Borrego Springs: Smoketree Canyon

Rating	*****
length	7.2 mile - 3 hour 30 minutes (Return trip). Easy/moderate.
Height	920 - 1950 feet
Access	All cars. On Hwy S22 near mile 34.6 you find the unmarked Smoketree Canyon.
Other Trails	C
Data	To download these files, right-click the link and choose 'save as' |--| .GPX (GPS file) |-----| .KML (Google Earth file)

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A spectacular canyon. The first part reminds me a bit of the Mud Palisades, the second part is a more narrow canyon.
You find some rock tanks (watering holes) at the end, mostly in the right fork.

This canyon is moderately difficult, there are some boulders to be climbed and you may need your hands.

On Hwy S22 near mile 34.6 you find the unmarked Smoketree Canyon.

When you are in doubt, the Coachwhip Canyon is signed and is the next one towards the Salton sea.
So find the Coachwhip and take the next one toward Borrego Springs.

At first the canyon is wide, with sand and rocks, an easy hike up.
Keep left after 1000 Yards as another canyon forks to the right.
An other less noticeable canyon forks to the right, after about 2 mile.
Keep left at this point.

About 500 yards further the canyon narrows and you have to pass some small boulders. You may even need your hands.

Fall 1 is more of an obstacle, you can climb on the right hand side.
And this one is actually easier to come down on.

We explored two forks, they all end in more and more challenging obstacles.

If you like climbing some small waterfalls you can knock yourself out.

You will find some water in the pools even months after rain.
In February 2011 we only found some moist spots, only interesting for bees and flies.









Disclamer: Read this first before you start your hike.
Contact: usa/at/e/f/m/e/r/.eu (leave out the /)
All hikes recorded on pocket loox (pocket PC) using gpsTuner(.com)
Hiking Smoketree Canyon Borrego Springs Area (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park) California, Hike with gps, gpx and kml (Google Earth).