After a lot of driving to Anza-Borrego & Fonts Point yesterday, another long drive into Joshua Tree will wait till next trip. So while Carol visited family, I did a shorter drive to the Salton Sea. I’ve seen photos of this area and thought it looked interesting photographically. It was still windy and there were great clouds that made for beautiful light.
Although we have lived most of our lives in SoCal, we’ve never visited Anza-Borrego. It’s always been on our list of places to go but we’ve just never made it out there. Working as an oceanographer, with month-long cruises in Jan and April, kept me busy during the prime months to visit. Now that we are retired, it will become a regular destination when we are itching to get away during the winter months.
The park’s visitor center is 75mins away from Indio/Indian Waters RV Resort. There are some great hiking trails there but we opted to hunt down the metal sculptures that are a mile or so east in Borrego Springs. These are another group of local landmarks we have never visited.
Note: parking & hiking at the State Park Visitor Center (and two other popular parking areas in the park) requires paying a day-use fee but everywhere else is free and open. Dry RV camping in several areas is ‘no reservation first come first serve’.
Our Indio family, Jim & Susan, had posted beautiful photos of Fonts Point (see map) they took while off-roading in their new Jeep. The amazing panoramic views of the Badlands looked worth the slow 4-mile washboard road trek. Like their Jeep, our Tacoma TRD Offroad 4×4 is also very capable on roads like these. We made it a point to visit in late afternoon and wait till sunset. As the sun set, the wind really picked up and it got cold quickly. The drive home in the dark through a dust storm added to the adventure.
Directions to Fonts Point Trail Junction can be found using Google Maps. Note: this is the turn onto the 4mi dirt road leading to Fonts Point. There is a small sign but its easily missed. Navigating to Fonts Point using Apple Maps will take you to the wrong endpoint. To reach Fonts Point lookout, you drive 4mi south on a washboard dirt & soft sand road. It’s mostly wide and level with sections of soft sand, a 4-wheel drive is recommended but not necessary. We saw many 2-wheel drive vehicles parked at the lookout. Just avoid the soft sand.
Our first trip in 2022 was a short 5-day trip to visit family in Palm Desert & Indio, CA. This area is popular with snowbirds this time of year, their peak season. The weather in this area is perfect for escaping the frigid north and east winter conditions. Even though we live in SoCal and could find warm places to RV closer to home. We prefer the Palm Springs area because of family, the hiking & photography possibilities. Joshua Tree National Park, Anza-Borrego State Park, and Salton Sea Recreation Area are an hour out of town.
We stayed in-town to be close to family, at a RV resort with full hookups – Indian Waters. It has great reviews on the Good Sam’s website. It’s just a few miles further away than Shadow Hills RV Resort, where we stayed the last time we rv’d to Indio to visit family.
Indian Waters has a variety of activities and perks like complimentary breakfasts. Pickleball games & socials, water aerobics & yoga classes keep the many snowbirds busy. We didn’t stay long enough to enjoy all their hospitality but will definitely stay here again. I highly recommend the lawn sites versus gravel but they are all spacious with large close-to-level concrete pads.
Between visits with family, we did a day-trip to Anza-Borrego State Park instead of Joshua Tree this trip. I also spent a day on the north shore of Salton Sea to Salton Sea Recreation Area & Bombay Beach.
