The Slot Trail in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a short but very enjoyable hike.
Hotels near Slot Canyon, Borrego Springs on Tripadvisor: Find 1,814 traveller reviews, 2,873 candid photos, and prices for 6 hotels near Slot Canyon in Borrego Springs, CA. The slot canyon starts a few feet from the parking lot and gets quite narrow, then opens up a bit to be more of a normal canyon.
Essentially named The Slot, this thin siltstone gulch gives a standout amongst the most energizing climbs in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This 0.8-mile trek is topped off with an entry underneath a gravity-challenging rock traverse. This short climb has only 100 feet of height misfortune, yet the memory will be considerably more significant.
The Slot lacks a defined trail marker. From the parking area, look for footprints leading down into the ravine below. Left of the trailhead, just to the right of a dirt road continuing east, is a wide path that appears to descend into the canyon. This is not the way. The winding trail cliffs out above dry falls in a side canyon above The Slot. The correct route is the narrow steep-looking trail that drops right off the rim of the ravine, straight ahead from the parking area.
Gradually slide into the trench. The trail is steep, however not so steep as it looks from above, dropping under fifty feet. There are not any more optical dreams from here, simply eye-popping normal miracles.
Turn left and venture down to The Slot. The siltstone walls grow taller and closer together. A tenth of a mile from the start, the canyon becomes quite narrow. Hopefully, you did not eat a big breakfast, because you will need to squeeze through course walls that are shoulder width apart, and less in places.
The shaded slot provides cool relief from the desert above. Progress through the narrows for 0.3 miles to the highlight of the trek, a slanted rock slab bridging a narrow gap in the canyon. This scepter-shaped block appears to have broken off one wall and come to a comfortable resting place between the two. The precarious feature could fall at any moment, but it remains lodged overhead, trapped in some loophole of the earth’s gravitational pull.
Not far below, the canyon widens, and the trail meets the top of a jeep road. One option is to walk down this road a ways to a junction and turn left to loop back to the start, adding over a mile to the hike. It is probably better to turn around when you meet the road and hike back up through the slot. The trail is enjoyable a second time (and several times more).
To the north of the parking area, a trail ascends to the 1,207-foot summit of West Butte in the Borrego Mountains. From the summit, one can hike west along a ridge to the dirt road below The Slot and return to the trailhead through the canyon for a 3.5-mile loop. No fee or permit is required to hike The Slot in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, so get out and enjoy!
To get to the trailhead: From Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, drive 11.5 miles southeast on Borrego Springs Road. Turn left on Route 78 East, drive 1.5 miles, and turn left (north) on a dirt road marked Buttes Pass. Drive one mile up this dirt road to a fork, and continue to the left-up Borrego Mountain Wash. Go another mile to the parking area for The Slot. Low clearance vehicles should be able to drive all the way to the trailhead at the end of the sandy dirt road. Texas holdem jogar gratis.
Trailhead address: Borrego Mountain Wash, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA 92004
Trailhead coordinates: 33.18213, -116.21417 (33° 10′ 55.7″N 116° 12′ 51″W)
I recently stayed at Ocotillo Wells State Park, CA for a night, on my way to San Diego to visit family.
In addition to doing some 4x4 on the back roads with my Tacoma/FWC camper, finding some desert flower bloom, I decided to check the adjoining Borrego Springs State Park, CA, just a few miles down the road.
![Slot Canyon Trail Borrego Springs Ca Slot Canyon Trail Borrego Springs Ca](/uploads/1/3/4/4/134498191/343783843.jpg)
Driving in this portion of Borrego Springs SP, I came across “The Slot” Canyon. I was surprised by the number of people at the trailhead, hiking The Slot.
Above is a picture of my truck and camper on the rim of the slot canyon.
From the surface this is what the slot canyon looks like.
Down in the slot canyon the hike is very narrow. So narrow that I could not squeeze through many narrow portions of the slot with my backpack on. In retrospect I should have noted others without backpacks.
And the slot got narrower.
This group of people spent time checking out each of the narrows.
Looking overhead, this portion of the slot canyon wall slipped and is now wedged above our heads.
Eventually the slot canyon opens up and I hiked the wash to the end.
Slot Canyon Trail Borrego Springs Campground
At the end of the trail is this interesting rock formation with all these pockets along the top. It’s possible to drive along the slot rim, although it is narrow in many places to one car width.
The opposite end parking area of the slot canyon is 4x4 only. The road down from the rim is extremely steep and gravel. There is a sign cautioning this. I opted not to take my truck/camper down as there was no viable way out if I could not make it back up the hill.
After hiking the slot canyon I explored some of the 4x4 roads in the area. One road in particular was very steep one vehicle wide. I got to the top but could not see the road over the nose of my truck. I had to get out to look and decided to turn around on the hill top, as it became too difficult to see the road in many spots due to hills being steep like this.
Slot Canyon Trail Borrego Springs Camping
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