Anza-Borrego Desert: Diablo Dieguenos Loop

Rating *****
Length 10.2 mile (return) - 4 Hour, 45 minutes (return trip). Easy/Moderate.
Elevation 690 - 1110 feet
Access Exit Palm Spring, you need some ground clearance. Sometimes soft sand, so drive carefully if you don't have an AWD. May be difficult after rain.

A nice loop from the Dieguenos wash.
The GPS only route runs counter clockwise and is entirely easy, except for some rocks just before the mesa at point "up".
You may skip the side tour up to Aster fork a route that looked perfect, except for a steep dry fall 30 feet high.
This is probably the best place to see the "rare" Borrego Desert plant: Orcutt's woody aster, Xylorhiza orcuttii, you should see hundreds of them along the loop.

The download contains a shorter alternative route.

How to get here:

The easiest route is to take the exit Palm Spring and drive the Vallecito Wash.
Some sand, so drive carefully if you don't have an AWD.
Some ground clearance is recommended and an AWD is a lot safer in the sand.
After 5.8 mile, take the marked exit Arroyo Seco del Diablo going North.

This canyon has rather steep walls, but is fairly easy to drive, firm sand and hardly any rocks.
You need a little bit more ground clearance.
That said, it may be a different story after rain, you may get stuck in the mud.

Don't miss out the spring, you should see a lot of white(salt) and probably water.

Make sure to park safely, away from the walls.

WARNING:

Other routes:
The Great overland route may seem nice on the map, and it is the first mile or so.
After that the sand is way way deep, we barely made it.
The sand is only a short stretch, but really deep.

The South Carrizo creek is also a good road to drive. But you need more ground clearance and it may be very muddy after rain.

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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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