Rogers Spring

Introduction

This spring has been subject to several modifications over the last century, including an irrigation project linking it with the smaller Blue Point Spring, one mile northeast. The waters now are impounded by a low earthen dam to form a shallow pool about 80 feet across, lined by non-native California fan palms (washingtonia filifera), flourishing despite several attempts by the park service to remove them, in order to make the environment more natural. The palms though greatly enhance the photogenicity, contrasting with the clear water and the arid, desert surroundings.

In summer, heat from the sun raises the water temperature in the pool by up to eight degrees. The spring is popular for picnics, for bird watching, for paddling and perhaps for swimming, though this is not advisable due to presence of naegleria fowleri, a harmful amoeba, and the waters are in any case only just deep enough, around three feet in the middle.

Rogers Spring

A very short side road leads to a parking area beside the spring, which is overlooked by three shade ramadas with tables, benches and bbq grills. Several palms grow on the west side of the pool, with rather more along the outflow stream (Rogers Wash). Other poolside vegetation includes saltcedar and southern cattail, while a bushy, riparian corridor extends all the way to the lake, and is over 100 feet wide in some places. The sandy-floored pool contains several species of fish, most or all of which are non-native, plus two species of turtle; spiny softshell (probably native) and red-eared slider (introduced).