Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Guide: What to See and Do

One of our favorite places to visit is Anza-Borrego State Park in California. It’s so massive, you could spend weeks here and not explore even a fraction of it.

But this desert is more than just succulents and barren land. From hiking trails to van camping and stargazing, I’ll tell you what to see and do. 

I’ll also share what to know from our experience and personal photos from adventures. This might help you plan your own trip there!

Getting There

Every time we’ve traveled here, we’ve come in our camper van. It takes about 3 hours to drive here through Southern California.

From our location, we take the US-101 South to the CA-91 East. In Temecula, we get on the CA-79 South to the CA-78 East.

Whichever way you take, you’ll end up in San Diego County. If you travel from downtown San Diego, it’ll take you 1-1/2 hours (1.5 hours).

Visiting Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

The park is open daily and is part of the California State Parks system. You’ll want to check their website for specific notices and area closures. 

Anza-Borrego is the largest state park in California. There are over 600,000 acres to explore, so you won’t run out of land. 

There are many places where you must pay a day-use fee for parking or camping. You’ll find signs where you must pay. 

Most of the things to do in the park are outside. So, if you like outdoor adventures, you’re in luck. 

Anza-Borrego Visitor Center

Something you might want to do is stop by the visitor center. They’re open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during peak season, which is October through May.

June through September, they’re open weekends and holidays only. It’s very hot this time of year. 

Although we’ve visited the park many times, it took us a couple visits before we stopped here. It’s a great place to learn about all the places to explore in the park and get trail updates.

This is one of the places where you need to pay for parking. We hung our California parks pass in the van, so we didn’t have to pay. 

The visitor center is hidden, so when you pull up, you won’t see it. Follow the signs and paved path around to the entrance.

You can also see views from the top of the visitor center at the bridge overlook. You’ll have to climb some stairs to get up there. I went there first and saw wonderful desert views in all directions.

Then I went back down and entered the visitor center. There was a big map of the park outside.

Here you’ll find many displays about the wildlife and landscape in the desert. They even have part of a slot canyon you can walk through in there.

It’s worth stopping to learn more before exploring the park.

I spoke to a ranger here and got maps. She advised me on some hikes and gave me helpful information.

The center is quite big, so you can spend some time here. When I visited, they were showing a film that highlights the park. 

They also offer nature walks and guided hikes that you can sign up for. The nature walk lasts about 45 minutes, and they tell you about the park. 

I plan to go on one of these in the future. If you don’t have time, you can just stop by and pick up guides, maps, and pamphlets. 

Stargazing

Whether you camp or not, if you stay overnight, you’ll see the clearest skies and brightest stars. Anza-Borrego is a Dark Sky Park, and they mean it.

It will be dark once the sun sets, and you won’t find many street lamps. These are great conditions for viewing the night sky.

So if stargazing is your thing, you can see many of them. You don’t even need anything special to see the stars, but a telescope will help if you want a better view. 

Wherever we have camped, we’ve had great views. And one time, we saw a ray of light strewn across the sky.

I’m not sure what it was, but you might see things like this too. And one other time we stayed, they were filming a movie here.

So, other than seeing stars in the sky, you might run into some in the sand too! Many films have been shot in this desert.

Camping

Anza-Borrego has a few campgrounds. If you stay at one, you can literally sleep under the stars.

We van camped at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground, and I rave about how clean and nice this one is.

We had full water and electricity hookups, but you can get a spot without. This campground is pretty big and has amenities.

They have many others, but most of them are primitive areas. So, you might only find a vault toilet, and stoves or fire rings out there.

We always stay at a developed campground, and you must pay the camping fee. I recommend making a reservation ahead of time, as we showed up once and barely got a spot.

However, there’s plenty of dispersed camping in the park. The backcountry of the park is designated as a camping facility. 

Just don’t camp at the cultural preserves, historic sites, and don’t disturb nature. Be sure to follow the rules and Leave No Trace.

You’re allowed to camp up to 30 days in one year. I’m not sure if they monitor this because we talked to one camper in the backcountry who said he camps weeks at a time, and no ranger has ever stopped him.

Day Use Areas

Along with camping areas, I’ll discuss day use. You don’t have to stay overnight to use some areas.

You can just picnic and relax during the day. If you do this at a campground, you’ll want to use the day use areas only.

The fee to use the facilities is usually around $10. Don’t pull into a camping spot unless you paid for it. 

Besides the campgrounds, you can go off the road and enjoy peace. After exploring off-road and hiking, we found an area by Blair Valley.

