Anza-Borrego: South

Photo of the North end of the Coyote Mountains
Coyote Mountains

Headed south on County Road S-2, as you pass the historic Vallecito Stage Station County Park, the Tierra Blanca Mountains stand in front of you, Vallecito Creek is beside you, and you leave the Vallecito Mountains behind.

This is Anza-Borrego South, the last miles of the state park and the beginning of government land for military and civilian purposes, dotted with an occasional village (Ocotillo) or town (El Centro).

To the west, you pass such Tierra Blanca Mountains spots for hiking, birding, and wildflower watching as Agua Caliente County Park, Indian Valley (reached via Indian Gorge), Mountain Palm Springs, and Bow Willow. To the east, if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, you can follow Vallecito Creek or Carrizo Creek through country that delights geologists, paleontologists, spelunkers, and 4-wheel drive enthusiasts.

After crossing Carrizo Creek, the road takes you up Sweeney Pass into the long northwest-southeast trending Coyote Mountains which you can view from the Carrizo Badlands Overlook. To the west, you'll note the dark soil of the Volcanic Hills, Anza-Borrego's volcano country, followed by the Jacumba Mountains which stretch to the Mexican border. You will also pass the Mortero Wash turnoff which leads to important Native-American sites and the tracks of the San Diego Arizona & Eastern Railway.

Travelling eastward on your choice of old Highway 80, Interstate-8, or Highway 98, you continue through the Yuha Desert until Imperial County's remarkable farmland begins on the east side of the New River.

Southern Anza-Borrego represents humanity's past in many ways. There is paleontological evidence of plant and animal life from millions of years ago. There is archaeological evidence that Native-Americans lived here and held parts of it sacred for up to 3,500 years. In recent times, the Anza Trail and the Southern Emigrant Trail passed through here.