The Slot & Borrego Badlands
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park · near Borrego Springs · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- easy
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 2.3 miles
- Elevation gain
- 250 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- November–March (lethal heat otherwise)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit or fee. A narrow slot canyon in the badlands of California's largest state park. Access road is dirt — high clearance helps.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Narrow sandstone slot canyon · Badlands overlook · Desert wildflower superblooms · Dark-sky stargazing
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The access road is sandy dirt — a high-clearance vehicle is safer, though careful drivers in regular cars often make it in dry conditions. Go in the cool months (November–March); summer heat is lethal. Time a trip for a wildflower superbloom year or a new moon for the incredible dark-sky stargazing Anza-Borrego is famous for.
The guide
The Slot is a delightfully narrow sandstone slot canyon in the badlands of Anza-Borrego, California's largest state park — a pl…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to The Slot & Borrego Badlands — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.226, -116.301