Julian to Borrego Springs

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Did that, outstanding views. Our only complaint, and that covers nearly all the trips that we have taken so far, is the roughness of the roads. Very wavy and the park has no funds for road maintenance
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I hate to break this to you, but those are largely arroyos, not roads.  Yeah, they call them "roads"  but trail would be a better word.  The only real roads in the park at the 2 RV campgrounds, Borrego Palm and Tamarisk.  IIRC the camp down near Ocotillo Wells has no paved roads  being it is an offroading camp.  Everything else you see paved are state or county highways, or town streets.
 
Carl

When I go off-roading I don't expect to drive on pavement. Most of the roads/trails/mine roads/etc. that we drive at Moab and QZ are dirt or stone. But they are shown on the Garmin maps. Sometimes described as unpaved road or just road. The roughness of the AB roads are apparently caused by wind and rain, similar to the rock formations (done over thousands of years), and are among the roughest "dirt" roads that I can remember. So are they arroyos, roads or trails ??? ???
 
Bernie,

If it's the same trail then going the other direction is way different in two spot than coming down. :)

There are no "roads" to Font's Point. As Carl pointed out, it's a dry wash or arroyo that is carved out by wind and water. The state certainly is not going to maintain them. :) No different than driving in QZ!

When you head back I would suggest going through Box canyon out of Mecca. Really interesting trip but no place to really top as the shoulders are pretty soft. Tom recently put a photo of our coach in a thread as we took them through the canyon. At one point it had been closed due to flooding.

Wise choice not to venture further without another vehicle. Guess you could have tried to tag along with the Toyota group. ;D
 
BernieD said:
Carl

When I go off-roading I don't expect to drive on pavement. Most of the roads/trails/mine roads/etc. that we drive at Moab and QZ are dirt or stone. But they are shown on the Garmin maps. Sometimes described as unpaved road or just road. The roughness of the AB roads are apparently caused by wind and rain, similar to the rock formations (done over thousands of years), and are among the roughest "dirt" roads that I can remember. So are they arroyos, roads or trails ??? ???
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The philosophy of the Park is to allow street legal ORVs but to restrict their movement to water courses (arroyos) with a few 'cross-over' trails well marked to provide inter-arroyo movement.  The philosophy seems to work quite well, providing decent vehicular access without completely screwing up the desert.  IMHO it beats the Federal policy with its desert wilderness areas all hollow. 

If you would do Anza Borrego's back country, I recommend a high centered 4wd vehicle with good undercarriage armoring and aggressive treaded all terrain tires in the flotation sizes.  My tires on the Bronc are 31x10.50x15R BFG ATs

BTW  the desert surface at Quartzite is some of the toughest and best desert pavement I have ever seen in the west.  That lag deposit armors the surface about as well as a macadamized road.  That is why motorhomes can roll and park on it.  Moab is well indurated slab rock and sand.  Anza Borrego is alluvial fan and poorly indurated old lake deposits  -- deep sand and rubble.  It is going to be rough going, especially on the upper parts of fans. 

Some folks think that is part of the fun. 
 
Carl L said:
If you would do Anza Borrego's back country, I recommend a high centered 4wd vehicle with good undercarriage armoring and aggressive treaded all terrain tires in the flotation sizes.  My tires on the Bronc are 31x10.50x15R BFG ATs
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Carl

My XTerra has 9 or 9.5" clearance, 3 skid plates and 255/70R16 Bridgestone Dueler A/T evos. Not up to your tires' level but a pretty good all around setup for a daily driver and off-roader.

BTW  the desert surface at Quartzite is some of the toughest and best desert pavement I have ever seen in the west.  That lag deposit armors the surface about as well as a macadamized road.  That is why motorhomes can roll and park on it.  Moab is well indurated slab rock and sand.  Anza Borrego is alluvial fan and poorly indurated old lake deposits  -- deep sand and rubble.  It is going to be rough going, especially on the upper parts of fans. 
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As I said, we were driving alone and I don't go into highly technical routes without another 4x4. My whole comment here was that I felt that the road/trail/arroyo, whatever, was extremely bumpy. Initially I thought it was ATV/motorbike effect (I subsequently learned that non-street legal vehicles were prohibited), but subsequently found out that the roughness was due to the natural wind/rain effect on the roads.
 
How would one get from San Diego to the campground at Anza Borrego state park? We're sitting at Silver Strand State Beach and thinking about going to AB for the bloom.

Wendy
 
wendycoke said:
How would one get from San Diego to the campground at Anza Borrego state park? We're sitting at Silver Strand State Beach and thinking about going to AB for the bloom.

