Discover the Best Things to Do in Borrego Springs All in 1 Day
The California desert is vast. Finding outdoor adventure is easy when it’s located throughout many different corners of the southern portion of the state.
One such area is the small town of Borrego Springs, nestled in a dry desert region surrounded by the Salton Sea, San Jacinto mountain, Cleveland National Forest, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. A truly unique location to say the least!
If you’re heading out to Borrego Springs looking for some epic desert activities, you’re in luck. There is a variety of things to do in Borrego Springs such as hiking, camping, off-roading, and visiting some unique metal art sculptures.
From our own experience, we’ve listed the 3 top things to do in Borrego Springs, all of which you can easily fit into one day! Perfect for the traveler just passing through or for the avid weekend warrior.
🌻 Our content may contain affiliate links. If clicked through to make a purchase, the price remains the same for you and we will earn a small commission. This helps us to continue creating useful and valuable content for you and other visitors. 💜1. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park – Borrego Palm Canyon Trail
One of the top attractions near Borrego Springs is the stunning Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Located just 8 minutes away from downtown.
Anza-Borrego has tons of trails to choose from, making it one of the top rated desert parks in southern California.
However, if you’re just looking for a quick(ish) day hike that offers some of the best features of the park, you must hike Borrego Palm Canyon Trail.
HIKE DETAILS
- Length: 3 miles (Loop trail)
- Elevation: About 450 ft
- Difficulty: Easy – Moderate
- Time to complete: 2-3 hours
- Unfortunately, no dogs allowed on the trail
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
- Bring proper hiking shoes as the terrain is out here is very rocky
- We recommend a pair of Merrell Day Hiking Shoes. or any of these 3 Performance Day Hiking Shoes for Men & Women
- Save your joints and knees with trekking poles
- Bring enough water to stay hydrated while hiking, especially when in the desert
- This trail is fully exposed to the sun, be extra mindful during the warmer season
- Keep your noggin safe with any of these 5 hiking hats
- Protect your eyes with any of these top hiking sunglasses
- Consider bringing any of these 6 articles of sun protection for hiking
STARTING THE TRAIL
Borrego Palm Canyon Trail is the perfect trail to choose for your day hike. You can find the trailhead near the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground.
Before you set off on your hike, pay the $10 fee for a day pass to use the day use parking area. You can grab this at the nearby Visitor Center. This nominal fee helps keep this park beautiful.
This trail is one of the most popular in the Borrego Springs area and it’s easy to see why. This quick hike takes you through a desert canyon and directly up into a lush oasis surrounded by a dense palm grove!
Once you start the trail, you’ll notice a small elevation gain, but overall the trail is fairly flat. The first section takes you through a gorgeous valley filled with a variety of desert flora.
On each side, you’re surrounded by rocky mountain ranges, which become narrower as you hike further into the canyon.
Keep an eye out on those mountain ranges as it’s common to see Bighorn Sheep roaming about! We amazingly managed to see a couple Bighorn Sheep climbing along near the peaks.
Look careful as their coats help them blend with the colors of the mountain!
As you start to near the palm grove, the trail becomes a bit more rocky and wet. Some minor climbing over large boulders is expected but nothing the average person can’t handle.
REACHING THE PALM TREE OASIS
Once you reach the end, you’ve hit the beautiful palm tree grove! These tall, wide, and shaggy trees are actually the only native palm trees to California! They’re known as the California Fan Palms.
Here they flourish from the small creek and create a lovely canopy to relax under.
We felt an instant connection to this oasis as it very closely resembles another desert palm grove we’ve seen in southern California.
A striking similarity to both Murray Canyon Trail in Palm Springs, and 49 Palms Oasis Trail in Joshua Tree National Park! Finding these natural lush oasis’ in the desert are a real treat as oasis’ are rare and elusive.
Once you’re ready, head back the way you came, but take a right at the junction to take an alternate trail back.
This other section takes you along the southern portion of the creek, past some magnificent Ocotillo as well as a completely new perspective of this desert region.
2. The Slot
While we love all these types of desert landscapes, there is one type of environment that we can almost never pass up – slot canyons!
Amazingly, you can find one incredible slot canyon not far from Borrego Springs!
Just 25 minutes from downtown, head southeast into the desert to Highway 78, and then shortly down a dirt road to reach the parking lot for The Slot.
Don’t worry, you can still easily access the slot even with 2 wheel drive. At the time we were traveling in my Toyota Corolla and had no problems.
Many consider The Slot as the inner soul of Anza-Borrego as it’s literally a split from inside the earth, created over time from wind and water.
HIKING INSIDE THE SLOT
While peering down into The Slot from the top is cool, it’s a much more personal and immersive experience hiking inside it.
