Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Part 1

I've been wanting to explore ABDSP for awhile. I'd driven by the OHV area a few years ago, and it really didn't appeal to me, but the excellent guidebook by Lowell and Diana Lindsay has a wealth of ideas for great routes to explore. I headed down the 78 from Temecula on Sat. Feb.13th figuring I'd scope out a primitive campsite north of S22, then explore Coyote Canyon. Many thanks to @Crom for campsite advice.

I turned north off of S22 a few miles east of Borrego Springs onto Rockhouse Road, which gives access to Clark Dry Lake. Rockhouse Rd. forks, and the left and right forks continue for awhile roughly paralleling each other just southwest of the dry lake. I stayed left, and saw plenty of nice places 2.5 miles in. Later that evening I made camp here:

The dry lake is 100 yards or so in front of my truck, and in the distance is the sunlit southern terminus of the Santa Rosa Mountains. It was a beautiful camp site, at sufficient remove from the OHV area to be nice and quiet. That evening I had a chance to try out the folding camp table I fabbed up for my swing out bumper. Worked great.


After satisfying myself that it would be easy to find a nice spot here even if I returned after dark, I headed west on Henderson Canyon Road, then north on Di Giorgio Road. After a couple of miles, it becomes the dirt Coyote Canyon Road, trending generally northwest through beautiful stands of ocotillo, just coming into bloom.

The road is easy, crossing Coyote Creek a couple of times in the next couple of miles. 2wd friendly for sure, all the way to the third creek crossing at around 4 miles. Just after this third crossing, the road ascends steeply up an impressive looking rock garden. I saw an Adventure Van, fully rigged for overland travel, smoking its left rear tire at the steepest part of the trail. He and his wife and two kids finally made it after engaging the rear locker. Being relatively new to offroading, I was a little intimidated, but I figured if he could do it, so could I. I put it in 4lo, atrac, and crawled on up the half mile garden with zero difficulties.

Once past the rock garden, the trail passes through an exceptional landscape, including the Sheep Canyon area. A series of springs allows more water intensive plants to grow over a wide area, including a large stand of palm trees.

After exploring the area for awhile, I started to make my way back down towards the rock garden. I ran into the Adventure Van family, and suggested he might find the going easier if he aired down his tires. He had them inflated to 90psi! No wonder he couldn't find traction. I aired him down to 30psi and then we convoyed down to the garden where I spotted him through. This shows better how steep it was:

I had reckoned that going down would be even easier than up, but I was wrong. In this picture, my IFS skid is resting on a boulder. Glad I have it!

I made it fine, without carnage, and headed back to camp. Had dinner and was dead asleep by 8PM, and got up 12 hours later! I love my Tepui RTT...almost as comfortable as my bed at home. In part two I'll report on the following day's journey through Canyon Sin Nombre, Arroyo Seco Del Diablo, Diablo Dropoff, Broken Shaft Gulch, and Fish Canyon.

 

Wooooo!

Awesome!

 

Sweet Bruce!I'll be there next weekend(Feb 26th-28th)for my 1st time experience there!

 

Looks like you had a good time.

I'm happy for you.

 

That looks awesome!

 

Nice. Thanks for the awesome pics of America!!

 

Nice looks like fun

 

Looks like you had a fun time, also this relieves a bit of my anxiety since I'm 2wd and open diff. Granted I won't be able to do everything you did but I can still definitely have some fun!

 

I think the rock garden might fly if you are aired down to 18 or less. Just don't try to go UP the Diablo Dropoff.

 

Noted

 

Great pics and looks like a great time as well!

 

Sounds like a great trip. I'm about to go check out part 2.

 

Nice to year more about Coyote Canyon; I wonder if I could make it with my rig. It's a 04 TRD Tacoma and has a Four Wheel Camper on it. I go to Anza Borrego every year and explore a different part. I'm trying to find a bumper to put on my rig which would have swing out arms/pivots; I'd carry gear boxes. My spare is under the truck. Suggestions on bumper?

 

Hi Jim and welcome to TW. A word of warning: this site is going to put the hurt on your wallet worse than a rock star coke habit, so get ready. With respect to Coyote Canyon, it depends on how your truck is equipped. If you are 2wd and don't have a locking rear differential, it will be more difficult. Airing down your tires from street pressure to +-18psi will help. Then there is the question of clearance with the FWC in the bed. If you have not upgraded your suspension you are going to be riding a little low, thus increasing your chances of scraping or even banging the undercarriage. PM me the specifics of your set-up, and I can be more helpful. See under my name where it says "Start a Conversation"? Click on that to send me a PM.

