Mud Caves of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Today, at around 10 am, Yuma and I headed out in search of the Mud Caves of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  They are located in the southern section of the park and it took me about an hour and a half to get there.  I am going to let the link above explain how these mud caves and slot canyons were created.

The directions I got off the Internet were very precise or I would never have found them.  I took S22 through Borrego Springs and right as I get to the mountains, the road makes a 90 degree turn and goes straight up the mountain.

The scenery going up the mountain was magnificent.  I can’t really describe how beautiful going up the switchbacks at 30 miles an hour was.  I did stop and take a few photos of the valley below, but the most beautiful part was what was all around me as I climbed the mountain.

 

Unfortunately, I only brought one camera with me today, and I soon discovered the battery was dead.  What a bummer!  Luckily, I do have my cell phone but couldn’t use it driving to take photos.  I really had to keep my eyes on the road or I wouldn’t be here.

We followed S22, passing through the small hamlet of Ranchita.  I hit S2 on the other side of the mountains.  The scenery was much different over here.  Trees and grass everywhere.  No more desert. 

I turned left and followed S2 until it hit highway 78 and then made a right turn and went through Box Canyon and then made a left turn back on S2 once again.  This went for about 30 miles to mile marker 43.  Then I followed a wash for approximately 5 miles making a left turn on another wash named Arroyo Tapiado.  This wash led me to the mud caves and mud slot canyons. 

Yuma and I walked into several mud caves.  One of them we went in about 500 feet.  Luckily, I brought several flashlights with me.  Nothing but blackness with a flashlight cutting through it.  The caves zig zagged through the mountain. 

Of course, there are warnings telling you not to go into the caves because they can easily cave in since they are only made of mud, but everyone does anyway.  Just hope we don’t have one of those California earthquakes today.

This is Yuma in the cave and me taking a flash photo.

There were skylights in the cave that would let light in. This photo is me and Yuma in the cave under a skylight.

 

Here is Yuma going in a cave and one of him coming out.

The remaining photos are of the mud slot canyons we walked in.  They went on forever, so we would walk for awhile and then turn back.  Went through about three slot canyons like this.

On the way home, I stopped at Christmas Circle so Yuma could see grass for the first time.  He loved it.

It was a long day.  We left camp at around 10 am and didn’t get back till 6 pm, so we are tired.  Luckily, we were able to drive right up to the caves and slot canyons, so didn’t do miles of walking today, thank goodness.

See you later.