Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center — Attraction in San Diego Country Estates

We are camping during peak flowering of the desert, so there are no developed campsites available. But what Anza-Borrego State Park has, that other parks do not have, is free "dispersed" camping anywhere in the park. There are several large flat areas within 6-10 miles of the town of Borrego Springs that will accommodate a hundred campers, tents, and RVs. There are many smaller areas throughout the large park to pull off and camp for free. The main campground charges $10.00 to empty waste tanks and fill the water tank or large containers if you're tent camping. So even though this is a very popular park near several urban areas, there is room for everybody. That being said, we went into town today to get bread and milk and to walk the Visitor Center trail, and we were horrified by the traffic and number of people who have come to see the flowering areas near the visitors' center. We came right back to our quiet spot in the desert to wait out the weekend mobs. You won't get bored doing the same walk, as there are trails to keep you walking for a lifetime. All levels of ability with many easy 1-2 hour hikes, and longer trails with dramatic views for the fit and ambitious. There is great respect for the desert environment, despite it's heavy patronage; campers are considerate and clean, and the town is visitor-friendly. There are 2 adequate grocery markets, and some interesting shops. The city park at Christmas Circle has a mind-boggling dense, green carpet of grass and clover, (I'm from Vermont, and this green took my breath away), rest rooms, and little cafe picnic tables. Parking spaces for big vehicles are everywhere. It's the finest combination of California's natural beauty, and thoughtful planning by the State Parks Department. P.S. 4G and 3-4 bars (Verizon) in town and in the large camping areas...

I came here with my wife and child in March to experience the super bloom (a period of about a month in late winter where all the flowers bloom), and was not disappointed. The super bloom season is their busiest, and naturally the traffic within three miles of the park was atrocious. Surprisingly, and despite the combined population of San Diego descending upon the park, parking at the visitor's center was easy and quick. I think we spent more time in line at the bathroom than we did trying to park. The grounds around the visitor's center were well kept and withstood the masses of people quite well. The facilities were clean in spite of the rediculous amount of people. There was something to see or read about every thirty feet in every direction around the visitor's center and parking lot. The visitor's center itself was fantastic to check out, architecturally interesting and full of information about the desert. Rangers and volunteers had loads of additional information and activities present for all the people that were visiting, everyone had something to do! I have been to the park since the super bloom and even without billions of flowers the park itself is hauntingly beautiful. The campgrounds were well maintained, quiet, and spacious. Each National Park is special and has its own special something, and Anza-Borrego is no different. Interactions with the environment, wildlife or plant life, is rare here compared to other parks (I'm not suggesting you dance with bears in Yellowstone), and is all the more special for it. I think Anza-Borrego is special for its quiet, understated majesty. It is such a large park, with so much land to take in, it can become easy to get lost in the spectacle of how alive this...

So we ended up making a little detour before heading home. We ended up at the visitors center lol. So we parked the car and their are two visible kiosk for parking for $10 exact amount, if you give more it won't give back change. Ok see we weren't sure if we needed to pay, plus we didn't see any receipts on any cars next to us. But on reading along the sign it's a $71 fine, so we just payed the 10 bucks. Good thing to cause later on I read a review of someone complaining that they got a ticket for not paying for the parking. So anyways we ended up walking to the center and they have some pretty cool informative stuff in there. We were also able to watch three movies, one about nature and its animals, a family that lived in Ghost Mountains for 17 years pretty interesting and another about how the town of Borrego Springs came to be. So being the intelligent sisters that we are (insert sarcasm here) we decided to come while it was 113 degrees, yeah there's no way there was going to be any hiking done in this trip. None at all. It was discuss while we were guzzling down some water and then we had a good laugh. You know we started going back to the gym to get our stamina back, get excited about hiking and stuff, yeah not in this heat!!!! It was a cool little...