Anza-Borrego Desert: The Slot

Rating *****
length 5.8 mile - 3 hour 10 minutes (round trip). Easy just after the slot it becomes Moderate.
Elevation 650 - 1050 feet
Access On Hwy 78, take exit Mile 78 on Buttes Pass Road. Accessible by all cars most of the time, some times there is soft sand, up to the slot (first parking) (check at the Borrego Visitor Center.)

To our trail head (second parking) high clearance (4x4) highly recommended. Just before the sign One Way Road park your car.
The drop down is for very high clearance vehicles only.
Walk down the dirt road until the crossing and head right into the wash/road.
The canyon narrows until it becomes the slot. It gets very tight at times, after some time the sloth widens and the wall become less high.
As you exit the slot on your right follow a trail uphill.
We made a detour into one of the canyons (canyon 1) well worth the experience, but you must climb a bit at some points. We returned at a rather steep dry waterfall.
Following the trail further uphill to some sort of a top.
Turn left along a small canyon in what becomes a rim road, with views on both sides.
It looks like you can make it all the way down. But we returned just before the end because is was too slippery and too steep (loose gravel) for our taste.

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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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