Trip Date: 3/4/2017

Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Permit/Pass: None required

Directions: From Christmas Circle in downtown Borrego Springs head south on Borrego Springs Rd. for a few miles and continue as the road circles to the east. At 3.6 miles turn right onto an unsigned dirt road (don't make the mistake of turning onto the dirt road just a few tens of yards earlier). Drive south to a dead-end junction. Turn right (west) and continue to another dead-end where you'll turn left this time. Soon the dirt road comes to another junction where you turn right and follow as the road gets a bit sketchier, works through a wash and eventually comes to a spot that almost seems too much of a squeeze. There are rocks on either side that make the passage seem narrower than it is, but use your own judgement - we got through with a Subaru Forester with no problems. The looped parking area is reached soon thereafter.

Synopsis: There are times in Anza Borrego SP, mostly during wildflower season, when the more popular spots are lousy with people. But of course in a park this big, there are always locations that most visitors seldom frequent. Glorietta Canyon requires some off-road travel to reach the trailhead, the trail heads up into one of the area's less traveled canyons, and that's all music to your ears when you want some desert time away from the crowd.

Trail sequence: Glorietta Canyon Trail / off-trail / Glorietta Canyon 

Type: Out and back (with side trips)

Distance: 1.7 miles

Elevation: Min. - 1640', Max. - 1298'

Profile:

Rating: Easy (factors: heat, rocky sections, off-trail)

Notes: The road to the trailhead is passable by most cars, no 4wd needed. But it's long, sometimes bumpy, and probably isn't where you want to be after a storm.

Track: Glorietta Canyon - Anza Borrego Desert SP: AllTrails, GaiaGPS

Turn by turn:

  -- Pick up the trail at the west end of the parking area. You begin climbing right from the start, but the ascent is comfortable, though at times a little rocky.

  -- The path heads for the most part to a northwest direction, always working upward. At about six or seven tenths of a mile you reach a saddle from which there are decent views to the north and down into a small valley below. This is where we turned back.

  -- We backtracked a few hundred yards down the trail to a level area, then decided to venture off trail to the north, looking for vistas of the Borrego Springs basin, and then climbing along the ridge on the north side of the trail.

  -- After satisfying our desire for views, we retraced our path back to the trail, then returned to the trailhead.

Photo gallery: Flickr