Anza-Borrego North: Santa Rosa Mountains

Photo of tall cottonwood trees in Horse Canyon The Santa Rosa Mountains are part of the Peninsular Mountains and contribute to creating the rainshadow that results in the desert. You can climb them and walk into their canyons. If you don't, you can always enjoy looking at them from anywhere in the region.

The Santa Rosas extend from Highway 74 (the Pines to Palms Highway) north of Anza southeast to the Salton Sea, forming a kind of moutain north wall to Anza-Borrego. While there are pinyon-juniper woodland areas in the mountaintops, the terrain is definitely desert in the lower elevations.

The high point is 8,716-foot Toro Peak. Other peaks include Santa Rosa (8,046 feet), Rabbit (often climbed at 6,666 feet), Lorenson's (6,582 feet), Martinez (6,548 feet), and Villager (popular with hikers at 5,756 feet). While it's possible to climb these peaks and get back in a day, most people undertake them as backpacks of two or three days. At least one backpacker has walked from County Road S-22 to Toro Peak.

Day-hikers in the Santa Rosas seek out Coyote Mountain, which rises to 3,192 feet and is best known for Alcoholic Pass, and nooks and crannies such as Clark Dry Lake, Lute Fault Scarp, Rattlesnake Canyon, Palo Verde Canyon, Smoke Tree Canyon, and the Calcite Mine.

On the east and northeast sides of the Santa Rosas, off-road vehicle enthusiasts enjoy Palm Wash, people with an interest in Cahuilla culture look for fish traps, rock hounds take to Wonderstone Wash and Garnet Wash, and now and then an adventurous backpacker may march over the mountains and into the state park from Travertine Palms Wash.