The Slot is a short hike that takes you down in between tight sandstone walls with very narrow curves. Where you feel almost fully enclosed in the Earth as you wander through the narrow canyon.
Not only is this slot canyon an impressive geological feat, it’s also just 1 mile long. So just about anyone can experience it.
The entirety of this trail is a gradual descent. As long as you’re heading downward, you’re going in the right direction.
As you head along the trail, you’ll notice the tannish brown siltstone walls start to grow taller and become more narrow.
The path winds you through a fun, maze-like environment filled with both walls of solid rock and sections of looser pebbles or stones conjoined together.
As you enter the deepest part of The Slot, you start to lose most of the outside sunlight. Amazingly the walls become so tall, it fully engulfs you and doesn’t allow for much sunlight to penetrate into the crevasse.
Don’t miss the natural rock bridge that you’ll come across! I mean, it’s kind of hard to miss as it looks like a sketchy fallen boulder nestled in between the walls.
After the bridge, the trail spits you out onto a dirt road. You could keep going if you wish, but there honestly isn’t too much to see past this point.
Many consider this the turnaround point and head back the way they came to the parking lot. The choice is up to you!
For a more detailed review, check out our separate blog post on The Slot!
3. Galleta Meadows Metal Sculptures
Outside of the 2 impressive hikes we mentioned, we have another unique landmark that makes the list of top things to do in Borrego Springs. A one of a kind art-inspired scavenger hunt across the wide desert.
Your trip through the area is not complete unless you include a stop at the Galleta Meadows Metal Sculptures.
There are an astonishing 100+ large metal sculptures scattered across the desert area off of Borrego Springs Road.
While you may not see all of them, you should definitely look out for the largest ones off the side of the road.
Conveniently, these are easy to spot as the dark bronze metal contrasts heavily against the barren landscape. The large metal dragon being the most popular of them all.
For more info on their locations, check out this map of the top Borrego Springs sculptures off of Borrego Springs Road.
You need to have a vehicle to be able to drive in between each sculpture. They span a distance of about 10 square miles making it too far to casually walk.
WHAT’S THE STORY OF THE SCULPTURES?
This offbeat attraction in Borrego Springs was created by the local landowner of Galleta Meadows, Dennis Avery. He decided that he wanted to add a large amount of free standing art to his property.
To bring his dream to life, he brought on help from Ricardo Breceda, a welder to craft the sculptures for him.
The very first sculptures were placed along Borrego Springs Road in April 2008, and ever since, the collection has continued to grow.
Breceda has claimed in the past that he has stopped crafting these sculptures, but still they continue to appear across the desert landscape.
Where To Stay in Borrego Springs
If you’re planning to stay in Borrego Springs for more than one day, you have a few options for lodging.
For those wanting a hotel or motel, you have a good variety of options depending on your price range. Most of these establishments are located near downtown of Palm Canyon Rd.
- Borrego Springs Resort and Spa – the most popular and highly rated hotel in the area, this is also the most expensive of the bunch
- Palm Canyon Hotel & RV Resort – this hotel is a perfect middle ground for those not wanting to spend too much but also not opt for a motel
- Stanlunds Inn and Suites – the most budget friendly of the options, a well kept motel not too far from downtown
Outside of hotels, you have the option of what we normally opt for – camping! Of course this is all dependent on the weather and how hot or cold the temperatures may be.
The most popular place to camp is within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park at Borrego Palm Campground. This is right next to the Borrego Palm Canyon trailhead we mentioned earlier. You can reserve online a campsite 6 months in advance from October 1st – April 30th.
There are a few other campsites within the Anza-Borrego along with some hike-in or primitive campsites that do not include bathrooms or hookups. You can find all this info online at their Anza-Borrego website.
Get The Best Experience with These Top Things to Do in Borrego Springs
For any desert lover, Borrego Springs is a must see destination for those traveling through southern California.
Not only will you be in awe of the gorgeous desert scenery upon arrival, you can look forward to all that there is to see here in this quaint desert region.
Experience the magic of the magnificent Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, along with the insane geological features of The Slot, and lastly, the artistic sculptures of Galleta Meadows.
We can guarantee you’ll have an epic event filled day of both fun and adventure.
And this is just one day! If you have the time, we highly recommend exploring more of trails within Anza-Borrego. There are many wonderful options to choose from.
If you’re looking for more exciting destinations nearby, head east to the neighboring Salton Sea where you’ll find Bombay Beach. Another outlandish experience that you’ll never forget. Check out our post on Bombay Beach and Slab City to start planning your trip!
Have you discovered any other amazing things to do in Borrego Springs? I know we just scratched the surface. Let us know in the comments below!
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