Blair Valley

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (, '' AN-zə bə-RAY-goh'') is a California State Park located within the Colorado Desert of southern California, United States. The park takes its name from 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and ''borrego'', a Spanish word for sheep. With that includes one-fifth of San Diego County, it is the largest state park in California.

The park occupies eastern San Diego County and reaches into Imperial and Riverside counties, enveloping two communities: Borrego Springs, which is home to the park's headquarters, and Shelter Valley.

Geography

The park is an anchor in the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve, and adjacent to the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.

The great bowl of the surrounding desert is surrounded by mountains, with the Vallecito Mountains to the south and the highest Santa Rosa Mountains to the north which are in the wilderness area, without paved roads and with the only year-round creeks.

Blair Valley is a valley in the State Park.
It consists of the main Blair Valley and Little Blair Valley separated by a small mountain range over which ''Foot and Walker Pass'' leads.
To the west of the valley lies Granite Mountain, to the east the range of Vallecito Mountains.

The valley can be crossed by dirt roads, e.g., to reach a look-out point over ''Smuggler Canyon'' or sites of Indian pre-Hispanic art.

Borrego Palm Canyon is the site of park headquarters and has “the most famous view point in the park, overlooking barren, spectacularly eroded Borrego Badlands.” Tamarisk Grove hosts a campground and is close to Yaqui Well, a “historic watering spot…with magnificent desert ironwood trees and a busy wildlife population.”

Visiting

The park has of dirt roads, 12 designated wilderness areas, and of hiking trails. Park information and maps are available in the visitor center. The park has Wi-Fi access.

The park is approximately a two-hour drive northeast from San Diego, southeast from Riverside or Irvine, and south from Palm Springs. Access on the east-Coachella Valley side is via County Route S22 and State Route 78. Access on the west-Pacific Ocean side is via California County Routes S79. S67 provides access through the high and forested Laguna Mountains, such as in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. These highways climb from the coast to above sea level, then descend down into the Borrego Valley in the center of the park.

A popular site to hike to near the visitor center is Hellhole Palms, a grove of California fan palms in Hellhole Canyon near Maidenhair Falls. The park also provides access points to the Pacific Crest Trail.

Stargazing is another activity at Anza-Borrego. The park was designated a Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association in 2018.

Flora and fauna

The habitats are primarily within the Colorado Desert ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion. The higher extreme northern and eastern sections in the Peninsular Ranges are in the California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion. The park has about 600 species of native plants.

The park contains ''bajadas'' and desert washes; rock formations and colorful badlands