Southern California offers a wide variety of unique outdoor opportunities, and exploring the distinct beauty of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (the largest state park in California) and its surroundings is one of my favorites. My dear friend, Hanna, and I spent a weekend investigating the popular, the obscure, and everything in between. Plant two adventurous ladies with wild souls and determined spirits into the southern California desert and, rest assured, some epic memories will be made.
Where and When to Stay
Borrego Springs is where you will find the most popular lodging options for exploration in and around the park. There are several styles of lodging options available, from RV Parks and campsites to economy hotels and vacation rentals. We were looking for a more accommodated night stay with a fitting rustic-desert vibe that was also kind on our wallets. After researching options and availability, we opted to stay in the wild-west themed Palm Canyon Hotel. It was a great option as it offered a great value for our one-night need. Our trip took place mid-December, when temperatures average mid-60s in the daytime and mid-40s at night in and around the park. Winter months are my preferred time to travel to Anza-Borrego as they offer much cooler temperatures compared to the summer months in which the temperatures can be over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Day 1
Calcite Mine
After about a two-hour drive from San Diego, we crossed into the boundaries of this massive 600,000-acre park around 8 AM. A desert colored palette filled with various shades of beige and sprinkled shrubs hugged the vacant two (at times, three) lane road that guided us towards our first stop of the day, Calcite Mine.
The trailhead, just off to the side of the road, was not noticeably marked. After parking and looking around, we confirmed our location accuracy thanks to a sign revealing the interesting history of the area. The Calcite Mine is a historic World War II landmark due to its abundance of the mineral, calcite. The site was mined from 1942 to 1944 by the Polaroid Corporation who, at the time, worked with the military. The discovery that calcite was a “light ray playing mineral” led to its use in their creation of the optical ring gun sight for the U.S. Navy, a great contribution to the war effort then. As a history nerd myself, this little tidbit of information made me even more eager to get down in the dirt and explore.
The trail starts quickly descending down into a wash imprinted with car tracks. This area is incredibly popular for off-road vehicles, and visible dirt clouds in the distance indicated their presence. We ended up following a revving off-road train of Jeeps to an overlook granting beautiful views of the extensive badlands surrounding the area. A bit of further exploring revealed walls of wind caves that lent themselves to some great “cram yourself in like a sardine” photo opportunities. Though prompting intrigue, the area was not revealing itself to be the slot canyon maze that we had read about. We finally realized that in our excitement to proceed up with the Jeeps, we had missed a small turnout about a 1/4 mile back. But hey, detours are just opportunities to experience new things.
So, we backtracked a bit and, alas, came upon the canyon entryway. While weaving, and at times squeezing, our way through the slots, remnants of twinkling calcite caught our eyes. Though only about a half mile long, the slot canyons of the mine made for some adventurous desert entertainment. We proceeded to loop around and make our way back to the car, clocking just over four miles in about two and a half hours in the end.
Salton Sea
A 15-minute drive led us to our next stop, the Salton Sea. What was once, for a brief time, a popular summer vacation spot is now a deserted and rather malodorous span of beach. We parked in a small cul-de-sac nearby and approached the water line, dodging the many fish skeletons embedded into the sand along the way. I, regrettably, got a bit too close to the water and stepped into some hidden black goo that smelled just what you would think goo should smell like being marinated with dead fish for decades. Unfortunately, this led to a rather notable smell lingering in the car with us for the next several segments of our road trip. Even so, the Salton Sea presented an unusual yet oddly fascinating 20-minute experience of adventure and exploration.
International Banana Museum
Yes, this does exist. And yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. In honor of Hanna (having had to live with the nickname Hanna Banana), we drove 30 minutes to the north end of the Salton Sea and wrapped around the east side a bit, making our way to this quirky little hub on Highway 111. I can honestly say that I have never seen so many banana related items in one location before, and I never knew that bananas were popular in so many different markets! Comic books, posters, phones, lamps, jewelry, oh my! A bizarre 20 minutes well-spent, indeed.
Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon in Mecca Hills
If prioritizing your itinerary by “must dos” and “may dos”, this is undoubtedly a must. Only a 30-minute drive from the International Banana Museum or 55-minute drive from Calcite Mine, Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon present one of the most unique hiking experiences I’ve been on to date. We drove on the very bumpy dirt entry road for about 20 minutes, finally making our way to the trailhead parking area around 1:45 PM.
The trail started out by leading us through a wide canyon with towering mountain edges all around. Once we approached our first ladder, it all went uphill from there. We wound our way up and around canyon walls with ladders of various shapes and sizes and slithered through narrow slot canyons. The whole process reminded me of those “choose-your-own adventure” style books like Goosebumps because I never knew what I was going to get myself into next! All of this made for quite an epic adventure that ultimately led us out of the canyon and along a ridge overlooking even more of the park’s famous geological features. This is a gorgeous spot for photos, and we definitely made great use of it. While walking along the ridge for about a half of a mile, we were able to take in the immense cool factor of the Ladder Canyon labyrinth below and all that we had just climbed and trekked through.
The ridge ends up leading back down into a much wider and more spacious canyon that we followed back to the trailhead. Even though this section of the journey is known as Big Painted Canyon, you can still find ladders here. We stumbled upon several ladders hidden behind unique rock formations and followed them to see where they led. Unfortunately, the ladders led to either a dead end or in a circle, but they were still fun to test out nonetheless.
