If you’re visiting San Diego and looking for something adventurous to do outside of the city limits, Anza-Borrego Dessert State Park is the perfect place to explore. The park itself boasts a whopping 110 miles of hiking trails alone, but it was the Slot Canyon that drew me to make the drive out. This incredible natural canyon is located just two hours East of San Diego’s city center. The drive itself is beautiful with roads weaving through the mountainsides revealing several terrain changes along the way.
Getting There:
The Slot Canyon trailhead can be a little tricky to find, but with a little directional help from online research and travel blogs, it didn’t take us too long to find the entrance. When driving East out of the city towards The Slot trailhead, you will eventually end up on highway 78. The turn onto Borrego Mountain Wash Road will be on the left. Drive a few miles on this road and you will find a small dirt road marked Buttes Pass, turn left. This is very easy to miss so make sure to load up your GPS ahead of time with the address below.
The Wi-Fi in this area and on the drive out is really spotty and pretty much non-existent. Make sure to have a screen shot of the map or the GPS already running so it can continue without internet access. The dirt road stretches about 2.5 miles and is a bit rocky, but we were able to get to the trailhead in a lower clearance vehicle without any issues.
At the end of the rocky dirt road is a small parking area. There are a few large boulders lined up marking the end of the parking lot, which is where we started our hike down (pictured below).
If you are parked here, you are not lost!
To the right of these boulders are a few crevaces that clearly descend into the canyon. It really doesn’t matter which one of these you take down just know you need to be heading down and to your left through the canyon walls.
This is the side you want to hike down.
See the picture below for the “entrance” to the Slot trail for referencing. There is a wide path on the left of the parking area that looks like jeep tracks, do not take this road to hike it is not the right pathway! You want to be going down into the canyon.
If you pass through this on the hike down, congratulations! You are in the slots!
Address:
The Slot, Borrego Mountain Wash, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA 92004. I typed in The Slot, San Diego County, CA in Google maps and it came up without any issues. We were able to find the turn off for the road at the end of the driving directions on the Google maps based on eyeing the GPS locator.
The Trail:
Kayla enjoying the stunning natural beauty of the slot formations
Once in, take your time and enjoy the cool shade and awe-inspiring beauty of the canyon walls. The trail length is only about .8 miles, but if you continue on you can explore the wider pathway at the end. If you have a Jeep or similar 4-wheel car you can actually drive down into the canyon in the wider areas. If you continue left on the path you can loop back around to the parking area, increasing the hike length to around 3 miles.
I prefer hiking the thin pedestrian only portion of the Slot back through as it is truly an impressive natural formation. Hiking back through gives you a different perspective as well.
This trip can be done as a day excursion or you can camp in the State Park and hit a few more trails in the area. We went on a weekday and never saw another soul in the canyon, which was a really nice change from similar tourist-packed hikes, like Antelope Canyon. I am not sure if this place gets any busier on a weekend, but it seems this location is relatively under discovered. This is most definitely the perfect spot for the adventurous traveler.
Not a soul in sight!
All in all this trip took us about six hours total with driving time, but we took about two hours to really enjoy and explore the canyons. If you are driving through the area this hike can easily be done in 30 minutes or less and is a great road trip stop off.
What to Bring:
This area is located in the dessert areas of California (hence the park name) so make sure to bring plenty of water with you as there are no stores nearby. Bring food if you plan on doing other hikes in the area, or head to the nearby town of Borrego Springs for food or fuel. Wear light clothing and proper footwear, as some of the climb down is rocky. If it is a cooler season, bring extra layers of clothing as it is generally much cooler in the canyon itself. Lastly, bring a fun friend or some family members and a camera, and prepare for some fun adventures!
Do you have any unique, adventurous spots you enjoy in Southern California? Post them in the comments below!
