Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [308]
The desert’s southernmost region is the least visited and – aside from Blair Valley – has few developed trails and facilities. Attractions include Goat Trestle and the Carrizo Badlands, which has an overlook affording great views. The Split Mountain area, in the desert’s southeast, is popular with 4WD vehicles, but also contains interesting geology and spectacular wind caves.
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INFORMATION
The park’s excellent visitor center (Map; 760-767-4205; www.anzaborrego.statepark.org; 200 Palm Canyon Dr; 9am-5pm Oct-May, Sat & Sun only Jun-Sep), 2 miles west of Borrego Springs township, is built partly underground. From the parking lot, it looks like a low scrubby hill. Its stone walls blend beautifully with the mountain backdrop, while the interior has award-winning displays and audiovisual presentations. Staff are helpful and informative. The park newspaper has a trail guide and notes which roads are accessible and by what type of vehicle.
Depending on winter rains, spring wildflowers in Anza-Borrego can be absolutely stunning. Flowers blossom in late February at lower elevations and progress over subsequent months at higher levels. Call the Wildflower Hotline ( 760-767-4684) for updates.
Permits ($6 per day) are required only for visitors entering campgrounds like Borrego Palm Canyon, Tamarisk Grove and Horse Camp to access trails, camp overnight or go picnicking. Fires are permitted in metal containers only; wood gathering is strictly prohibited.
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WHERE ARE THE SPRINGS?
Early visitors to the area came across the springs along with the borregos (bighorn sheep), lending the town its name. But the springs stopped flowing due to earthquakes. Wait around, though: the next earthquake may yet bring another spring...
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In an emergency, dial 911. Cell phones don’t work everywhere in the park; if necessary, climb to the highest peak for service.
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SIGHTS
Northeast of Borrego Springs, where S22 takes a 90-degree turn to the east, there’s a pile of rocks just north of the road. This, the Peg Leg Smith Monument (Map), is a monument to Thomas Long ‘Peg Leg’ Smith: mountain man, fur trapper, Native American fighter, horse thief, liar and Wild West legend. Around 1829, Peg Leg passed through Borrego Springs on his way to LA and supposedly picked up some rocks that were later found to be pure gold. Strangely, he didn’t return to the area until the 1850s, when he was unable to find the lode. Nevertheless, he told lots of people about it (often in exchange for a few drinks), and many came to search for the gold and add to the myths.
On the first Saturday of April, the Peg Leg Smith Liars Contest is an hilarious event in which amateur liars compete in the Western tradition of telling tall tales. Anyone can enter, so long as the story is about gold and mining in the Southwest, is less than five minutes long and is anything but the truth.
East of Borrego, a 4-mile dirt road, sometimes passable without a 4WD (check with the visitor center), goes south of S22 to Font’s Point (Map, 1249ft), which offers a spectacular panorama over the Borrego Valley to the west and the Borrego Badlands to the south. Walking the 4 miles to the point is a good way to really be amazed when the desert seemingly drops from beneath your feet.
South of Hwy 78 at Ocotillo Wells there’s a ranger station ( 760-767-5391). From here, paved Split Mountain Rd takes you past the Elephant Trees Discovery Trail (Map), one of the few places to see a ‘herd’ of the unusual elephant, trees named for their resemblance to an elephant’s leg. Related to myrrh, the trees have a wonderful fragrance not unlike department stores around the holidays. The trees were thought not to exist in the Colorado Desert until a full-fledged hunt was launched in 1937. Expect to see (and