Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Split Mountain - Fish Creek
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part of Anza-Borrego Desert where we've never been before - Split Mountain
- may be a heaven for geology or geomorphology student. Like many places
in this desert, it is easily accessible by car - take Hwy. 78 East to Ocotillo
Wells, fill them gas tanks, turn South, and a few miles down the road you
will arrive to the Fish Creek trailhead. The state park pay station at
the right shoulder conveniently marks the trailhead; if you see yourself
at the gate of a mining company, you've gotten a bit too far. Here you
go off the pavement.
We explored this trail in February of 2000 with Albert Metzel, both in full size jeeps. My son and Al's kids shared this fun. The trail winds down the dry creek bed, mostly flat and hard packed sand, with occasional small rocks. Soon, the sides of the arroyo will begin to rise, and you will find yourself "between a rock and a hard place" - that is, two sides of the Split Mountain. The background of this page is a photo taken near Split Mountain. If your screen resolution allows you to see the entire picture, there's a couple of jeeps parked under the wall, so you could scale the height of the mountain. |