Anza Borrego State Park – 4WD

There is so much to do in the Anza Borrego State Park area including in the town of Borrego Springs. Many people think there is nothing to do out there in the barren desert but for some reason we keep coming back and never seem to run out of things to do. There are, reportedly, over 500 miles of dirt roads and hiking trails in the park. I don’t think we will ever get to all of them.

Ocotillo Wells – Pumpkin Patch

We have been 4WD driving on Arroyo Salado many times before but have never continued the drive into Ocotillo Wells to see the Pumpkin Patch so we decided to venture out that way and see how far we could get due to the recent floods in the area. Turns out the roads were a bit gnarly in places but nothing so bad that it stopped us. And, of course, we stopped by our usual stopping places such as 17 Palms and 5 Palms. Unfortunately, Una Palma fell, oh poor Una Palma.

Heading east on S22 in Anza Borrego State Park towards Arroyo Salado wash

Arroyo Salado wash – we fit just between the rocks

Anza Borrego State Park 17 Palms

Tourist art at 17 Palms

A bit of snow covered mountains at 17 Palms

Anza Borrego State Park 5 Palms – lots of alkaline due to the recent rain

Snow? – Nope, just alkaline from the recent rains at 5 Palms

Anza Borrego State Park 5 Palms – lots of alkaline due to the recent rain

The beautiful mountains of Anza Borrego State Park

Anza Borrego State Park 5 Palms

Tule Wash in Ocotillo Wells heading towards Pumpkin Patch

We have arrived at Pumpkin Patch – concretions formed many years ago

The unique shapes of the naturally formed concrete

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

A great view of the Anza Borrego mountains from Pumpkin Patch

A few holes and wash outs along Cross Across Trail in Ocotillo Wells

Pools of water seen along Cut Across Trail due to the recent rains

Shell Reef in Ocotillo Wells

A 4WD road near Shell Reef in Ocotillo Wells

Shell Reef in Ocotillo Wells – a protected area of shell fossils formed when the area was an ocean

View of Ant Hill and Fonts Point from Ocotillo Wells

We also ventured out to Font’s Point 3 or 4 times with our friends and house/RV guests to enjoy the beautiful visits and sunsets.

Font’s Point as seen from S22

Views from Font’s Point

Font’s Point looking towards Mexico

The Borrego Badlands as seen from Font’s Point with the Salton Sea in the background

Mine Wash

Just to the south of Hwy 78 and to the east of Yaqui Pass is Mine Wash. It has a nice Village Site of the Kumeyaay Indians with interesting rock formations and morteros scattered around a large area. It is a great hiking area also.

Entrance to Mine Wash

Love the rock formations

Norm checking out some of the morteros

Lots of morteros

Desert Bighorn Sheep carcass perhaps?

Desert landscape

A big Ocotillo with big stalks

A baby Century Plant….ohhhh….

On our return trip from Mine Wash to Borrego Springs we decided to drive the Old Borrego Valley Rd which intersects Hwy 78 and we loved it. Not only are there a few great boondocking sites along the way, it also provides fantastic views of the area.

Entrance to Old Borrego Valley Rd from Hwy 78

More Ocotillo in bloom

Fantastic views north of Borrego Springs

Great views of Font’s Point

We love taking a 4WD through Coyote Canyon and have tried a few times before to make it up Boulder Alley and up to Sheep Canyon, a further 2 1/2 miles, to the campground and then hike into the Canyon.  Boulder Alley is a challenging 4WD road which is best left to high clearance vehicles depending on the size of the boulders on any given day. This time we made it! The drive out there required crossing a few streams but no problem.

Entrance to Coyote Canyon

One of the crossings we drove through

Water here and there

A few Ocotillos in bloom

Third Crossing

Up Boulder Alley

This Beast passed us coming down from Sheep Canyon campground

More water

Checking for any damage after coming back down Boulder Alley – we are good!