Anza-Borrego Desert: Domelands Andrade Canyon Narrows and Slots

Rating *****
Length 9.1 mile (return) - 4 Hour, 20 minutes (return trip). Moderate.
Elevation 700 - 1400 feet
Access Take the road marked 093, close to mile: 57.2. See below.

Visit the Domelands narrows and slots.

Start hiking up the old dirt road, heading uphill, a bit of a workout at the start.

If you keep on going, you should more or less end up in the main wash of the Andrade Canyon.

This fork is narrow and rocky, so that doesn't look good, a really steep fall blocks our way. "Fall 1"

Go back and take the first sandy wash on the left going east (Fork 1).
Follow it all the way up until you meet the Andrade Canyon East fork.
This is a sandy wash filled with some rocks, not as narrow as the main wash.

The canyon turns into a mud canyon wash.
After a while the canyon hits a sandstone barrier and the canyon cuts right through it.

The walls are really amazingly high and not too stable, as there are many huge boulders in the canyon.
The boulders make it hard to proceed all the way up to the end.

Go back and cross over the mud hills, west.
You should end up in a narrow canyon at point Wash 2.
After a while you end up in the main Andrade Canyon wash.

The canyon goes through the sandstone barrier, but here the going is a lot easier.

Turn right into the canyon that was blocked with huge boulders.

The steep canyons are a bit scary, really steep and unstable, but pretty amazing.

Go back the way you came.

A small detour that will add another mile:
Turn left (South) at point "Fork 2" and hike up to "Fall 1 below", you get a great view from below the dry fall.
With a rope you could even get back this way.

How to get here:

Take the road marked 093, close to mile: 57.2
The dirt road is good, you need some ground clearance.
Drive for about 2 miles.

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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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