Stayed just outside the little town of Ocotillo, CA at a spot where the WINs used to have gatherings. My goal was to tour the southern part of Anza Borrego State Park. A lot of the park consists of "Badlands" like this.
Nestled inside the state park is Agua Caliente Regional Park. It's best known for its geothermally heated springs, which have been developed into 2 outdoor pools and an indoor one. A day pass is just $5 for a carload, a real deal.
I liked the indoor pool, where the natural 90-degree spring is heated to 102 degrees.
There are also several nice trails at Agua Caliente. This is the Moonlight Canyon Trail. It starts off rather steeply, then winds around through deep washes.
The Badlands contain a lot of washes, many of which have unpaved roads through them. This is Arroyo Tapiado, which means "Mudwall Wash."
It's pretty obvious where the road is, but some helpful person has put up a road sign.
Wait a minute! Something's wrong here!
While Arroyo Tapiado is fairly interesting on its own, the really neat thing is the many caves and slot canyons it contains. They were formed when landslides filled in slot canyons created by floods, and then additional floods dug tunnels through the bottom levels of the landslide debris.
This is "Big Mud Cave." It used to be a cave, but has collapsed and is now more of a slot canyon.
My favorite was this slot canyon, about 1/2 mile south of "Big Mud Cave." The entrance had an unusual arch.
And the walls were sculptured with harder sandstone.
There were many beautiful formations, such as this one that looked like a brain.
And there were lots of this type of formation, most of which had been broken off. Maybe collectors items...
Stayed just outside the little town of Ocotillo, CA at a spot where the WINs used to have gatherings. My goal was to tour the southern part of Anza Borrego State Park. A lot of the park consists of "Badlands" like this.
Nestled inside the state park is Agua Caliente Regional Park. It's best known for its geothermally heated springs, which have been developed into 2 outdoor pools and an indoor one. A day pass is just $5 for a carload, a real deal.
I liked the indoor pool, where the natural 90-degree spring is heated to 102 degrees.
There are also several nice trails at Agua Caliente. This is the Moonlight Canyon Trail. It starts off rather steeply, then winds around through deep washes.
The Badlands contain a lot of washes, many of which have unpaved roads through them. This is Arroyo Tapiado, which means "Mudwall Wash." 
It's pretty obvious where the road is, but some helpful person has put up a road sign.
Wait a minute! Something's wrong here!
While Arroyo Tapiado is fairly interesting on its own, the really neat thing is the many caves and slot canyons it contains. They were formed when landslides filled in slot canyons created by floods, and then additional floods dug tunnels through the bottom levels of the landslide debris.
This is "Big Mud Cave." It used to be a cave, but has collapsed and is now more of a slot canyon.
My favorite was this slot canyon, about 1/2 mile south of "Big Mud Cave." The entrance had an unusual arch. 
And the walls were sculptured with harder sandstone.
There were many beautiful formations, such as this one that looked like a brain.
And there were lots of this type of formation, most of which had been broken off. Maybe collectors items...
That really looks like an interesting area. We'll have to put it on the list.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had the hot pool all to yourselves. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting your photos of that beautiful area. You should think about entering some in the Anza-Borrego Desert Photo Contest. Check it out: http://theabf.org/photocontest.htm
ReplyDeleteYou've done it again. Anza-Borrego is already on our list but now I want to see for ourselves some of the hikes and other activities that you did (hot springs included).
ReplyDeleteI second that you should enter the photo contest!
Wow...very interesting area!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays to you!
Happy Holidays, Diana.
ReplyDeleteJan will Soak in that Hot Spring one of these days. Thanks for the Window you provide us with....
Lew