Exploring Quartz Vein Wash - The Lost Longboarder

Anza Borrego State Park in southern California is a great place to explore the desert and climb in some canyons. Quartz Vein Wash ended up being much more than a wash but had steep and narrow canyon sections with fun obstacles. Playing in the canyons in Anza Borrego was definitely our favorite part. We had a lot of fun free climbing and exploring the many canyons by the Calcite Mine. You can see more about that adventure HERE!

They’re is not too much traffic in the Anza Borrego State Park, so we took advantage of this by longboarding down some of the hills. I enjoyed a hill on a section of the S-22 right outside of the Arroyo Salado Campground. Check out more of that HERE.

Our Experience in Quartz Vein Wash

After longboarding around we were ready for another hiking adventure. We really enjoyed exploring Quartz Vein Wash on the southern side of the park. This wash is marked by a brown sign off of S2, just south of where the S2 and S3 roads intersect.

We started on foot, right at the S2 and immediately noticed multiple borregos (big horn sheep) on the cliff wall!

It was amazing being able to see so many of these cool animals at once. It was incredible how they can stand and walk on a vertical cliff with such ease. We saw at least 5 of them just chillin’ on the cliff. They’re kind of hard to see but here’s a picture of the cliff with the borregos pointed out.

We also got to see some more of the big horn sheep breaking open a barrel cactus and eating it up!

After watching these guys for a bit, we continued further into Quartz Vein Wash and took a left at the first major fork. The trail climbed up through a rocky canyon. The trail itself had rocky areas, the walls were steep and rocky and the canyon was narrow in sections. Obstacles and dry falls presented themselves allowing for a bit of a challenge, always making a hike more memorable!

We followed the canyon up and eventually it opened up, allowing us to climb out and get some wonderful views of the Quartz Vein Wash area!

If you planned for a long hike, it seems like you could definitely get to the top of the mountain nearby. You could also explore the other forks at the beginning of the wash. But, this is where we stopped and relaxed before turning back.

We headed back the way we came… going down everything we came up.

With all the climbing and wildlife, Quartz Vein Wash ended up being a really enjoyable adventure! Another hike where you decide which direction to go and how far to take it!

We also found a dragon in Borrego Springs! So we had to include a picture of this guy! There are a ton of these sculptures around the area in Borrego Springs, so if you end up going there, you gotta check some of these out!

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