So. CA desert in January

**B_and_D** · 11-28-2011, 09:11 PM

I'm (sort of) planning a trip sometime in January to So. CA, to somewhere in the desert. We've been to Joshua Tree, Death Valley, and Sam's Family Spa in Desert Hot Springs. I've heard some nice things about Anza-Borrego and the Mojave Desert, but I know nothing about those areas.

We're looking for somewhere with good hiking places, a quiet place to sleep until we feel like waking up (after all, we are on vacation!), hookups not essential, and good scenery. Local historic places would be a plus. We don't mind paying extra for hookups, mineral springs are also a big plus. We really like Sam's Family Spa, but we've been there several times and there are so many places we haven't been. We like it a lot because we sleep so well there, it is very peaceful and quiet. We are both over 55 so we can go to places that only allow us old(er) people.

Any recommendations?

11-29-2011, 12:06 AM

Anza Borrego State Park---Full hook-ups lots of places to hike. Clean RR and Showers. Most are pull through. But you need to book early. Reserve America. This is in San Diego County. Do not go through Julian Ca. The Banner Grade is vary steep.

**Bill** · 11-29-2011, 09:54 AM

Not entirely sure where you are coming from, but just for what it is worth ...

We just got back from Thanskgiving in Carlsbad, CA. Our trip took us through the same area. Rte 74 westbound from Palm Desert (sea level) toward Anza (4800 feet, more or less) is very spectacular, but also a very long slow steep climb. I was glad we didn't have the TM in tow. The same road eastbound isn't bad, of course - lots of downhill work, but slow speed is expected, and it is easy to maintain a slow speed.

If you end up going to A-B, I hope you will post your impressions. We are thinking of doing that area.

Bill

11-29-2011, 11:22 AM

We camp in the desert east of San Diego at least twice every winter usually at Borrego SP or Agua Caliente county park https://reservations.sdparks.org/activity/camping.asp. Borrego is great you can start the palm canyon hike right from the campgrounds, but it gets busy on weekends, there is a paved sidewalk through the desert that leads to the visitor center that can map out all sorts of other day trips for you. Blair valley, about 20 min away, has number of hikes to morteros, indian wall paintings and ghost mountain, and don't miss a sunset at fonts point. I recently played golf at an rv resort called the springs http://www.springsatborrego.com/ very nice place with a par 36 9 hole course and all the amenities.
Agua Caliente is in between Borrego and Ocotillo (8 fwy), there is no real town there, it was built around the hot springs, they've created 3 pools, 2 outdoor ones and a huge indoor one that they keep at 103 that doesn't allow small children, but it can get busy with day users and kids on the weekends as well, a lot of boy and girl scouts use it. There are a couple of hikes right from the campgrounds and some interesting mud caves about 20 min away, the rangers can point you in the right direction. I'll be there the first weekend of April. The 2 areas are only an hour apart you could do both.

**B_and_D** · 11-29-2011, 02:39 PM

Thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like it may be worthwhile visiting that area. It looks like a really long trip from home to there, realistically looking like a 12 hour trip (about the same as to Death Valley). We'd probably have to break it into two days down and two days back.

**ShrimpBurrito** · 11-30-2011, 01:00 PM

Anza Borrego is a great place. The peak time to go is around March/April when the wildflowers start to bloom, but it's a great place to explore year round. And of course, anytime you go to the desert, including any of the places you mentioned, be prepared for sustained high winds. We camped in the low Sierras a few years ago, and the 50 mph winds ALL NIGHT LONG kept us and the dog awake. No one got any sleep, and all the tent campers we passed on the way in had all departed in the middle of the night.

Note that you can camp just about anywhere in Anza Borrego, as long as you are off the road, a certain distance away from water, trails, etc. So there are places to explore other than campgrounds.

This is where we camped at Anza Borrego in April.

Dave

**Bill** · 11-30-2011, 01:42 PM

Dave -

I KNOW that you will fix those huge pictures, and when you do, I will delete this post! Until then, be embarassed - VERY EMBARASSED!

Bill

11-30-2011, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

Dave -

I KNOW that you will fix those huge pictures, and when you do, I will delete this post! Until then, be embarassed - VERY EMBARASSED!

Bill

You're going to delete his post after he fixes it??? Color me confused.

Keith

Barb&Tim · 11-30-2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

You're going to delete his post after he fixes it??? Color me confused.

Keith, I think Bill meant that he would delete his(Bill's) own post after he(Shrimp...) fixes it.

**ShrimpBurrito** · 11-30-2011, 02:42 PM

Haha, didn't mean to stir up a bees nest....I hadn't even given it a second thought. In any event, it was my understanding that the reason why folks should reduce the size of their photos was primarily to reduce the storage size on the forum server. The photos I posted do NOT reside on the forum server; the forum simply grabs them from a 3rd party server I maintain and displays them within my post. Thus, these photos occupy ZERO space on the forum server.

I suppose a secondary reason would be that it reduces the overall size of the page, and thus, for folks still using dialup (perhaps from Siberia?), it would take slightly less time to download the page. But it's not significant....the photos in my post are 100Kb to 250Kb in size.

Am I missing something?

Dave