COYOTE MOUNTAINS

  ANZA-BORREGO SOUTH 

Headed south from Scissors Crossing on County Road S-2, you come to the point where the Southern Emigrant Trail turns eastward while S-2 becomes Sweeney Pass Road.

This is Anza-Borrego South, the last miles of the state park and the beginning of government land for military and civilian purposes, dotted with an occasional village (Ocotillo) or town (El Centro).

To the west, you pass such Tierra Blanca Mountains spots for hiking, birding, and wildflower watching as Indian Valley (reached via Indian Gorge), Mountain Palm Springs, and Bow Willow. To the east, if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, you can follow Vallecito Creek or Carrizo Creek through country that delights geologists, paleontologists, spelunkers, and 4-wheel drive enthusiasts.

After crossing Carrizo Creek, the road takes you up Sweeney Pass into the Coyote Mountains which you can view from the Carrizo Badlands Overlook. To the west, you'll note the dark soil of the Volcanic Hills, Anza-Borrego's volcano country, followed by the rocky Jacumba Mountains which stretch to the Mexican border. You will also pass the Mortero Wash turnoff which leads to important Native-American sites and the tracks of the San Diego Arizona & Eastern Railway.

On S-2, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park ends at the San Diego County line. But the desert continues into Imperial County across the Mexican border and into Mexico. In the mountains to the west, the state park stretches to or near Interstate-8 at points as far west as Jacumba. San Diego County goes down to the Mexican border.

To the east, what we think of as "Anza-Borrego" encompasses the Coyote Mountains and the Yuha Desert to the south and east. In fact, for many people, "the desert" stretches all the way to the Colorado River and Arizona and includes the Salton Sea and Algodones Dunes.

Major highways across the area include County Road S-2, Interstate-8, Old Highway 80, and Highway 98.