Anza-Borrego: Another Desert Garden Tour

Like my last blog on Joshua Tree, this is another post mainly consisting of pictures. Just haven't had anything to share (publicly at least) for a few days.

Last Monday, Barbara and I loaded the Jeep with cameras, binoculars, Leki hiking sticks, a picnic lunch and jumped in with Pip for a day outing to Anza Borrego State Park. This park is entirely desert, but in the spring, with just a little rain, it turns into a carpet of wildflowers in many places. It is about an hour west of the San Diego suburbs.
We headed south out of the Coachella valley on hwy 86 through the desert west of the Salton Sea, then over to the town of Borrego Springs on S-22 and then out of the town still on 22 up into the mountains where we connected with Hwy 79 going north. We then took Hwy 341 east to catch Hwy 74 back down into Palm Desert. At a fairly leisurely pace, and with lots of stopping, we did this tour in about 8 hours.

(Left-Click to enlarge this and other photos)
(Above) The town of Borrego Springs is nestled up against the mountains and almost completely surrounded by the Anza Borrego State Park. You will find no Holiday Inns, etc here, but there are a number of local hotels and resorts. Be aware that the Borrego Springs Inn has, I believe, one of its pools "swim suit optional." There are no stoplights, but in the center of this giant traffic circle in the middle of town there is a most pleasant local park with lots of grass and picnic tables. There are orchards north of town, with good produce stands at several locations. One local restaurant advertises its "dog friendly" patio seating. This is probably like what Palm Springs was in the early 1900's, few people and no traffic at all. It's isolated, but a nice oasis for the desert traveler.

Around the town are several housing areas with lots of space. The best wildflowers we found in this area were in such a private development.

The Ocatillo, one of our favorite cacti, were just coming into bloom, but their full deep red flowers had not yet fully developed on most of them.

After leaving Borrego Springs and climbing the S-22 switchbacks up from Borrego Springs, we encountered the grass-covered hills and the trees as a nice change from the desert floor.

The 1858 Oak Grove Butterfield Station pictured above is a simple one story adobe building surrounded by ancient oak trees. The Butterfield Overland Mail operated from 1858 to 1861 on this route between San Francisco and St. Louis, Missouri - Memphis, Tennessee. The Oak Grove Butterfield Station is a rare remaining original example of a stage route station. The two routes (St. Louis and Memphis) converged at Fort Smith, Arkansas, dropped into Texas, extended across the southwest to Los Angeles, and then north through the San Joaquin Valley to San Francisco. It took about 25 days for a letter to reach its destination. The Civil War interrupted operations in 1861.

As we traveled north on 79, we encountered hills and valleys covered with poppies, the California state flower. These are ubiquitous to the state, but when in this profusion are striking in their color and pattern.


Just north of Warner Springs, there is the missionary Saint Francis Chapel (exterior above, interior below). This 1830 structure sits in eastern San Diego County, the location of the historic Warner Ranch (still an active ranch, but now also operating a notable spa).

As we crossed back to hwy 74 and started the switchback back down into the Coachella valley, we stopped for a moment to take in a view of Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and Indian Wells. It was a nice day.