There are several companies that make great bumpers. Mine are CBI Offroad, but Pelfreybilt in Poway CA has great stuff, and a well deserved reputation for outstanding customer service. Bear in mind that a swing out rear bumper with gear boxes mounted is going to increase you weight in the rear by a significant amount. So you buy a set of Old Man Emu Dakar leaf springs, and some Bilstein shocks to match. Then you say "What the hell, I might as well do the front" and you pop for a nicer front suspension. Pretty soon your truck is festooned with $10K worth of after-market awesomeness, at which point you realize that what you really needed all along was 4wd, and then you're just screwed. Have fun.

 

Hi Bruce,
Thanks for taking time to write. I'm a greenhorn but have been trucking with the 4WD rig for a few years. I've had gear rack on the back for a while; part of the load is on the receiver and I have heavy straps that go from the carrier my camper (there are some nice heavy-duty steps on the back of the camper that I attach to). That takes some of the load off the carrier. The issue is that the carrier is too low for the steep up/down of four wheel travel. Thus my idea for a new bumper with swing outs/pivots. I done know about CBI or Pelfreybilt but I'll check them out to see if they can fit my 2004 Tacoma. Once I bought the camper I had the suspension beefed up by adding another leaf to the springs (driver's side where the weight is concentrated on the Eagle). Added air bags but they didn't hold up. I'm not sure if more rear suspension work would be needed. I am going to get at least a front skid plate. Paleontology is a big interest and I collect fossils in Utah and other western states; need the 4WD to negotiate these areas.

My trips to Anza Borrego have been really exciting. My wife and I go every year in April. I do photography, check on Swainson migration count and play my trumpet in the canyons. This year I want to get in an area that is mostly sand. I plan to air down...not sure how much. You mentioned you could go as low as 18psi. I do have a compressor in the truck. I get into rocks when I'm trying to explore canyons (like Oyster Shell Wash) off Fish Creek. I go slow; now I'll try airing down. At what pressure do you risk popping a bead?

I'll keep researching the bumper and let you know how it goes. We're now looking at the Alcan. Cheri and I are both retired teachers. Taking trips is what we enjoy doing. Alaska seems like it will offer some unique natural experiences.

Jim

 

I wish I could retire. I teach as well, but at least I still enjoy it. Personally I wouldn't go much below 15psi in the tires. You'll find the ride is much improved at 18 or so, and you get better traction over both sand and rock. I'd go ahead and do Coyote Canyon since you are 4wd. Keep it slow and you'll be fine. Just past the rock garden the trail opens up into really beautiful country.

 

Thanks, Bruce. I'll stay in touch. Are you going back to Anza Borrego soon? BTW, where/what do you teach? Cheri taught 1st grade in Berkeley; I taught 6th grade in Richmond. I still teach music to kids 2/days/wk even though I've been retired for 3 years. Have you done the Mojave Road? That's another trip that I think might be interesting.

 

I teach history and photography at Claremont High School, the school I failed to graduate from back in '75. The world's a funny place, no? I don't have current plans for Anza, but it's less than 3 hours away, and I'd be happy to meet you there some weekend. Perhaps my wife, who is adventure averse, would tag along knowing she'd have female company. I've driven the Mojave Road solo twice now, and it's a great trip. Long, beautiful, and remote. I'll be doing it again first week of April with a small group of like minded folks from TW, and then head up for a few solo days in Death Valley. Do a search for "Mojave Road Guide" by Dennis Casebier. It's a detailed mile by mile guide, together with lots of interesting history.

 

Nice, brings back memories.
I used to ride Montezuma Rd. up at Borrego a lot, miss that road.

 

I've got the Mojave book. The trip's on my list. I do solo trips to DV as well. It's all good. I've also enjoyed exploring the Mojave Park area. Now we go at least 2 wks to Utah each year. So many canyons to explore. We've found a person who's hiked the canyons for years and knows these great pictograph sites. Can't seem to get enough of that. I photograph the murals and wonder about the ancient culture who left this art. Love to hook up sometime, Bruce. Sorry I'll miss the Mojave Road in April.