In combining wide canyons, slot canyons, remarkable rock formations and colors, ladders, and views, Ladder/Painted Canyon was the perfect way to finish out our day. We spent almost three hours here and lucked out by catching an incredible sunset just as we turned onto the main road leading us back into Borrego Springs and to our hotel for the night.
SpaceX Rocket Launch
I can’t guarantee that on your trip to Anza-Borrego you will see a rocket flying through the air, but without even planning or knowing it would happen, we did. During our one hour and 20-minute drive back to the hotel from our recent ladder adventure, the near zero light pollution of the desert made the SpaceX rocket stick out like a flashlight at the bottom of an old well. Our initial shock conjured up images that involved Will Smith coming around the corner with his mind erasing light pen telling us that we never saw anything (obvious Men in Black fan right here). However, after making phone calls and searching online at the instant cell reception became available, we discovered that it was actually a rocket launch... and I thought that Ladder/Painted Canyon was the perfect end to the first day of our trip! The rocket launch was pure icing on the cake to an already fantastic day. In my opinion, if the news reveals another launch coming up, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the absolute perfect place to experience it.
Day 2
Fonts Point for Sunrise
We decided on an early wakeup call the next day to try and make it out to watch the sunrise across the Borrego Badlands from Fonts Point. Fonts Point is well-known for its surreal views of dramatically chiseled desertland. Add in the majestic hues of dawn, and you’ve got yourself an incredible show courtesy of Mother Nature. In thinking that the 14-minute drive to the trail junction from our hotel and remaining four-mile drive to the parking area would be a piece of cake, we decided to leave the hotel at 6 AM. That way, we would have plenty of time to spare to watch the 6:50 AM sunrise. As the case with many best-laid plans, though, things often go awry.
You see, most of the park’s side roads recommend 4x4 vehicles. When all you have is a Hyundai midsize sedan to work with, you try and make the best of it. The four mile turn-out road leading towards Fonts Point bestowed upon us both rough terrain and hidden segments of unforgiving soft sand. The plan was to maintain a steady speed to avoid becoming victims of a 2WD off-road disaster. A visible fork in the road ahead put a damper on this plan, as we had to quickly decide on a direction so that we didn’t get stuck from fully stopping the car. A swift call to veer left soon proved to be a mistake.
We barely made it one hundred feet into this fork segment before the sand became too much to handle, and we realized that going any further was not an option. We spotted some more compact sand to the side and pulled over. In an effort to still make our goal, we jumped out of the car and raced our way through the soft sand towards what we thought was Fonts Point. The sun began to rise even more as beautiful colors started painting the features of the land we were running through. We ran, and ran, and ran, only to arrive at 6:50 AM to an anticlimactic lookout that turned out to not be Fonts Point.
By now, the sun had risen, and we were filled with a mixture of defeat and concern since we still had to make our way out safely. Some solid strategic car maneuvering planted us back onto the road, pre-fork status. We took a chance and decided to pursue the previously rejected alternate fork segment. This turned out to be the correct way to go, leading us up into Fonts Point wash. This heavily rutted short wash was far more intense than the first two miles along the early parts of the turnout road, but we pushed through and finally saw the parking area with just one other vehicle. With a victorious jolt of relief, we parked, made our way to the real Fonts Point, and witnessed one of the most epic desert views we had ever laid our eyes upon. Even though it was 7:30 AM, the sun was up, and the sunrise colors had faded, the way that the sun’s glow struck the curvatures of the land made for some otherworldly views and fantastic photo opportunities. Although this adventure didn’t go exactly as we had imagined, Fonts Point provided us with a priceless desert experience, and we came away with quite a travel story to tell.
In all, Fonts Points is, without a doubt, worth the adventure. Just be sure that you are fully prepared for what you are getting yourself into, make sure you have a reliable vehicle, and, last but certainly not least, do not turn left at the fork.
Combs Peak
If I were to summarize Day 2 with a witty, overarching tagline, it would be, “Trials and Tribulations of a Sedan Driver in the Desert” because honestly, we unknowingly saved the two most intense excursions for last.
Combs Peak is the fifth highest peak in San Diego County and the highest peak in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Just over an hour and a half drive from Fonts Point, this trail offers around 1,100 feet of elevation gain/loss in a nearly five-mile roundtrip journey. We figured this was nothing we couldn’t handle since we had done much more challenging hikes than this in the past. Well, once again, we underestimated the road to get to the trailhead.
Nearly five miles of windy, bumpy dirt roads eventually led us to the trailhead, but not without first causing the resurgence of some more “hold your breath and hope we don’t get stuck” kind of moments. We took the roadway slow, very, very slow, so don’t expect to arrive to the trailhead at rapid speed. Those five miles took us about 35 minutes to get through. Eventually, we safely made it to the trailhead with not another soul in sight. A wooden sign signifying our entry onto the PCT led the way towards the numerous open fields and mountainsides ahead.
The well-maintained and easy-to-follow trail guided us along the PCT for about two miles, and then, once again, a fork in the road appears. The options were to proceed straight onto the PCT or turn left (what’s with the ominous left-hand turns!) to bushwhack our way for another half a mile up the mountainside to Combs Peak. Thanks to my handy-dandy AllTrails map, we made the correct call this time and turned left. A couple of branch scrapes and minor rock slides later, we found ourselves atop the highest point in the park staring out at all of nature’s beauty that surrounded us.
Trails and Treasures
The three-hour escapade to Combs Peak brought our weekend trip to a close. My summation of our weekend is by no means a complete list of all of the incredible things there are to see and do in and around Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. There are so many other trails and treasures to explore and experience, and I look forward to sharing those with you in future articles to come.
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