Anza-Borrego Desert: Domelands Hoodoo Loop

Rating *****
Length 11.2 mile (round trip) - 6 Hour 20 minutes (round trip). Easy/Moderate.
Elevation 610 - 1600 feet
Access High clearance, see below.

This is one of the most interesting places to hike around the Anza-Borrego Desert.
Hike uphill and follow the footsteps.
Turn west in a wash and follow and faint road uphill.
The road turns into a more narrow trail more steeply uphill.
Soon the Domes that are similar to the Windcaves come into sight.

You want to spend some time here, but not too long as this already is a rather long hike.

Now follow the trail down along a cliff.
At a natural "road" head down, in terrain that is somewhat slippery but not too steep.
Once down follow the terrain keeping close to the mountains in the west.

Eventually meeting a nice sandy wash, that ends in a dry Fall. The slot leading in and out towards the fall are well worth checking out.
Head over the mud hill to the west bypassing the Fall.
Now the terrain is dominated by mud hills, so it's interesting to complete the loop heading west.
That means hiking washes, going up and down mud hills and following narrow drainages.
The thing to watch out for are tunnels that go underneath the drainages.
Warning: The terrain can change dramatically after rain, so use your common sense while following this route and do NOT follow it blindly.

Going up a cascade of small dry falls that run along the rock and sand divide.

A short trail that vanishes soon after, go down into the well established trail into the canyon below.
This canyon is one of the highlights of the hike, with it's huge boulders of packed (Oyster) shells.
Enjoy this impressive narrow canyon and eventually head up on a will established trail up a mud hill.
Now follow the drainage back to complete the loop.

An adventurous hike in the Domelands area (BLM). Hike clockwise.


How to get here:

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

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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