Anza-Borrego (Montezuma Grade)
Borrego Springs · near Borrego Springs · California Desert
Road Cycling
At a glance
- Distance
- long
- Best season
- Fall–spring; DANGEROUS summer heat — never ride midday in summer
What is here
- Scenery
- desert
- Amenities
- Climb from the desert floor to pines · Immense Anza-Borrego badlands views · Spring wildflower super-blooms · Borrego Springs desert base
- Best for
- A dramatic desert-floor-to-summit climb
- Features
- Montezuma Grade desert climb · ~3,400 ft from the desert floor · Huge badlands panoramas · Spring super-bloom country
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- EXTREME summer heat — avoid summer; carry lots of water · Remote desert — services only in Borrego Springs · Exposed switchbacks; sun & wind · Descent into heat — refill & plan
- Beginner friendly
- No
Road Cycling detail
- Ride types
- climb
- Road
- quiet
- Climbing
- 4
- Ride notes
- A dramatic desert climb out of California's largest state park — the Montezuma Grade (S22) switchbacks roughly 3,400 feet up from the Borrego Springs desert floor to Ranchita, with immense views over the badlands, and spring super-blooms below
- Stats note
- ~11 mi, ~3,400 ft climb from the desert floor; huge badlands views
- Seasonal
- No
- Intl tip
- One of the most dramatic desert climbs in California — the Montezuma Grade (S22) switchbacks ~3,400 ft in ~11 miles from the Borrego Springs desert floor up to Ranchita, in Anza-Borrego, California's largest state park, with immense views over the sculpted badlands and (in spring) a famous wildflower super-bloom below. Heat is the defining danger: summer temperatures are life-threatening — ride only fall–spring, never midday in summer, and carry far more water than you think, as services exist only in Borrego Springs. Plan carefully, refill fully.
The guide
The Montezuma Grade, climbing out of Borrego Springs in the heart of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (California's largest state…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Anza-Borrego (Montezuma Grade) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.26, -116.4