Desert Palm Oasis Hike in Borrego Springs, California
The desert apothecary for Mind Body & Spirit was founded on improving your experience of living in multiple ways; natural skincare, meditation, wellness, spiritual healing, and fitness. Few activities have such a benefit to our wellbeing as hiking. My newest video takes us to a beautiful natural palm oasis tucked away in a beautiful desert mountain canyon, view the tortured beauty of the Anza Borrego bad-lands, and savor an incredible colorful desert sunset with me. Join me for a visit to Borrego Springs California, a sleepy little village in the Anza Borrego Desert in San Diego County. It’s a beautiful day in the California Desert, so let’s go!
We’re driving through East Valley Date Palm Ranches, citrus plantations, and winter vegetable farm fields. Most visitors don’t see this other side of the valley, a window into what the Coachella Valley was like before development. Unlike in the glitzy world of resorts and country clubs, Palm trees are grown for profit, not decoration. Date ranches are a big business, supplying most of the Middle East with dates during the Ramadan season.
Borrego Springs is a little village in the desert east of San Diego. It’s in San Diego county, and since it lacks freeway and commercial air traffic, it’s like what Palm Springs was back in the 1920s: just a sleepy little village in the desert. Surrounded by the Anza Borrego State Park on all sides, it is a haven for hikers, cyclists, and off-road enthusiasts of all kinds. The drive from Indian Wells takes about an hour and twenty minutes, and is an enjoyable daytrip from the Coachella Valley.
We stop for a moment to appreciate the rugged beauty of the Anza Borrego Badlands, the name for an area that cannot sustain human life. The jagged canyons and washes create a tortured, but beautiful landscape. We are nearing Borrego Springs as we drive through the vast Anza Borrego State Park, which includes a fifth of San Diego County, and is the largest State Park in California.
Today our trail is the Palm Canyon Trail, slightly north of the village of Borrego Springs. It begins at the base of a vast alluvial fan, more commonly known as a cove here in the desert. Formed by eons of snowmelt and rainwater rushing down the mountains during our brief, but intense rainy periods.
As we walk further in, you can really appreciate how steep and high the rocky canyon walls are. The geological formations are incredibly jagged and sharp. A red, oxidized iron color dominates the mountains, and the recent rock falls are noticeable by their lack of oxidized color. I would hate to be hiking in the canyon on the day that happens. It’s a good reminder to always stay aware of your surroundings when hiking, and even more so in the potentially dangerous desert.
As we hike further up and into the canyon we climb slightly in elevation and are greeted with beautiful green Ocotillos, with their outstretched limbs reaching towards the sky. One of the most sculptural of all desert plants, ocotillos are a beautiful living art form growing at this particular elevation, just above the scorching hot valley floors, and well below the snow line.
Like many trails in alluvial fans, this one is very rocky, and it’s important to stop when you admire the view. One wrong footstep could easily result in a fall or twisted ankle. Not to mention that the trail is home to rattlesnakes, scorpions, and many varieties of cactus and yuccas that might harm or potentially even kill you. The cholla or “teddybear” cactus that grows here, is actually heat-activated and will subtly move towards the heat of your body. The gossamer looking prickers burrow under your skin for days, and are as painful as they are annoying. So you have a very strong incentive to stay aware and stay on your trail. That’s fine because we are in no rush, and immersed in the pleasure of being somewhere beautiful for the first time.
As we turn the bend we’re all the way into the canyon, and have lost sight of civilization down in the valley. The canyon narrows, and we proceed on beautifully built stone stairs, draped by a native mesquite tree. What an amazing entrance into the upper area of the canyon.
At the top of the steps, we’re rewarded with the first glimpse of the palm oasis. Recently damaged by fire, the main oasis is closed as the fragile ecosystem regenerates. The gentle sound of a breeze blowing through the palm fronds is a soothing delight. The soft whisper and rustle is serene and intoxicating, we are so far away from traffic noise or other man-made noise pollution it’s possible to be completely immersed in enjoying this incredible natural wonder through all of our senses.
The palm oasis was burned in January 2020 by a juvenile arsonist. The upper oasis burned completely, although nearly a year on, it’s recovering vigorously. Down here in the lower oasis, not all the palms burned, and some can still be seen in their natural state. Fires have been a source of regeneration, clearing out brush, and making way for new growth, since long before human development. Before, all fires were caused by lightning strikes. Now, the vast majority of wildfires are caused by arson or human error.
The local indigenous tribes used to burn the palm oases periodically; the skirts of dead palm fronds surrounding the trunks are a haven for insects, particularly mosquitoes. They found that palm oases made perfect seasonal encampments, providing shade, safety, and most importantly fresh water.
As the sun gets lower, and the rich colors start to emerge from the rocky landscape, we tear ourselves away from the oasis, and hike back, this time on the high side of the canyon on an alternate trail. Once again graceful, sculptural ocotillos greet us along the hillsides, creating incredible silhouettes against the desert sky.
This alternate trail is the preferable of the two trails. The main one comes up the bottom of the wash, and this high trail provides beautiful views. If you were hiking during wet weather, you would definitely be drier on this upper trail.
Cactus and ocotillos are thriving here, and we have a beautiful view of the steep canyon walls. The colors of the rocks start to become more vivid as the afternoon sun grows lower in the sky. The sky full of wispy clouds looks promising for a beautiful sunset.
Looking down from this higher trail, the alluvial fan, and the Borrego Valley is more clearly visible. The rich reds and purples in the rock are so beautiful at this time of day. Before I am back at the trailhead, I stop to appreciate the beauty of this canyon. I can see why this is one of the most popular hiking trails in Borrego Springs, drawing approximately 20,000 visitors per year.
The rugged, and especially jagged nature of the mountains and rock formations, coupled with the deep iron oxide red color, make this area uniquely beautiful.
Back at the trailhead is the perfect spot to sit and watch the colorful desert sunset over the Borrego Valley. All the different layers of the clouds catch the colorful golden, orange, and purple hues one by one. Here, I have sped up the video to feature the movement of the clouds and changing colors. In person it looks static, but in a time lapse you can see the graceful motion as the clouds move across the sky.
Thank you for joining me on this beautiful hike in Borrego Springs, California.
Once again, thank you so much for joining me today, I’m Will Brennan, natural lifestyle expert, founder of The Original Desert Apothecary for Mind Body & Spirit: Desert Mountain Apothecary, and author of the upcoming E-Book, Natural Lifestyle Optimization.
