Category: State Parks

06-08 Apr 2024: Anza-Borrego

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / California / Campgrounds / State Parks / Trips

We’ve dry-camped in Anza-Borrego State Park a few times and had a great experience. But we’ve always been interested in finding a site in the full-hookup section of the park. Mainly to be able to run the AC during the hotter part of the season.
In late 2023, I was searching Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego for a site for my grandson’s birthday in February. In February all sites in Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego were fully booked. Not a big deal as it turns out as my grandson was going to be out of town on his birthday. But during that search, I got lucky and found three nights in the full-hookup area of Anza-Borrego Palm Canyon Campground for early April.


I thought with our rainy winter, there might be a good wildflower bloom this year. But by the first week of April it was already two or three weeks too late. March had a decent display of wildflowers according to the Anza-Borrego wildflowers web page. But by April, there were mainly later blooming Ocotillo and Cholla cacti. I did find some isolated blooms along Coyote Canyon but nothing in the usual areas.

In addition to photographing wildflowers, I wanted to practice dry-camping in preparation for my solo Yosemite RV trip at the end of April. We’ve dry-camped before but it had been awhile so I wanted to flush the freshwater tank, exercise the water pump, and check the health of the batteries. It’s good maintenance to use your water pump occasionally to keep it healthy and flushed. I need to remember that.
I also wanted to practice hooking up and towing on my own. I’ve always had my co-pilot Carol to help me, double-check everything, and navigate. Since I would be towing to Yosemite on my own for the 1st time, it was good to practice traveling solo.
I used the fresh water hookup to fill the fresh water tank and used the water pump for water. I also kept the electricity off for my solo stay but when Carol joined me Saturday night. I turned on the electricity for her visit so we’d wouldn’t have to worry about conserving.

On Sunday, we took a drive through Fish Creek Wash and Sandstone Canyon in our sister & brother-in-law’s Jeep. It was a fun adventure that they’ve done before so we got to join them this time.

Coincidentally, Monday April 8th was the date of the total solar eclipse. Since I couldn’t make it to an area of totality. I thought I’d be fun to at least photograph the 50%. I bought solar eclipse viewing glasses and a filter for my camera. Here is a composite of the eclipse from an Anza-Borrego location – great clear skies.

14 March 2024: West Fork of Oak Creek Trail

by JRWilkinsonArizona / Day Trips / Hikes / State Parks

We have friends who have lived in Phoenix for quite awhile and visit Sedona often. During Spring Training post-game dinner, we asked them what is their favorite hike in Sedona. They said “West Fork of Oak Creek Trail, so we added it to our list of hikes to do this trip. Oak Creek Canyon is ~5000ft just 14 miles south of Flagstaff, 40mi from Camp Verde. The weather was holding, with a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. Not a big deal but this trail has about a dozen creek crossings so any rain could affect the trail.
This hike was amazing and reminded us of Utah and Zion National Park. Forested, cool to cold, and narrow into the canyon. The creek crossings were slightly more challenging because the recent rains had elevated the normally dry rock & log crossings.
It did start to rain lightly but it turned to hail then snow. So we ended up hiking the deepest part of the canyon in the snow – it was wonderful. During warmer parts of the year, you can continue the hike up the creek. Hiking through the water like Zion’s the Narrows, up the narrow canyon. In March, with our gear, we were happy to just do the 3.1mi in then back. Six miles on such terrain is a really good workout.

13 March 2024: Crescent Moon Ranch, Sedona

by JRWilkinsonArizona / Day Trips / Hikes / State Parks

Our second day in the Camp Verde area was rainy. We hoped the weather would improve as we drove north toward Sedona. Most of the earlier part of the day was scattered showers so we were able to enjoy some time in the late morning exploring & hiking Crescent Moon Ranch. Unfortunately, it began to rain too hard for our hike to be enjoyable so we figured we’d grab some lunch and come back. Since there is a $12/vehicle day use fee, I asked the ranger at the entry booth is reentry was possible. He gave me a dated day pass that I could show when we got back. The afternoon was clear so we were able to finish this short 2mi easy hike.
The road and hiking trail to Cathedral Rock and Red Rock Crossing Vortex were closed. So we considered crossing Oak Creek here and taking the trail. But with the muddy conditions and lateness of the day, we were happy to explore Crescent Moon Ranch.

