Anza-Borrego Desert State Park - The South

The southern half of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park - that below CA 78 - is reached by just one paved highway, county road S2 which starts at Ocotillo on interstate 8, crosses the southern tip of the park, follows close to the west edge for a while then heads off to join CA 79 - see park map. This area was first protected as Anza State Park in 1941 (named after Juan Bautista de Anza, the famous Spanish explorer of the eighteenth century), being joined with the northern Borrego State Park 16 years later. The far south is dominated by the rather barren Jacumba and Tierra Blanca mountain ranges, each with several peaks over 4,000 feet and scattered features of interest like palm groves, mines, lava flows and volcanic hills. The road passes by the mountains along a wide, cacti and ocotillo-filled valley, gains height steadily then follows a ridge with several viewpoints of the Carrizo Badlands - a large area of painted hills devoid of vegetation, the far side of which can be reached from the Split Mountain Trail near Ocotillo Wells. Many 4WD tracks enter the wilderness, one leading along Canyon Sin Nombre, a geologically interesting region whose attractions include slot canyons and mud caves.