With over 750,000 acres, California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest desert state park in the contiguous United States. It includes some of the most diverse desert wilderness in the world, with elevations varying from 8,000 feet to below sea level. The characteristic plants and animals of these ecological zones, 500 miles of dirt roads, two huge wilderness areas, and 110 miles of riding and hiking trails provide visitors with unparalleled opportunities to explore & experience the wonders of the desert.

Part of the Sonora Desert, the Colorado Desert is the extreme northwestern tip of Mexican desert extending into the United States. The park extends to within 25 airmiles of Palm Springs, CA, yet is utterly remote and removed from the urban areas of California. At its southern boundary, it reaches nearly to Mexico, yet because of the rugged territory, it is not affected by the border problems found in other desert parks in Arizona and Texas.

Safe to wander from end to end, the park offers open camping, backpacking, hiking, and mountain biking. The large network of dirt roads provides easy access to trail heads and campsites that would otherwise be beyond the reach of most people.

The park name is derived from a combination of the name of Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish word "borrego," referring to bighorn sheep. The park features washes, wildflowers, palm groves, cacti galore, and sweeping vistas. Visitors have a chance to see roadrunners, golden eagles, kit foxes, coyotes, badgers, jackrabbits, and peninsular bighorn sheep as well as desert iguanas, chuckwallas and four species of rattlesnake.

Due to its size and diversity, the park offers a unique experience to visitors and provides them with a wide variety of informative programs on topics such as astronomy, paleontology, geology, botany, zoology, history and more.

The town of Borrego Springs provides surprisingly extensive lodging and dining opportunities in the midst of the park wilderness. Aside from the park campground, all lodging is privately owned and operated.


While visiting the park, the Borrego Valley Inn is the perfect base from which to explore—
check availability and rates.