20-27 Nov 2023: Lake Havasu Thanksgiving Trip

by JamesArizona / Campgrounds / State Parks / Travel Trailer

Thanksgiving 2023, our sons & families had travel plans – one to Dominican Republic, the other to Arizona. So we took the opportunity to travel to Cattail Cove State Park at Lake Havasu. We had booked here in March 2023 but ended up heading into southern Arizona to Tucson and Yuma because of bad weather. We were fortunate to find 5 nights available at Cattail Cove State Park. This campground is about 12mi south of Lake Havasu City, in a remote cove 5mi from the Parker Dam. It was a great place to spend Thanksgiving and we enjoyed it so much. We’ve already booked Thanksgiving week 2024.
Because we took two dogs with us this trip, something new. We kept our day-trips short and close-by. Bodhi, our 12yr old poodle terrier, has traveled with us, but not for a few years. We typically leave him with family during our RV trips since he doesn’t travel well. This time, since all the family were traveling, we took him and our son’s dog Ollie. Our 20ft travel trailer is just barely big enough for four occupants so we made it work. We setup a 32″x16-panel enclosure around the campsite so they could be off-leash outside. Ollie immediately escaped by slipping through a gap under the stairs. So we closed all possible gaps under the travel trailer with chairs and boxes. We also added collapsible stairs up onto the bed since Bodhi can’t jump like he used too.

Cattail Cove Campsite
Dog Playpen (32″x16 panels)
Ollie
One of many dog walks to the lake
Shaded lakeview campsites
Storage Stairs
Cattail Cove fenced dog park
CC’s Labyrinth
CC’s Labyrinth


We tried to hike the McKinney Loop Trail at Cattail Cove with the dogs. But Bodhi wanted to turn around after 0.5mi – it was sunny and unshaded so he got hot. He’s just not a hiker, as much as he enjoys being with us & discovering new smells. So for the remainder of the holiday, we hiked without the dogs.

McKinney Loop Trail Start
McKinney Loop Trail
McKinney Loop Trail
Cattail Cove Trails

Day Trips

After 4 nights at Cattail Cove, we drove to Desert Hot Springs to visit family, staying at the Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA.

17 Oct 2024: Mt Whitney/Lone Pine Lake Trail

by JamesCalifornia / Central California / Day Trips / Hikes / State Parks

We wanted to hike a cooler, more forested trail so we headed up Mt Whitney Portal. The trails around Mt Whitney and the eastern Sierras here are hard with lots of elevation change. But we thought we’d give the 6mi Lone Pine Lake Trail as try.

I came to Lone Pine and the Eastern Sierras in search of fall colors to photograph. I didn’t realize the eastern side of the Sierras was high desert at ~4000ft. I’ve always pictured Bishop and neighboring towns as having lots of trees and fall colors. But you have to get to higher elevations to find trees and autumn colors in this part of California. Mammoth Lakes is roughly 8000ft so Mt Whitney Portal was our nearest option.

We started at 10am and it was cold at Mt Whitney Portal Store (8360ft). The day was sunny but unless you were in direct sun, it’s was cold. Fortunately, once on the trail, there were long breaks between shade so we warmed up quickly. In fact, the shade became a great stopping point as the day grew warm. The trail to Lone Pine Lake climbs 1771ft so the trail elevation gain over 3mi is pretty steep. Hiking from 8400-10,000ft is hard and Carol had a chest cough. We decided to turn back at ~9500ft (500ft below Lone Pine Lake). The switchbacks and climb at this point of the trail were grueling. We did see patches of fall colors and the hike was beautiful. But we were really disappointed we didn’t make it to Lone Pine Lake. It one of the few hikes we’ve been unable to complete. We’ve always been aware of our limitations, so rarely pick trails rated hard. All the forested, mountain trails in this area are rated hard so we picked one of the shortest. But the combo of hiking at over 9000ft plus the steep elevation gain, stopped us for making to the lake.
It’s the journey, not always the destination, right?

