Anza-Borrega Desert State Park

In addition to lying along the boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park occupies a large portion of the eastern Peninsular Ranges geomorphic province. It actually occurs in the boundary zone with the Colorado Desert Geomorphic Province. The two provinces interfinger with each other. The rocks from each province mutually overlap and mix as the boundary adjusts one way or the other. The mountains belong to the Peninsula Ranges Province, while the valleys belong to the other. The boundary is a collection of faults which are planes along which rocks on either side are shuffled. In the park, there has been much redistribution of rocks. Boundary adjustments are illustrated by progressive changes in activity along the various faults. This complexity is a side-effect of a more profound, much larger scale boundary between the two tectonic plates which grind past another at rate of ~35 mm/year.-- parks.ca.gov

Hike Date: 31 Aug 2018

Big thanks to California Department of Parks and Rec

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~~ CK

Anza-Borrega Desert State Park

Anza- Borrego Desert State Park’s rugged landscape formed largely by the forces of erosion attacking the uplifted mountains. The higher the mountains rise, the more vigorously they are attacked by rain, snow, ice, and wind, as they yield to the constant pull of gravity.-- parks.ca.gov

Hike Date: 31 Aug 2018

Big thanks to California Department of Parks and Rec

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~~ CK

Anza-Borrega Desert State Park

The Mojave and Colorado Desert regions that lie within California were included into the World Network of Biosphere Reserves by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1984. Comprising a cluster of 3 core areas (Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument) and a substantial percentage of the northern Mojave and Colorado Deserts surrounding these areas, it is one of only 46 ecosystems in the United States with this special designation.-- parks.ca.gov

Hike Date: 31 Aug 2018

Big thanks to California Department of Parks and Rec

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~~ CK

Anza-Borrega Desert State Park

A desert garden just outside the Visitor Center building provides a quick look at some of the vegetation typical of the 600,000-acre park, with the species identified. The desert garden includes a pupfish pond. Pupfish evolved from conditions during the Ice Age to today's precarious existence of fish in the desert. These pupfish can thrive in fresh water or water nearly as salty as the ocean, and they can survive temperatures from near freezing to as high as 108 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water gets too warm or too cold or nearly dries up, these fish burrow in the mud at the bottom of the pool. There's another pupfish pond near the Palm Canyon Trailhead in Borrego Palm Canyon Campground.-- parks.ca.gov

Hike Date: 31 Aug 2018

Big thanks to California Department of Parks and Rec

Support our parks!

Find a California Regional, State and National Park

Remember to bring the Ten Essentials for Day Hiking


~~ CK