Anza-Borrego North: Driving & Hiking: Rattlesnake Canyon

Photo of a dry waterfall in the middle of Rattlesnake Canyon
Rattlesnake Canyon

Rattlesnake Canyon is narrow, rocky, quiet, a little hard to get into in spots, and the site of a former Indian village. A watering hole called Rattlesnake Spring is in the mountains east of the village site. The Indians probably used the spring for water, or as a hunting site, or both.

It makes a pleasant destination for a short hike, perhaps with a stop for lunch on one of the larger rocks. Peak-baggers and cross-country hikers use Rattlesnake Canyon as an access point to the mountains, including Villager Peak. It is less travelled than the route up the ridge to the west and that, for some people, is an attraction.

Getting to Rattlesnake Canyon. Drive 10 miles east from Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs onCounty Road S-22 and park near Call Box S22-319. Walk north toward the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains. You will pass the long Lute Fault Scarp on your left, and a couple of hundred yards beyond that you will come to Rattlesnake Wash at the base of the mountains. Follow the wash to the right, and follow it as it bends toward the mountains and enters the canyon.