrego Adventure Topics

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in a big place. It’s 915-square miles in size and can be explored via 500 miles of dirt roads, rugged four-wheel-drive routes, and many miles of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails. More than 200 species of wildflowers bloom in the desert, and wildlife is plentiful: bighorn sheep, coyotes, lizards, rattlesnakes, foxes, bobcats, cougars, and many species of birds, including roadrunners.

The park offers numerous possibilities for outdoor adventure and recreation, with popular activities including offroading, hiking, camping, and mountain biking. A portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Mexico to Canada, passes through Anza Borrego. In the spring, tourists flock from all over Southern California to see the desert wildflowers blooms.

The park is mostly on the eastern side of San Diego County, with portions touching Imperial County to the East and Riverside County to the North. It typically takes a couple of hours to get to Anza Borrego from San Diego or the Inland Empire.

Getting Oriented in Anza-Borrego

Due to its size and the ruggedness of the landscape, deciding where to start exploring in Anza-Borrego can be daunting. A good first base of operations is the town of Borrego Springs. I tend to think of Christmas Tree Circle, a large roundabout in the center of Borrego Springs as my central point of reference for the area.

The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center is located just on the outskirts of town and offers informative exhibits on the park’s natural history, brochures, and maps of the park, and knowledgable rangers who can answer your questions.

The vistor’s center is located at 200 Palm Canyon Dr, Borrego Springs, CA 92004. You can also call 760-767-4205 or visit the park website for information.

It’s worth noting that adjacent to the visitor’s center is the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground and Borrego Palm Canyon Trail, both managed by the state park service. You could visit Anza Borrego and just hit the visitor’s center, Borrego Palm Canyon campground, and trail, and have a terrific trip (throw in some dining in town to keep it civilized.)

A quick note on dogs. They aren’t allowed on trails, wilderness areas, or flower fields. Also, be aware that desert cactuses drop some nasty spines on the ground that can wreak havoc on dogs’ paws. Seriously, it isn’t pretty. I’ve seen people and dogs get some nasty injuries from cholla in particular. And please DON’T leave dogs in cars alone. Cars can heat up rapidly in the desert, which can be deadly for animals trapped inside.

Borrego Springs Restaurants and Hotels

About the food, there are several good restaurants in Borrego Springs worth mentioning. I’ve eaten at Red Ocotillo, Carlee’s, and Kesling Kitchen, and can recommend them all. I haven’t eaten at Carmelita’s Mexican Grill or Coyote Steakhouse, but I hear they are solid eateries. There are tons of places to camp in Anza Borrego, but if you are looking for a hotel to serve as a basecamp, there are several in Borrego Springs.

My family and I have stayed at Palm Canyon Hotel and RV Resort several times and really enjoyed it. The name of the resort doesn’t do it justice. It’s well maintained and has a cool vibe — kitschy retro chic? The hotel is old-west themed and you can rent vintage RVs for a glamping experience.

I can’t vouch for it personally, but people say good things about the Borrego Valley Inn, an adults-only hotel managed by the same company as the Palm Canyon Hotel and RV Resort. If you’re looking to really step it up a notch (maybe impress a romantic interest, for instance), La Casa del Zorro Resort and Spa is a posh oasis to return to after a day of desert adventuring.

Another major factor to consider when first planning a visit to Anza Borrego is the seasons. To sum it up, summer might kill you. Seriously. Anza Borrego is brutally hot in summer, with average daily high temperatures over 100 degrees between June and September. It’s not unheard of for summer daytime temperatures to soar past 120 degrees.

Basically, I consider October through April to be Anza Borrego season. That said, the Anza Borrego Foundation has put together a page offering guidance on visiting the park in summer. Even visiting in the cooler months, it’s important to keep some basic safety precautions top of mind. Bring LOTS of water and drink it. Make sure you have adequate sun protection, including things like hats, sunglasses, sunblock, and shade.

Also, note that cellular service in Anza Borrego is spotty at best. So bring a paper map or an electronic one that doesn’t require an Internet connection. To that end, see the end of this post for some helpful guide books and maps that will come in handy when you’re navigating the off the grid. Bringing a compass isn’t a bad idea either.

Anza Borrego Camping

While a visit to Anza Borrego can be a day trip from San Diego or the Inland Empire, the park is designated as an International Dark Sky Park and it’s well worth planning an overnight stay at a campground to admire Anza Borrego’s star-filled night sky.

California State Parks manages three campgrounds where sites can be reserved online: Borrego Palm Canyon Campground, Tamarisk Grove Campground, and Vern Whitaker Horse Camp. The park services charges day use fees for Borrego Palm Canyon, Tamarisk Grove, Bow Willow, and Horse Camp campgrounds.

