Borrego Palm Canyon

This is the headline of the whole tour, so let's do it right. Pull into the trailhead lot here at the top of the campground road. There's a ten-dollar day-use fee, and that same ticket covers your walk. Now, before you leave the car, here's the lay of the land. The trail climbs about a mile and a half up the canyon wash, gaining a few hundred feet, easy at first and rocky in the last third, until it reaches the first palm grove. And here I owe you the honest truth, because you deserve to know what you'll find. For generations this trail ended in a lush green oasis, a cathedral of native fan palms over running water, the kind of place that made people fall in love with this desert. It was a childhood hike for a lot of folks. But in January of 2020 a fire swept through that grove and burned it hard. The trail's open, but it now ends at an overlook above the palms, not down inside the cool green of them. What you'll see is a grove recovering, scarred and stubborn and coming back. It's still worth the walk, just go knowing. Keep your eyes on the high rock walls too, because bighorn sheep come down to the water here, and a still, patient hiker sometimes catches them. This is cool-season country only, October through April, and you carry far more water than you think you'll need. So here's the plan. Settle in for a moment, because Ranger Boone has a tale of these palms to tell you right where you sit. And when he's done, lace up, because the walk and the oasis overlook are waiting just up the wash.