Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to make it to the group trip that Tapatio is planning for February. However, I wanted to camp somewhere in Anza Borrego for Christmas and this seemed as good a place as any so here is my trip report.
Day 1:
We camped the first night in the Tamarisk Grove campground. It is nice enough. The parking spaces are a little tight but the sites are nice and there are bathrooms and showers. There is water but it is non-potable. The campground is nestled between two fairly busy roads so bring earplugs. Be aware that 11 out of the 27 sites now have little cabins that are currently closed. The ranger thought they would be open "sometime in the new year" and that the price per night would be $60.00. The normal site price is $25.00.
Bathrooms/showers. $0.50 = 1 token = 2 minutes.
Cabin site.
Day 2:
The next day we drove to Borrego Springs and toured the visitor center, then headed north on Di Giorgio road until the pavement ended. The park listed the road as 4x4 required and in good condition and I would mostly agree. Up until Second Crossing, the biggest obstacle is loose sand. Second Crossing had the most water but was very shallow. After Third Crossing though is a rocky, narrow and steep climb that I would be leery of trying without 4WD. Total off-pavement mileage to Sheep Canyon Camp is about 11 miles.
Second Crossing.
This was the hardest part. Bouncy, for sure, and worth walking up first, but nothing we couldn't handle.
Looking down at the same part. My wife always underestimates our chances.
One last little pucker at the top.
In Sheep Canyon Camp we camped in site #5 out of 5 marked sites. This one was nice because it had a fire pit and was set apart from the rest of the sites. You could probably get 2 or 3 SMBs in here too. Camping fee is $10.00 per night and there are two vault toilets in the main part of the camp. There are some unmarked sites as well that you probably don't have to pay for, but they don't have fire pits. You are not allowed to have fires on the ground anywhere in Anza Borrego, so if you plan to have a fire, bring your own fire pit. Here is our location on Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&g ... &z=12&om=1
Site #5.
The stars at night were big and bright.
Day 3:
Our original plan was to camp in the Arroyo Salado Primitive Camp for our third night, but we liked Sheep Canyon so much we decided to stay for two nights. The first night, there was only one other group of campers. They left the next day and three other groups came in plus a few day trippers, but overall it was very quiet. We tried to hike up to the palm trees we could see in the canyon, but couldn't make out a trail. We had fun trying, though.
Another starry night.
Steve in L.A.
El Guapo Rojo
VivaLaVida
Sporty Spice
Linear Mode
