HIKING THE SLOT CANYON IN ANZA-BORREGO

Hiking the Slot Canyon just outside of San Diego in Anza Borrego State Park is an unforgettable experience! This California hike requires a little preparation for a successful trip. In this portion of our guide to Anza-Borrego State Park with kids, we give you our tips for a successful trip hiking Slot Canyon. Keep reading for what to expect, how to get there, what you want to bring, and the correct trails to take!

Table of Contents

WHAT SHOULD WE DO IN ANZA-BORREGO STATE PARK?

STOP BY THE ANZA-BORREGO STATE PARK VISITOR CENTER
EXPLORE THE TOWN OF BORREGO SPRINGS
MARVEL AT THE LARGE ANIMAL SCULPTURES OF GALLETA MEADOWS
ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF DESERT WILDFLOWERS
EXPLORE THE GEOLOGY OF THE AREA ON THE TRIANGLE TOUR DRIVE
OFF-ROAD TO THE WIND CAVES
HIKE BORREGO PALM CANYON
HIKE SLOT CANYON – YOU ARE HERE (PART 8)

Hiking the Slot Canyon in Anza-Borrego State Park is one of our family’s all-time favorite hikes. We have experienced slot canyons in southern California and Arizona (Antelope Canyon is stunning). If you are local and interested in exploring slot canyons, check out my post about Annie’s Canyon in North County San Diego. We never knew we had another one so close to home.

WHAT IS THE ANZA BORREGO SLOT CANYON?

Just 20 minutes outside of Borrego Springs, the Anza Borrego slot canyon hike is sure to make a memorable adventure for your whole family. At less than a mile long, weaving through this siltstone canyon almost takes you back in time. Millions of years of flash floods and flowing water eroding rock create these mesmerizing slot canyons that turn into incredible hiking opportunities. The trail may be short, but the experience is one you will never forget!

HOW TO GET TO THE ANZA-BORREGO SLOT CANYON

Hiking the Slot in Anza-Borrego requires a little preparation, so you know where to go. The Slot is located in the Anza-Borrego desert of California, down a dirt road known as Buttes Pass that drivers can easily miss.

Anza-Borrego State Park is a little over an hour and a half east of San Diego and a great place to check out for the day or weekend. Plan to explore the town of Borrego Springs before or after your hike. Check out this post for all of our favorite things to do in Borrego Springs.

START AT THE VISITOR’S CENTER

I highly recommend starting your visit at the Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor’s Center to check-in and gather information about current park conditions on the day of your visit. Check out a large map of the park here. There is so much to see and do in the Anza-Borrego desert, so make sure to explore more after your hike.

Map created with Wanderlog, for making itineraries on iOS and Android

ANZA-BORREGO SLOT CANYON MAP

The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park rangers gave us the following directions and map. Please note cellular service is spotty in the park, so SAVE THIS PHOTO to your camera roll to access it on your phone without service. Also, Google maps probably won’t be able to work as you head out towards the slot canyon trail.

Directions to THE SLOT – Save this to your camera roll!

SLOT CANYON PARKING INFORMATION

Our stop at the visitor center allowed us to pay the $ 10 day-use and parking fee by credit card versus cash only at the slot canyon parking area. If you have an annual pass for CA State Parks (including the beach parking pass), you are covered anywhere in the park! I recommend having $10 cash with you if heading straight to Buttes Pass Road and the Anza Borrego slot canyon parking area.

Hiking the slot trail in Anza-Borrego can get crowded. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Rangers monitor the crowds and parking situation by only allowing 30 cars in at a time. We were able to head right into the parking area on a holiday around 1 pm. I assume weekends are a busier time.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM BORREGO SPRINGS TO THE SLOT CANYON TRAIL

You will drive about 20-25 minutes to the slot canyon parking area from the Visitor’s Center. Then, take Borrego Springs Road towards the 78. Shortly after turning left on Highway 78 (1.4 miles – watch your odometer so you don’t miss it), you will see a tiny dirt road and a small sign for Buttes Pass Road.

Look for small brown sign just before the dirt road. Head down the dirt road, and a park ranger will greet you in less than 2 miles. The ranger will let you know when to enter and collect your $10 fee (or check your receipt from the Visitor Center). Congrats! You have arrived and your hiking adventure is about to begin!

WHAT TO BRING WHEN HIKING THE SLOT CANYON TRAIL

Although the slot canyon hike is about a mile, pack plenty of water (at least a liter) as the desert sun can dehydrate you quickly. The parking area has restrooms available. As always, a sun hat and sunblock are great ideas for California desert hiking.

We loved having our baby girl in the Ergo for this hike instead of our larger Osprey hiking pack. If you are not carrying a child, a small backpack is ideal so you can maneuver through the tight squeezes of the canyon walls on the trail. I also loved having my hiking boots for stability during some areas of the hike, as the canyon floor can be rocky.

ANZA-BORREGO’S SLOT CANYON HIKE

Once you park, you will see signs for the slot hiking trail heading up a small hill. On the opposite end of the parking lot, you will see a wide 4WD road to Borrego-Mountain Wash – do not hike this way. This is a jeep road that takes you into the Anza Borrego Desert and around the top of the slot canyon.

Instead, head up the small hill, and after a short hike, you will head back down towards the left down into the canyon.

I was grateful for hiking boots during this downhill portion as the gravel can make it slippery, and I had the baby in the Ergo. Once you get to the bottom of the canyon, the canyon starts and the trail begins to narrow as into the tight spots known as the slot. The trail starts a little spread apart but quickly begins to narrow. As you begin weaving through the canyon, it is incredible how narrow parts of this easy hike can get.

