Email ElizabethPhotos of Visit to Borrego Springs, California
Here I am, sitting outside at The Mall on Palm Canyon Drive in Borrego Springs. You will note the plant behind my head that looks a bit like Medusa. Well, it is my new favorite desert plant called an ocotillo. In the spring, it features bright red flowers on its tips.
One of the art stores at The Mall just got ocotillo sculptures. They seem to be made from rebar and painted green with red glossy floral tips. Very pretty. But I desire the real thing, an original living plant.
I do not know how many tourists descend upon Borrego Springs in the spring but the official population of the town from July of 2018 is 3,676 residents. And according to one website, 1 million tourists annually visit Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The name of the park is in honor of Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza, who studied the desert in 1774 and, of course, Borrego is the Spanish word for sheep.
This scene is visible from a long ways while driving up Tilting T. Everywhere you look, evening primrose and other wildflowers in bloom, and this is somebody’s house and yard. Although the entire town of Borrego Springs is surrounded by California’s largest state park, Anza Borrego.
Every day we drove toward Palm Canyon Drive from Tilting T, I wondered about this field. Sometimes things are not as close as they appear. But then on Tuesday, we finally decided to navigate to the property to take a look. It wasn’t that far away at all.
Who can resist desert sunflowers? They bloom everywhere as well. In town, out on the deserted roads, washes, anywhere a seed can take root. Not to be confused with brittlebrush, which is also a yellow flower but without the orange centers. During our Palm Canyon Hike, we spotted many desert sunflowers.
While we drove the canyon coming into Borrego Springs, I shot this photo through the front window of our vehicle. In the bottom left is an ocotillo. But if you look closely at the pale green of this mountain, you can see swathes of yellow wildflowers. Completely different scenery than, say, Fonts Point.
Much of this particular desert is shaped by water. The carved rock you see in this photo is similar to roadside attractions you can find in Death Valley. To me, they resemble giant’s toes.
One of the things you might not know about Borrego Springs is its reputation as the first International Dark Sky Community in America. There are no street lights in Borrego Springs, to protect the night sky from pollution. It is a perfect place to study constellations. My husband shared his Sky Guide app with me that outlines constellations and recognizes them. You can get it at the App Store.
Many artists live in Borrego Springs. The dinosaurs my husband Adam is getting chewed by were created by Richard Breceda. On the road to the Anza Country Club, you can visit Galetta Meadows, where many of Breceda’s sculptures are located. However, you can also see them in town at The Mall.
Out on Henderson Canyon Road we found plenty of Arizona Lupine in bloom. I tried to shoot the Sand Verbena but no matter which way I aimed my camera, it came out a blurry pink plastic looking mess. But the Arizona Lupine is beautiful. Never seen a field of lupine up close like this. But viewing wild lupine like this is a good reason to visit Borrego Springs.
Photos of Clark Dry Lake at Anza Borrego Desert
After this blog about photos of Clark Dry Lake at Anza Borrego Desert, I believe I have one more blog to do to be finished with our trip. Normally I would not post so many photos and a bunch of blogs about one place, namely Anza Borrego Desert State Park, but I can’t help myself.
It’s such a fascinating place, so much to see and do and most people in California have no idea where it is even located. Although it is the largest state park in California. How about those apples? It is located about 2 hours Northeast of San Diego.
Now, I know what you’re gonna say. You think this is very similar to a far away place I visited several years ago, right? The Racetrack, which is near Death Valley. There are similarities but no rocks mysteriously move across the bed of this lake. A few years back, they figured out what moves the rocks at The Racetrack. It’s a thin layer of ice that forms at night and then melts in morning that moves the rocks.
Clark Dry Lake sits low in the valley at 560 feet elevation. Which means much of the moisture and rainfall flows into this lake bed but it never really fills up to be a lake. There are a few areas where it was moist. You can tell that some spots recently had water by the evaporated salt and the fact your feet make an impression by sinking ever so slightly into the terrain.
We had a bit of trouble finding how to get to Clark Dry Lake. Because we could see it from where we were photographing Desert Lupines. We sort of zigzagged through the washes, careful not to drive where vehicles were prohibited, until we finally found the road leading to the lake bed.
Flash floods are common in certain areas of Anza Borrego State Park, which is why some of the washes were closed. Also, we noted a few RVs parked further away but not as many as one would expect.
Photos of Wildflowers from Anza Borrego State Park
This is the entrance to the wildflowers from Anza Borrego State Park in Borrego Springs, California. Unassuming. You might think oh, just another state park, not THE largest state park in California with vegetation, succulents, cacti, and wildflowers exploding everywhere you look, nestled under Coyote Mountain and the Santa Ynez Mountains.
You’re just not prepared for the spectacular Super Bloom of the wildflowers from Anza Borrego State Park. A Super Bloom can occur after several years of hard rain to wake dormant seeds, and it usually happens once every decade or two.
