Borrego Palm Canyon Is Classic Example of State’s Desert Scenery

More than half a million acres of Colorado Desert are preserved in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The state park, California’s largest, includes virtually every feature associated with a desert--washes, badlands, mesas and palm oases.

The park stretches almost the length of San Diego County’s eastern border between Riverside County and Mexico. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park’s size means it is vehicle-oriented. Most of the popular scenic attractions can be reached via some semblance of roads.

But to visit a tranquil place like Borrego Palm Canyon, you must hit the trail--a pleasant chore indeed. Borrego Palm Canyon is the third-largest palm oasis in California, and was the first site sought for a desert state park back in the 1920s. It’s a beautiful oasis, tucked away in a rocky V-shaped gorge.

The trail visits the first palm grove and a waterfall. (A longer option takes you farther up-canyon.) In springtime, the trail to the falls is one of the most popular in the park. During the warmer months, you’ll have the oasis all to yourself. Watch for bighorn sheep, which frequently visit the canyon.

Directions to trailhead: The trail begins at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground, located one mile north of Anza-Borrego State Park Headquarters. Day-use fee is $3 per vehicle. Trailhead parking is available at the west end of the campground near the campfire circle.

You may park for free at the Visitor Center (one of the best in the whole park system and well worth your time) and walk a mile to the trailhead.

The Hike: Beginning at the pupfish pond, walk up-canyon past many desert plants once used by the Indians for food and shelter. Willow was sought for home-building and bow-making; brittle bush and creosote were used for their healing qualities; honey, along with mesquite and beavertail cactus, was a food staple. Shallow Indian grinding holes can be seen in the granite.

The broad alluvial fan at the mouth of the canyon narrows and the sheer rock walls of the canyon soon enclose you as the trail continues along the drought-reduced seasonal stream.

If you’re already surprised at how an apparently lifeless canyon could provide survival ingredients for the Indians, you’ll be surprised once more when Borrego Palm Oasis comes into view. Just beyond the first group of palms is a damp grotto, where a seasonal waterfall (reduced to a mere trickle at last report) cascades over huge boulders. The grotto is a popular picnic area.

From the falls, try an alternate trail back to the campground. This trail follows the south side of the creek, past magnificent ocotillos, and gives a different perspective on this desert environment.

You can also continue hiking up the canyon. The path is more difficult up-canyon after the falls, with lots of dense undergrowth and boulders.

To continue to South Fork (where palms, not the Ewings, reside), hike past the “tourist turnaround” up the canyon. The canyon is wet, so watch for slippery, fallen palm fronds.

The canyon narrows even further and the trail dwindles to nothing. Parallel the stream bed and boulder-hop back and forth across the water. The canyon zig-zags quite a bit, so you can never see more than a few hundred yards ahead. The hike is well-worth the effort, because most of the clusters of palms in the canyon are found in the upper reaches.

The canyon splits 1 3/4 miles from the falls. Straight ahead, to the southwest, is South Fork. The rocky gorge of South Fork is smothered with bamboo and difficult to negotiate. South Fork ascends to the upper slopes of San Ysidro Mountain (6,417 feet).

The Middle Fork (the way you came) of Borrego Palm Canyon is dry and more passable. It’s possible to hike quite a distance first up Middle Fork, then North Fork of Borrego Palm Canyon, but check with park rangers first. It’s extremely rugged terrain.

BORREGO PALM CANYON TRAIL

Borrego Campground to Falls; 3 miles round trip, 600-foot elevation gain.

Borrego Campground to South Fork; 6 1/2 miles round trip, 1,400-foot elevation gain.