Mountain Palm Springs
Southern Anza-Borrego Desert SP · near Ocotillo / Julian · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 3 miles
- Elevation gain
- 600 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Oct–Apr
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- Free. Short sandy spur off paved S2 near mile 47; usually 2WD-OK when dry.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 0 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Six California fan-palm groves · Palm Bowl (~200 palms) · Pygmy Grove · Elephant trees · Bighorn habitat
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Go clockwise to save the dense Palm Bowl Grove for the climax; the route is easy to lose in the sandy washes, so follow the palm groves as waypoints.
The guide
A lollipop loop threading four ravines that shelter six separate palm oases, culminating in Palm Bowl — a natural amphitheater …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mountain Palm Springs — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 32.8558, -116.1735