Anza-Borrego Desert: Stone wash

Rating *****
Length 4.4 mile (return) - 3 Hour (round trip). Easy/Moderate.
Elevation 670 - 1040 feet
Access A 4x4, with good ground clearance.

The Stone wash, is one of the more scenic canyons in the park, it's rocky high walled and rather narrow.
At point park hike into the unmarked Stone wash.
Keep right and enter the narrow high walled canyon, very soon the canyon ends for hikers at a huge dry fall.
This is a nice turn around point.

But you can go further to point "Over" and enter the upper forks of Stone Wash.
This is still pretty easy and a nice extension of the hike.
If you go further Lenth: 5.7 mile (round trip) - 3 Hour 30 minutes (round trip)
Go back and head east, in other words continue the wash.
As the wash gets filled with some small boulders, keep left and hike up to the mesa.
Keep going north until you meet the Stone wash. Now follow the Stone wash down, but be aware of the huge drop at point "Dry Fall 2".
Head back and take the first rocky drainage to the left (east), after a short while you reach the mesa again.

Now head south along the Stone wash, but keep your distance for a safe hike.
A hiking stick makes the hike much easier and safer on this part of the hike.
At the end follow a small drainage into the wash below and head back.

How to get there:

From Ocotillo Wells take the split mountain road.
Turn right at the sign Fish Creek Campground.
The road should be close to the middle of the wash.

Follow the wash road, at the Wind Caves (signed) keep right in the wash and turn right into the Fish Creek North Fork (signed).

Disregard, the Oyster wash and enter the second wash road, signed Lycium to the right.

The road may be challenging, expect plenty of rocks and ledges.

Warning:
The North Fork is at least one notch more difficult to drive than the South fork, a high clearance 4x4 is essential.
This wash road will challenge the clearance of a regular SUV, we drive a Subaru Forester and we come close to it's ground clearance at times.
Road conditions in the North Fork can change in a week.
Be prepared; we carry a couple of sand plates, to raise our ground clearance in case we get stuck, in this fork we had to use them a couple of times.
Even in "high" season, traffic can be low and you may be the only one travelling this fork for the day.

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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