Wendy
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From where you are you have two choices CA-78 out of Julian to SD 3 and then SD 3 to Borrego Springs.  The other choice is I-8 to CA-86 in El Centro and then north on 86 to SD 22.  West on SD 22 to Borrego Springs.  The first is mountain driving, the second is major hwy to SD 22 and then rolling 2 lane to Borrego.
 
Wendy
From where you are on The Silver Strand, I would take the 94 over Coronardo Bridge and stay on the 94 east to the 125, heading north. Then take I- 8 east through El Cajon, Lakeside and Alpine to  SR 79.  The 8 is a long hard climb to Alpine, but very doable as long as you are not towing a tank!.  You will pass by the Viejas Casino and outlet stores at Alpine and makes for a nice break as well as an opportunity to spend some money.  Take the 79 north through Cuyamaca State Park (RV sites available overlooking Cuyamaca Lake) and towards Julian.  Just before you get into the town itself, make a right onto the 78 east for about 15 miles then S3 north takes you right into Borrego Springs and Anza Borrego State Park.  About a three / four hour drive without stopping en-route.

BT
 
Wendy,

Another route that many people from the south San Diego area take is: #8 east to #67 up to Ramona, then #78 out of Ramona to Santa Ysabella.  At Santa Ysabella take #79 toward Warner Springs.  At S22 go east toward Borrego Springs. 

I'm wondering if you need reservations if you plan on staying at the state park.  That's a popular campground for wildflower watching, about now. 

Another Passport campground which is remote, but nice, is StageCoach Trails.  If you decide to try it out, check to make sure they are still Passport America.  It's very satellite friendly and Gordon can run free. Stagecoach Trails  Cell phones have trouble, but if you drive just a couple of miles back to "Scissor's Crossing" (S2 & S22 intersection) you will have service.  When we had Verizon, that is what we would have to do.

If you end up going through #78 toward El Centro, be sure and check out Vallejo Stage Stop.  It's the original Overland stage stop for the Butterfield Stage Route and has been refurbished and is unique.

Wish we were closer, we'd meet you out there.


 
According to the PA web site, Stagecoach Trails is still a member campground.  We stayed there about a year ago and it was practically empty.  There is no cell phone service because there's a mountain between the park and the cell tower :)
 
Wendy

When we were there a month ago, we drove a circle tour, by car, from Borrego Springs to Santa Ysabella to Julian to Borrego Springs. There were a few steep climbs and downhills as well as a few curvy areas east from Julian to Borrego Springs, but you should be OK tho slow. In Borrego Springs there is a BLM camping area east about 7 miles on S 22 at the Peg Leg Pete monument where S22 makes a 90? turn to the east. We parked across the road (less crowded and less noisy), it is private property but the owner doesn't bother anyone parked there. Our Sprint cell service worked fine for voice and internet there. Don't miss the Julian Bakery, we preferred the one in Santa Ysabella, and Dudley's Bakery right behind it. Most of the stores and bakeries are closed on Monday and many on Tuesday. Plan accordingly.
 
Well, we're parked here at Anza Borrego SP campground. It's a little breezy but a delightful 62 degrees. We left El Cajon on I-8, then headed north on 79. Very twistiy, hair-pin road but not anything bad for our 28-foot with toad. Hwy 78 from Julian to Scissors Crossing, however, had me needing a valium (Mike said it was fine)....twisty and steep and downhill the direcrtion we were going....Gordon didn't even like it. Yaqui Pass was nothing exciting. I wouldn't take Hwy 79/78 with anything longer than 32-foot but, then, I'm a nervous Nelly.

Anyway, we're here, the flowers are blooming and the weather is supposed to be in the 70s and clear for the next 5 days.

Enjoy
Wendy
Anza Borrego SP
 
I wouldn't solo off road too far any place.  If your cell phone starts searching for service, it's time to turn back :)
 
While at the visitor center at Capitol Reef last year, Chris Pennings and I spoke with a young couple from Europe who had gone off-road in a rented Jeep the day before. They went "too far in" and the Jeep got stuck. They walked for several hours before realizing they were headed the wrong way. They back tracked, slept the night in the Jeep, and walked back to the visitor center in  the morning. They were one lucky couple not to have got completely lost, with nobody even knowing they were out there or where they'd gone, and lucky they were able to get back to the Jeep rather than be exposed to a very cold night under the stars.
 
A good practice IMO Ron. IIRC a number of Framily members have had to pulled out of situations by accompanying vehicles while off-road.
 
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