Calcite Mine & Palm Wash Slots
Anza-Borrego Desert SP · near Borrego Springs · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 4 miles
- Elevation gain
- 600 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Oct–Apr
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- Free. Trailhead on paved S22; the route is an old 4x4 mining road (hike it from the pullout in any car). Slot canyons require hands-on scrambling.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 0 of 5
What is here
- Features
- WWII-era optical-calcite mine · Two narrow slot canyons · Pour-over scrambling · Badlands vistas · Sandstone fins
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- You can hike the mine road from the S22 pullout even in a normal car — you don't need to drive the 4x4 track. Bring gloves for the slot scrambles.
The guide
A rugged jeep road climbs to a hillside mined for optical calcite (used in WWII gunsights), with side trips down two tight, scu…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Calcite Mine & Palm Wash Slots — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.2811, -116.0964