The park also maintains several primitive campgrounds that are first-come, first-served. These include Bow Willow, Mountain Springs, Blair Valley, Yaqui Well, Yaqui Pass, Culp Valley, Sheep Canyon, Arroyo Salado, Mt. Palm Springs, and Fish Creek primitive campgrounds. All of the campgrounds offer vaulted toilets, except Yaqui Pass. Only Fish Creek and Sheep Canyon sites have fire rings. Ground fires are prohibited, so you’ll need to bring a firepit with you if you’ll be staying in one of the campgrounds with no fire rings. Here a few options for firepits.

Beyond the formally designated campgrounds mentioned above, you can camp pretty much anywhere in the park. There are two simple rules. You can only park one car length off the road, whether you camp right next to your car or hike further from the road. And you can’t camp within 100 yards of any water source, which typically means a stream. It goes without saying, but avoid trampling vegetation or otherwise damaging the landscape.

Visit the OSC complete guide to Anza-Borrego camping for more detailed information.

Anza Borrego Hikes

You’ve hit up Visitor’s Center and you know where you’ll be staying at night. Now what? There are so many options for things to do in Anza Borrego, how to choose? A low-key hike is a good way to get started.

Anza Borrego offers so many hiking trails that picking one can be tough. Here are a few trails that are relatively easy to locate, fairly short, and offer a taste of what makes Anza Borrego so special.

Borrego Palm Canyon Hike

Borrego Palm Canyon Hike is located just west of the town of Borrego Springs. The mellow hike is a 3-mile out-and-back that brings hikers to a surprisingly lush grove of palm trees fed by a mountain stream. There’s plenty of parking (for a fee) and restrooms at the trailhead. The area is managed by the state park service. Map trailhead location

See our Borrego Palm Canyon Trail Guide for more information.

The Slot Hike

Anza-Borrego offers a number of slot canyon hikes, and one of the most popular is known simply as The Slot. The hike is about a mile long out-and-back, and winds through a deep and extremely narrow canyon (just wide enough at points for a single person to pass). Squeezing through the slot is definitely an adventure and a fun way to experience the maze-like quality of Anza Borrego’s desert canyons.

For more information, visit our guide to the slot canyon trail.

The Wind Caves Trail

The Wind Caves Trail, located on in the eastern portion of Anza Borrego, south of the outpost of Ocotillo Wells, has a lot to offer. The 1.5-mile round-trip hike starts off with a steep climb out of Fish Creek Wash then climbs gradually for a total ascent of about 250 feet to the Wind Caves. The caves are bored into sandstone formations by the wind, hence the name. The views from the Wind Caves of the surrounding badlands are spectacular.

To get to the trailhead, get off Route 78 in Ocotillo Wells onto Split Mountain Road and travel about 8 miles south to where the road splits off on the right to Fish Creek Wash. Pass Fish Creek Campground on the left after 1.4 miles and continue another 2.8 miles through a deep and winding wash canyon to the hike trailhead on the left. The road through the canyon is sandy and fairly rugged in places. A high clearance all-wheel drive vehicle is suggested at a minimum, though an actual four-wheel-drive would be preferable. Map trailhead location

See our Anza Borrego Wind Caves Trail Guide for more information.

Dirt Road Adventures

There are some gnarly offroad trails in Anza Borrego, but there are also plenty of places to explore that don’t require a lifted Jeep. Here are several options for exploring off the pavement.

Fonts Point Trail

Fonts Point Trail brings you to just below Fonts Point (GPS: 33.257846, -116.233367), an outlook that offers sweeping views of the Borrego Badlands, the Vallecito Mountains, and Borrego Valley. The trail starts from S22, where it crosses a wash about 12 miles east of down Borrego Springs, just after the 29-mile marker. Follow the wash 4 miles to where the road ends at a turn around (GPS: 33.257881, -116.2334150). Walk about 5 minutes up the hills near the parking area to Fonts Point.

It’s possible to make this drive in a 2-wheel-drive car, but check with the rangers at the visitor’s center about road conditions, as wind and rain could make it a harrowing journey. Four-wheel-drives should have no problems. It’s also a nice mountain bike ride, if it’s not too sand blown. Map trailhead location

Exploring Blair Valley and Little Blair Valley

The dirt roads of Blair Valley, where the primitive campground mentioned earlier is located, are fun to explore by car. There are actually two valleys here, Blair Valley and Little Blair Valley, with roads bisecting both. You can get into the area by exiting the S2 on either Blair Valley Road (GPS: 33.045904, -116.413310) or Little Blair Valley Road (GPS: 33.037342, -116.410510).