No matter what you see in other photos or read about, this is a place that you absolutely must experience in person. Stop texting people, stop reading emails and pay attention to the glorious colorful display right under your very nose. Too much energy? Why not go on a hike at Palm Canyon?
It is a life altering experience, to truly feel connected to nature. The desert is full of life. Just slow down and enjoy the wildflowers from Anza Borrego State Park. You will see the sphinx moth caterpillars. Or, the golden crown on the barrel cactus below. Evening primrose, red ocotillo blooms, purple heliotrope, white desert chicory, monkey-flowers, white dune primrose, budding paddle cacti, mohave yucca, cholla cactus, madagascar palms, desert sunflowers and more.
If you go to view the wildflowers from Anza Borrego State Park, it is better to do it on a weekday because weekends are very crowded. My other suggestion is do not try to get lunch in the town of Borrego Springs. Either pack a lunch and take it with you or drive to the Anza Borrego Country Club. On Monday and Tuesdays, there is a food truck parked there, and Wednesday through Sunday offers a fabulous lunch without the crowds.
To get there from Sacramento, fly into San Diego on Alaska Airlines. The flight is a little over an hour. Rent an SUV at the airport and drive the two hours to Borrego Springs. Stay at the Borrego Springs Resort and Spa, which is very close to the Anza Borrego State Park. Airfare and accommodations, which include a king bed suite for two, is a total of $1,100.
Photos of Palm Canyon Hike at Anza Borrego
For those of you contemplating a Palm Canyon Hike at Anza Borrego, my best advice to you is just DO IT. You will NOT be disappointed. Anza Borrego is the largest state park in California. This blog is about the Super Bloom of 2019 in Anza Borrego State Park, and all of the photos were shot on March 19, 2019.
We approached the Palm Canyon Hike trail at Anza Borrego State Park and saw a sign recommending that we carry at minimum 1 gallon of water per person. That seemed a bit excessive to my uniformed mind of how I would feel after hiking 3 miles over rocks, up steps, boulders, rough terrain and 6 river crossings on rocks. Good deal that my husband brought an entire portable bladder of water in his backpack because I ran out of my one liter of water on the way back.
And I am not a big water drinker.
Almost the entire hike was unreal. You simply cannot believe what your eyes are viewing. Toto, we are not in Sacramento anymore. Wildflowers explode everywhere. This is the Super Bloom that happens once every decade or so when seeds lie dormant in the desert, waiting for several years of hard rain in order to sprout. I thought Fonts Point was fascinating but the trip just kept getting better.
Although the trail starts out simple enough, soft sand and fabulous views, it quickly turns into narrow walking paths and the need to scramble over boulders.
Below are photos of the Palm Canyon Hike at Anza Borrego Desert State Park. You will see a road runner sitting on a pile of rocks. Visual evidence of tectonic plate thrusts. Beautiful yellow evening primrose flowers. A spiny granite lizard sunning himself. Desert sunflowers. A white-lined sphinx moth caterpillar near purple heliotrope. Stunning white ghost flowers. Pink Bigelow’s monkey-flowers. Purple canterbury bell flowers.
A couple of costa hummingbirds. Family of Big-Horn sheep on the ridge. Apricot mallow. Several Palm Canyon hike oases at the end of the loop. Ending with a photo of me in front at the Palm Canyon Hotel restaurant, exhausted and ready for lunch. Well worth the hike. Tremendous wildflower blooms and interesting wildlife.
Photos of Fonts Point at Anza Borrego Desert State Park
Would it surprise you to learn that Fonts Point at Anza Borrego Desert State Park is very much like the Badlands in North Dakota? Some people compare it to the Grand Canyon, but the Badlands were formed mostly by water, wind and freezing temperatures. Fonts Point was created mostly by water. Although it is windy, which is why I had to hold my hair off my face for this photo.
Another interesting fact, the shadow you see down the center is a dry creek bed that fills from winter rains. The hills are golden in the sunlight. We were there about 4 PM. If we had all the time in the world, we could have returned when the sun was a bit lower in the sky on another day to capture more color at sunset, but we had to get back to check into our hotel at the Borrego Springs Resort and Spa.
After our visit to the Salton Sea, we stopped by Fonts Point on our way back to town. Access is by a four-mile sandy road that is best navigated either on foot or via a four-wheel drive SUV. Fortunately, the smaller SUV my husband reserved at the airport was given away to some other traveler by mistake, so SIXT gave us a 7-passenger Buick Enclave. A huge monstrosity that could go anywhere.
Below are a series of photos I shot at Fonts Point at Anza Borrego. Included is a photo of an ocotillo, a cactus-like plant that is not a cactus. These are ubiquitous in Anza Borrego State Desert Park, and I want one for our yard in Hawaii. They survive without much water, maybe every 2 to 3 weeks they can use a drink. And in the spring, they bud out with beautiful red flowers on top.
Another fact you might not know is Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California! We came to witness the Super Bloom of wildflowers. Seeds lie dormant for years in the Colorado Desert, just waiting for just the right amount of water to give life.
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