Anza-Borrego Desert: Lower willows- Box canyon - Butler canyon - Alcoholic

Rating *****
Length 15 mile - 6 Hour, 5 minutes. Moderate.
Elevation 930 - 2700 feet
Access See below.

A hike between Lower Willows up part of Box canyon and cross over to Butler canyon and hike back on the Alcoholic trail.

Start at the east side of coyote canyon and head up box canyon, starting easy in the sand.
Take the second fork going east, easy at first, but more and more small boulders make the hike harder.
At point sand the boulders end but soon thereafter go east, this looks worse than it is, only a short stretch and things turn a lot easier. Pick up the old Indian trail (5% trail and 95 imagination), heading north/east.
The hiking is getting rather simple as there is a lot of sand out here.
One of the goals of this loop was to check out a couple of flat water collecting areas (playas) for plant life.
The route follows the drainage, not too bad as there aren't any serious obstacles.
An alternative is to go cross country and end up at point "Trail", but we haven't checked.

Follow Butler canyon down, pick up a nice sandy wash heading west. Once you spot the Alcoholic pass saddle, aim for it.
Come down the Alcoholic, to return to the car.

Warning: the hiking time is in a quick pace, without any rest.
Don't underestimate this hike, it's long, rough and remote, act accordingly.

How to get here:

With a regular car you should be able to make it up to the Alcoholic trail, most of the time.
In case you park at Alcoholic you need to add at least an hour and about 3 miles.
For a car shuttle, you need more ground clearance for a drive up to third crossing.

Disclaimer: Read this first before you start your hike. Contact: info/at/borregohiking/./com (leave out the /)
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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