Our final stop in the desert (this time around!) was at Borrego Springs, a fabulous wrap-up to our desert adventures. First of all, Palm Canyon Hotel and RV Resort was delightful! It had a very fun vibe, a wonderful burger restaurant (with salad and sweet potato fries for Michele), and a funky little bar that served delicious margaritas (concocted by a bartender who was incredibly generous with her local recommendations!). It was close to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the largest state park in California, and surrounded by stunning hills and mountains.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park offered a surprisingly wide variety of hiking options. Our first hike—into a palm oasis—took us along a hilly path moderately covered in vegetation, wound alongside a small creek, and featured gurgling waterfalls (sadly, we did not see any bighorn sheep, although they are rumored to be plentiful there). Like a number of our hikes, this one was cut short by a recent climate event— in this case, a fire that burned some of the palms and made the path into the palm oasis unsafe.
Hike #2 could not have been more different. It was our first-ever slot canyon hike! For those of you familiar with that part of the country, this was not THE slot canyon. The parking lot there had filled up way before we arrived, leaving us the option of the “slot canyon less traveled.” Once again, serendipity struck. The Calcite Mine trail is like another world—rugged sandstone terrain, little vegetation, and extraordinary views of the badlands (once you get out of the canyons, of course!). There was a fair amount of scrambling over rockfall, which presented a surprisingly fun challenge for us!
Borrego Springs is where we first learned about desert wildflowers and entered into the endless discussion of best viewing spots, whether this year would be a “superbloom” year, etc. It felt like the desert version of fall foliage and leaf-peeping! Our wise bartender friend directed us to Henderson Canyon Road, “wildflower central” at that point in time, with sand verbena, desert primrose, and desert sunflower carpeting large sections of either side of the road. It’s really extraordinary to see these washes of color against the subtle greys, greens, and browns of the desert.
Speaking of extraordinary— we were driving from Borrego Springs to Anaheim when we noticed that large sections of the hills around us were neon orange. Initially considering it an optical illusion, we quickly realized that it was the poppy bloom at Lake Elsinore. Our “taken from the truck while driving” photos do not do justice to the vibrance of these flowers!
