Anza-Borrego Desert Road Trip
California is the perfect place for road trips if you’re an outdoor fan like us.
One place we’ve been wanting to go for quite some time now, and were finally able to make it is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Borrego Springs, CA. Having living in Southern California for so long, we’ve grown so attached to nature that very often we want and need to step away from the city life to recharge.
We put in a decent amount of time and effort in planning this road trip, as desert is no joke. Our packing list includes:
10 gallons of water
lots of energy bars and snacks
pre-downloaded google maps for offline navigation
waterproof high SPF sunscreen
first aid kit and sanitizing wipes
2 large portable power banks
2 heavy duty flashlights with additional batteries
pepper spray
heat blanket
tire pressure gauge and tire inflator
plenty of mental preparation
Day 1 - Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Located within the Colorado Desert, Anza-Borrego Desert SP is the largest state park in California and is famous for its over 100 metal sculptures spread all over the map area. Some of the sculptures are not too far off from the main road and are fairly easy to access, but the rest will be more so a treasure hunt with off-road drive/hike only.
Started off our visit with the most famous sea serpent that is about 350 feet in length, rising from the sand with its angry face. This masterpiece, along with all others, are the creation of Ricardo Breceda, the artist who helped attract tons and thousands of tourists to the area with his artwork.
More sculptures with easy access from the main road, can’t photograph them all, picking only a few favorites here, plenty more not shown.
We checked in at this resort after a long day of drive, and we had so much fun touring this place! The resort was built as if it is a Western themed old town with different shops, stations, services, etc. The overall experience staying here was superb, and there are many things we thoroughly enjoyed: the friendly check-in, the complimentary cookies and drinks, a decent restaurant, super spacious rooms, and last but not least, the massive jetted tub in our room! You can also booking campsite with them if camping is your thing!
Font’s Point
Watching sunset at Font’s Point was just spectacular. It’s about a 4-mile off road drive to reach here, very bumpy ride, lots of loose sand so a 4-wheel drive is highly recommended, most likely no cell signal but a traditional GPS would work.
There are times where you feel so small and powerless in front of Mother Nature, and this was one of those moments for us. Slow down, take some time, and look far.. This is what we did at Font’s Point, and this is also what we should do in life sometimes.
Stargazing
You’d probably think our day ends at sunset, but the truth is we were out and about again at 10pm at night. Desert is a perfect place for stargazing because you are so far away from the city lights, and you can’t say you’ve experienced desert yet if you didn’t change into your winter clothes from your short sleeves just a few hours ago. Yes, the temperature drop was steep.
Flashlights in both hands, so quiet that we could clearly hear every step we take on the sand, the moon was extremely bright on this night but we were still a bit nervous about the darkness, not an ordinary night but for us it was oddly romantic.
Day 2 - Continuing The Adventure..
Continuing our desert adventure with finding metal dinosaurs and desert plants in the remote areas, 77 degrees Fahrenheit on Weather App sure felt like over 100 degrees under the sun. Something we learned so far, don’t underestimate desert heat!
Entering a metal Jurassic World here!
Borrego Palm Canyon Trail
This is a relatively easy but super fun trail, and it will complete the trip by giving you the full desert-to-oasis experience. With only about 3 miles of hike round trip, we went from walking on sand roads in a desert canyon to crawling over giant rocks, then to crossing streams and climbing palm tree trunks, and finally reached the oasis hidden near the top of the mountain.
If you come during the right season and if you get lucky, you may also see beautiful waterfalls and the famous big horn sheep on your way up.
With us being so attached to modern technology nowadays, you’d think it’s miserable with little to no cell signal and poor hotel WiFi for a few days straight, but the whole trip was surprisingly fun and we felt so close to nature, and that feeling was very satisfying.
A lot of hiking and climbing, don’t mind the sweat and sore muscles, totally feeling recharged after only a few days away. And this is exactly why we travel, for both stronger bodies and stronger souls.
Hotel of our stay: Palm Canyon Hotel & RV Resort
Hotel is definitely a little dated, but super unique and fun to explore, overall a nice and memorable experience.
If you’re interested in visiting destinations nearby Anza-Borrego Desert SP, here are a few recommendations:
To view all California road trip destinations, click here.