These quiet, undeveloped valleys, situated at an elevation of about 2,500 feet, offer interesting hiking and are great places to camp. If you decide to stretch your legs, one spur of the road takes you to the trailhead for a 1.8-mile out-and-back trail. The trail ends near rocks where ancient Kumeyaay Indians drew pictographs thousands of years ago. Little Blair Valley and Blair Valley roads form a loop, so you can enter on one and exit the area on the other if you don’t feel like backtracking.

For more information on camping and hiking in the area, visit our Blair Valley guide.

Exploring Coyote Canyon and Collins Valley

The Coyote Canyon area, which includes the popular Collins Valley makes up about a large portion of the park. The canyon, which can be accessed from Borrego Springs or Anza (from the northwest) runs for about 35 miles, offering numerous adventures for hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians, and off-road enthusiasts. Access to the deeper parts of the canyon requires hiking, biking, or bringing a high-clearance, 4-wheel-drive vehicle. For more information check out our guide to Coyote Canyon.

Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area

Anza Borrego Desert State Park Campgrounds

If you are looking for a more aggressive off-road adventure, Ocotillo Wells SRVA might be what you’re looking for. This portion of Anza-Borrego offers 85,000 acres of desert that is open for off-highway exploration and exploration. This area is popular among motorcycling and ATV enthusiasts. within the boundaries portrayed on the park map are operated by California State Parks. The state park service offers a map of this dedicated off-roading area here.

Guided Offroad Tours of Anza Borrego

California Overland is an offroad/overlanding outfitter based in Borrego Springs that offers a variety of single and multiday excursions. They typically bring a telescope and astronomer on the overnight trips, so you can wrap in stargazing as well. Tours can be booked through their website at CaliforniaOverland.com or by calling 760-767-1232.

Metal Sculptures

Anza-borrego Desert State Park Slot Canyon

The landscape around Borrego Springs is home to strange metal denizens. More than 150 metal sculptures by the California artist Ricardo Breceda roam Anza Borrego, including dinosaurs, wild ponies, scorpions, and a massive sea serpent. Not to keep you in town and out of the backcountry for too long, but these are worth a look — and a selfie. The most impressive of the sculptures are located in and around Galleta Meadows, just to the north of downtown Borrego Springs. To get there, head north on Borrego Springs Road from Christmas Tree Circle in town and go for two miles, where you’ll start seeing the sculptures. Map it

Desert Wildflowers

If you live in Southern California for a while, you’ve heard the term “super bloom.” This refers to years when heavy winter rains result in an explosion of wildflowers in the desert. In fact, flowers bloom every spring to varying degrees, and Anza Borrego is a terrific place to see desert blooms.

The tricky part is navigating the crowds and figuring out precisely where in the park the flowers will be blooming. The crowds can be hard to avoid, but here are some tips: 1) Visit in late February or April, as March is typically the peak tourist season; 2) Get out early in the day before the mid-day/afternoon rush, and 3) stop by the state park visitor’s center or call this hotline to find out what part of the park is in bloom during your visit: 760-767-4684

Erosion Road Tour

Maybe you don’t feel like hiking or anything else strenuous for that matter. Hey, we’re not judging. Try the Erosion Road Tour, a 21-mile road tour of some of the geological wonders of Anza Borrego. The park service has put together a list of cool things to see in the badlands area of the park along Highway S-22 as it heads east out of Borrego Springs. Stops along the tour include Borrego Badlands Overlook, Coyote Mountain, Truckhaven Rocks, and the Calcite Mine Overlook, among other things. This PDF guide from the park service gives locations and background on the stops. For more information on off-roading and overlanding safely, visit our sister site, Ordealist.

Additional Resources

For more in-depth information, here are a few other great resources for exploring Anza Borrego:

Video Version of this Guide

Desert Gear Guide

Exploring the desert is safer and more comfortable with the right gear. Check out our Desert Gear Guide

Anza Borrego Desert State Park Website

Official California State Parks website for the park.

Anza Borrego Visitor’s Center

Great place to get up-to-date information on road conditions, campgrounds, closures, wildflowers, wildlife, and much more. Definitely worth a visit at 200 Palm Canyon Dr, Borrego Springs, CA 92004. Or call at 760-767-4205

ReserveCalifornia.com

Online reservations website for Anza-Borrego campgrounds that take reservations.

ABF.org the website of the Anza Borrego Foundation offers terrific resources on the park, including visitor guides, events information, and conservation activities.

Free Printable Anza Borrego Quick Start Guide

Get the free printable version of this OutdoorSocal.com guide. We’ll email you the PDF.