Anza-Borrego Desert: Rockhouse Loop

Rating *****
length 8.8 mile (the loop) - 4 hour, 35 minutes (the loop). Moderate (Difficult to find your way along the boulders).
Elevation 950 - 1750 feet
Access At mile 48.2 turn to Bow Willow campground, on an excellent dirt road.

A very scenic loop, one of my favorites.

Start hiking north/west towards a yellow marker.
Hike gradually to the west. = follow the rocks on you left hand side.
At the end the canyon bends to the left (point "bend")
Take the wider canyon on your left with sandy washes. (90 Degrees to your left)
Not one wash, but dozens of small washes.
Hike towards the saddle, that is clearly visible from here.
Follow a small sandy wash and look for rock cairns on the right.
The trail is old and faint, but if you look carefully you can follow it up to the saddle.
Once on the saddle, go down and look for the rock-house, a bit to the right.

Take a look at the small rock-house.
Continue south/east, you should see the small wash and the old sandy road shortly.
Follow the road downhill.

Now it gets complicated.
On your left after about 1 mile from the rock-house, you should see a more pointy rock on the left.
Two very rocky canyons are close together (500 feet).
Take the left one and hike the boulders. Try to keep more or less in the wash (sand).
This part is difficult to follow without a GPS.
But the trail is occasionally marked by rock cairns and goes north.
Out of the rocky washes on a rock flats, keep going north and watch for cairns.
On the other side of the flats follow a small sandy wash and a small boulder passage more steeply down.
At that point you should see one palm, that means you almost completed the loop.
How to get there:

At mile 48.2 turn to Bow Willow campground, on an excellent dirt road.
After about 1.7 Mile, park at the end of the campground at the daytime parking, before the brown logs.
There is a daytime parking fee. ($5 in 2018)

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Hiking the Borrego Springs Area (Anza-Borrego Desert SP, Cuyamaca Rancho SP, Imperial Sand Dunes (Algodones Dunes), Jacumba, Laguna Mountain, Warner Springs) California, Hike with gps, gpx and kml (Google Earth).

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