Borrego Springs, California

We got a tip about this laid back place in the desert valley of southern California called Borrego Springs. It lies in the middle of California’s largest state park, the 640,000 acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, in an International Dark Sky Community. It’s the desert, mountains and a tropical oasis all wrapped up in an artsy eclectic laid back town amongst abundant hiking and off-road trails. But more importantly, it’s our first stop of our 2024 west coast states adventure.

The town of Borrego Springs is home to only around 3,400 people but is a popular getaway for southern Californians and people from across the world looking to escape the fast paced city life. Christmas Circle, the towns central park is a main gathering place and location for regular events and a weekly farmers market. Accommodations in the area range from rustic motels and RV parks to small desert style resorts along the edge of town. It’s a place where you can just hang out and chill for a few days but the state park is just too inviting to hang out in town all day.

The most well known and unique attraction in the area is the Galleta Meadows Sky Art Sculptures. Inspired by a local landowner and constructed by sculptor Richard Breceda, these larger than life metal sculpture can be experienced throughout 1,500 acres of the desert floor as if this was their natural habitat. Wild horses, mammoths, giant birds, sabre tooth tigers and a famous dragon are just some of the examples of what can be seen as you roam the desert on foot or by driving through the sandy trails or along the highway. An available map helps you find and identify the metal creatures and other artifacts which makes for a fun and unusual experience.

We stayed at a small RV park called Borrego Holiday Homes which backed up to an open area of hiking and some hill climbing which was perfect for walking the dogs or blowing off some steam after a frustrating NFL playoff game. However, we really enjoyed the two hikes we did in the state park, and they couldn’t have be any more different from each other.

The Slot

This wasn’t a long hike but it sure was nice. We hiked it in reverse (clockwise) and started out on the dirt road with great views of the mountains and desert. The trail then descends and goes into a canyon. The canyon narrows into a slot, sometimes very narrow where we had to remove our backpacks. There is a bit of a rock scramble to get out of the slot, but (with a little helpful push) it wasn’t bad. The added advantage of this hike is that when you’re done you can do some 4-wheeling on some of the adjacent roads.

Borrego Palms Canyon

This hike was a little longer and offered a huge variety of terrain. It starts out as flat desert, then enters a canyon and finally ends up in a tropical oasis with the tallest California fan palm trees in the state. There’s even a bit of required (and optional) rock scrambling to do along the way within the canyon. We felt like the hike started in Arizona and ended in Hawaii.

There are off-road trails of all types within the 640,000 acres of the park, from simple flat sand roads to more extreme rock crawling. We checked out a couple of areas with the Jeep and had a blast.

Fonts Point

This sandy road leads to an iconic viewpoint and something everyone should experience when visiting Borrego Springs. Although 4WD is recommended, if done carefully it can be driven with a low clearance 2WD vehicle in the right conditions. The road ends at an amazing overlook of a badlands area that takes your breath away. It is the perfect spot to end the day and watch the sunset.

Fish Creek Wash

Fish Creek is just one of many trails in this southern area of the park, north of Sweeny Pass Road (Route S2). We combined several trails which offered everything from flat sand roads, to narrow canyons, steep drop offs and rock crawling. We started on Sin Nombre heading north from S2 and connected this to Arroyo Seco Del Diablo via Vellecito Creek. At waypoint 9 we split off to (appropriate named) Diablo Drop Off which generated the first “oh hell no” in my right ear. It was fun and we survived. We then headed over to Sandstone Canyon via Fish Creek. This was an out and back trail that was closed at the halfway point due to a rockslide but not before a challenging rock crawl. We met up with a couple of other Jeepers which was helpful for guidance getting the right line. Finally, we took Fish Creek all the way back to Highway 78. “This” is the way to experience Anza-Borrego Desert State Park!

I feel like we just touched the tip of the iceberg with exploring this amazing area, there’s just so much more to see and do, including some well known spots such as Hellhole Canyon and Coyote Canyon. We even found some good Mexican food in town at Carmelita’s. Add Borrego Springs to your travel list, you won’t be disappointed.

Check out all of our pictures of the area