After a short distance, you will enter the narrow slot canyon on the hiking trail. The canyon walls can get very tight at times. However, our son loves this portion of the hike. I was grateful I had the baby in the Ergo so I could tuck her head in as we maneuvered through the canyon. A bigger hiking pack, like our Osprey, would not have worked well on this hike.

INSIDE THE SLOT CANYON

Although the canyon is pretty flat, some small areas have more significant drops to step up and down on the hike. It is incredible how much the temperature can drop in the shade of the slot. On a hot day, this shade and cool environment would feel especially wonderful.

At the end of the slot canyon, you will see a tall rock leaning over the top of the canyon and bridging the narrow gap. Cautiously proceed under the rock, although it has been like this for years. This natural rock bridge marks the end of the narrow slot canyon. As you turn the corner, the canyon widens, and you will start walking out towards a sandy jeep road.

RETURN HIKING OPTIONS TO THE SLOT CANYON PARKING LOT

At this point, you have two options for your return hike. You can treat the trail as an out-and-back hike or continue to loop back to the parking lot. If you are hiking the slot canyon in Anza-Borrego with kids, I highly recommend taking option one. Unfortunately, we found the trail markers were not very clear, and we ended up hiking further out into the middle of the desert than we wanted to do.

OPTION ONE – OUT-AND-BACK – MY RECOMMENDATION

Once the canyon expands, you can turn around and hike back to your car through the slot (the way you came). This is an excellent option for hiking the slot canyon with kids, as they will enjoy maneuvering through the rocks from a different view. This also allows you to enjoy the cooler desert temperatures in the slot. Please learn from our mistakes! We get lost, so you don’t have to! Or, for a real Anza-Borrego desert adventure, there is another option.

OPTION TWO – KEEP HIKING FOR A FULL LOOP

We opted for the full loop back to the parking lot in a quest for new sights and adventure. As we exited the canyon, we kept hiking down the sandy road. We were waiting to see tire tracks on the 4WD road like the directions from the Visitor Center said we would. The road was very sandy but did offer some great views.

After a bit, we came to a clear divider on the path. Rocks were blocking the road, and signs said vehicles were not allowed (down the road we had just come from). Tire tracks were evident in this jeep road area, so we took this as the last part of the directions from the Visitor Center. We proceeded to walk “less than one mile,” looking for the “steep road to the west (left)” to complete our full loop of the slot canyon hike.

SLOT CANYON TRAIL MISTAKES WE MADE (SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO)

This was a mistake. We should have headed up the VERY STEEP, VERY SANDY hill to the left at this point. The road was recently closed, and the directions have not been updated. However, there were no signs on the trail to head up the wash. We had just started to see tire tracks, so we kept on hiking, looking for a steep hill to the left in about one mile.

After walking for about 15 minutes, we became nervous that we were beginning to head aimlessly into the California desert. We had left our lunches in the car and did not want to commit to a more extensive hike. It was also getting later in the afternoon. The last thing we wanted was to be deep in the desert without enough daylight to get back.

At that point, my husband ran ahead on the trail to check what was lying ahead in the desert. Around the next bend, there was a small trail heading up to the left. We were thrilled to find it! This was an actual trail, but the hike led us to nothing, although the sand was covered in footprints. I think it may be from people like us searching for a way to loop around.

We followed the trail until it suddenly disappeared, and we were in the middle of the desert. Although we knew we could walk back the entire way we had come, we still wanted to find the loop. So my husband hiked up a massive dirt hill to get our bearings. We were clearly in an area that experienced flash floods as we were in the middle of one of the many washes in California’s largest state park.

BACK ON TRACK FOR THE FULL LOOP

From the hill, he could see where we wanted to be. We hiked up a massive dirt hill until we merged into the sandy wash. The elevation gain was difficult, and the trail was very sandy. We should have headed up this path when we saw the rocks and signs. Instead, due to the slope we had just climbed, we were already halfway up the wash. However, the deep sand made each uphill step even harder. We were tired and hungry but happy to be back on the trail.

Once we reached the top, we could see the parking lot for the slot. Although it was pretty far away (1 mile), we were happy to be up and hiking on a road leading to the parking area. We had climbed up the Borrego Mountain Wash and were now walking back to the parking lot on Borrego Mountain Wash Road, a 4WD road.

This last stretch was at the top of the Anza Borrego slot canyon loop. Although we were excited to see a tarantula crossing the road, we all agreed the out-and-back hike through the slot would have been a more exciting (and faster) option. Once we reached the parking lot, we had a picnic in the back of the truck, used the restrooms, and headed out. Rangers were beginning to shut down the trail as the sun was starting to set.

BUSTER’S VIEW OF THE SLOT CANYON HIKE

My son is starting to document some of our adventures for his YouTube channel. His interest in design and editing seems to be growing as well, so I let him play around with his footage from our hike. I thought it would be cute to include his videos about specific hikes in my posts. If you have children and want to get them excited about hiking The Slot in Anza-Borrego, have them check out my son’s perspective of the slot hike!

My son loves his hydration pack and Merrell hiking boots when hiking! You can find more of his favorites here.

EXPLORE THE REST OF OUR GUIDE TO THE ANZA-BORREGO DESERT

Make the most of your visit to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. Check out our posts on what to do when visiting this incredible desert area!