People were doing dispersed camping and riding bicycles. By the way, you can ride a bicycle down paved roads and some dirt roads. 

We found a spot with a fire pit and cooked dinner. It was a quiet area with beautiful views. And there are many nice places like this in the park.

Hiking Trails

There are so many hiking trails in Anza Borrego, and you could explore for days on end.

In the summer, it can get brutally hot, so I don’t recommend hiking then. Wintertime is a great time because the days are pretty mild.

You might find historic areas and artifacts while hiking through the park. There are fossils from when dinosaurs roamed the region millions of years ago.

You don’t want to touch any of the remains if you come across old trails or buildings. Let’s keep those intact for other people to see.

So, just take a picture and leave it where you found it. 

We hiked the mysterious Ghost Mountain Trail. You can see the remains of the Yaquitepec, the old Marshall South house. 

He was a guy who sought a simple life in the mountains, far away from people. This was such a scenic adventure! 

Once we do more hikes, I’ll have to list all of them in one blog post.

Viewing Wildlife

There’s a lot of wildlife in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I can honestly say we haven’t run into any big animals on our trips.

However, we’ve seen evidence that they’re out there, with footprints and droppings on the ground.

It’s a habitat for Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, deer, bobcats, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, rats, and lizards. And the one animal we hear all the time is coyotes.

At night and early in the morning, we hear them howling. And although they always sound so close, we haven’t seen any.  

The ranger told me that you might run into bighorn sheep on Palm Canyon Trail. They like to be near water sources, and I’m hoping to see one next time I go.

The Metal Art Sculptures

Borrego Springs is dotted with unique artwork and exhibits. When you visit Anza-Borrego, you can see the Galleta Meadows metal sculptures. 

The artwork is actually located on private land, but it’s open to the public. They’re right next to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. 

This was a treat to see, as you’ll find sculptures representing prehistoric and current wildlife in the park. Some of them are just massive and filled with details.

So, you’ll want to check out my blog post, as I took pictures of a few of them. You don’t want to miss out on seeing this.

Driving Around

There’s a lot to see by just driving around. You can do Erosion Road or the Triangle Tour. You’ll want to get the map from the visitor center.

If you have the vehicle for it, you can explore off the main roads. In fact, this is an off-roader’s wonderland.

We see tons of people bringing their vehicles into the area. We have a 4-wheel-drive camper van, so we’re able to do this.

There are places where we saw people riding around for fun. We mostly go off-road to get to specific locations.

For example, we had to go off-road to reach the hiking trail and view the badlands. Without having a 4 x 4, we would have missed out on some amazing opportunities.

Font’s Point

Speaking of exploring off-road, Font’s Point is a great place to check out. But you’ll need a 4-wheel-drive, as it’s very sandy.

Here we saw amazing views of the Borrego Badlands. It’s California’s mini Grand Canyon!

It was such a surreal scene of a multi-colored layered landscape. We saw the cracks and crevices that were once part of the ocean.

This isn’t a place where you can park along the road and walk to the overlook. It’s 4 miles in exposed sandy range, so I do not recommend this. 

There are tour companies that offer off-road tours to Font’s Point. And you’ll have a guide, which seems like a plus.

Travel Notes

We always pick up a pass from the public library before we visit. If you are a California resident with a library card, you can use these passes free of charge for up to 21 days. This will cover all your day use fees in Anza-Borrego, but not camping.

In the summer, it gets brutally hot in the park. I know from firsthand experience. Many RV parks, hotels, and campgrounds close at this time, so call ahead for lodging if you plan to brave these conditions.

It’s the desert, and although it cools down at night, the daytime is extremely hot and dry. The early spring and fall are better for outdoor adventures, but there’ll be more visitors. 

No matter which time of year you visit, you’ll want to bring a sunhat, sunglasses, and carry water with you.

Final Thoughts

Visiting Anza Borrego Desert State Park is always a fun adventure for us. The park is huge and you can find many things to do. 

Although we’ve seen a lot of the area, we have much more to see. I’ll update the blog as we explore even more terrain.

More Travel Adventures

I have more related posts on my blog. You might want to check them out.

• We like to stay at Palm Canyon Hotel & RV Resort, which is a Western-themed getaway right by the park.

• Glamis Sand Dunes is a little drive from Anza-Borrego, where you can explore a golden landscape.

• We visited Slab City, a desert community of art and freedom. It’s an hour away with upcycled exhibits. 

I’d love to hear your travel stories!

Originally published: July 17, 2025