15 Oct 2023: Bristlecone Pine Ancient Forest

by JamesCalifornia / Day Trips / Hikes / State Parks

After our stop at Manzanar National Historic Site, we drove into Bishop for lunch. From Boulder Creek RV Park in south Lone Pine, Manzanar is about 18mi north, Bishop ~80mi. Manzanar was a surprise, we hadn’t planned a stop but being of Japanese heritage. When I saw the sign driving north, I thought it worth the detour. We stay a lot longer than I planned and this delayed our plans to find fall colors around Bishop & Lake Sabrina. So our plans changed to lunch in Bishop then the Ancient Bristlecone Forest. The Bristlecone Forest was definitely on my ‘must-see’ list. I had seen some wonderful tree and landscape photos. We still had plans to hike Mt Whitney the next day, so we might still find fall colors there.
There are two main trails at Bristlecone Pine Ancient Forest – 1mi Schulman Grove Trail & 4mi Methuselah Trail. With our late arrival and being at 10,000ft, we chose the shorter trail. The Schulman Grove Visitor Center closes early and the days are getting shorter in October. The altitude was definitely felt. The shorter trail is still considered moderately challenging and the first half mile climbs 265ft. Doesn’t sound like much but its a short somewhat steep climb at the start.

The trees are amazing and worth all the trouble to get here. Many look barely alive and their trunks are weathered from thousands of years. It doesn’t look like a forest in the traditional sense, with dense green trees. It’s an exposed forest at 10,000ft. Some areas have groves of trees but the ancient ones tend to stand alone. New growth is precious and rare – see red flag photo below.

15 Oct 2023: Manzanar National Historic Site

by JRWilkinsonCalifornia / Day Trips / Sightseeing / State Parks

We took a daytrip, north on the 395, to hike the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. On the way, about 15mi north of Boulder Creek RV Resort, we passed the Manzanar National Historic Site. We were in no hurry so we stopped. I was aware of the history of Japanese-Americans on the Pacific Coast being sent to internment camps after Pearl Harbor. The US was fearful of anyone who might be sympathetic to Japan, pose a “public danger”, and be potential spies. So anyone with Japanese heritage was sent here or one of nine other camps for the duration on the war. Most lost their homes, businesses, farms, and personal belongings.
In addition to Manzanar’s informational displays, the National Archives has more information.
This site can affect you when you read the many stories of Americans of Japanese heritage.
Myself, the son of a WWII Army Sgt & Japanese mom, became more emotional than I expected. It hit really “close-to-home” – if our family started during the war instead of after. My family & I, most likely, would have been interred here.

Particularly sad was many families had sons fighting and dying in service of their country. Private First Class (former Technical Sgt) Sadao S. Munemori was the first to earn the Medal of Honor. His family was sent to Manzanar & his Mom Nawa’s story resonated with me.

Entrance
Visitor Center
Names of interred residents
Barracks
Barracks
Barracks
Barracks Road
Barracks Rec Area

20-23 Feb 2023: Wildflowers & Wildweather

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / Day Trips / Hikes / Sightseeing / State Parks / Trips

Finding a campsite for 3 days at Anza-Borrego State Park, even during the week, is challenging during peak season (Oct-May). Desert spaces are extremely popular during the winter, especially around Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego. Fortunately, we found a spot at the Palm Canyon Hotel and RV Resort for 3 nights. It was a very different experience than last year when we dry-camped inside the park. This place has full hookups and is just west of downtown Borrego Springs. But for our first trip of 2023, we were happy just to be back on the road. We were hoping to see wildflowers everywhere but the ‘better-than-usual’ bloom was near its end.
Update: starting the day we headed home, there has been a week of continual rain and cold weather. So there will be a bunch of new blooms and if it turns into a Spring Superbloom, we’ll day-trip from Oceanside.

Borrego Palm Canyon (Our only hike)

We hiked the Borrego Palm Canyon trail our first morning in Borrego Springs. This has become one of our favorite hikes in the area – a 3-4mi easy hike with a potential Bighorn Sheep encounter (often at ~1130am near the trailhead). It’s a great hike to start the year. The Bighorn Sheep did appear but I unfortunately made the poor choice of taking the alternate trail back to the parking lot. The Bighorn Sheep were on the main trail so we only got a ‘tail-end glimpse’. I should have listened to Carol’s suggestion to hike the main trail back. The alternate trail meanders along the west side of the canyon and is the less-traveled trail. These particular sheep do not seem to mind being around people and are not skiddish. They might be the same group we saw last year, in nearly the same spot, same time of day (noonish).

Wildflowers

Anza-Borrego Wild Flowers Status Weblinks:

Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor Center posts wildflower locations (online as well)

There were wildflowers scattered around Borrego Springs/Anza-Borrego State Park when we visited. This was our first trip to specifically view them. But the weather was not our friend with high winds forecast for Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. Now we are familiar with high winds around Desert Hot Springs and Indio because we have family there and visit often. But the winds that blew through this trip were extreme, unlike any we’ve ever encountered. So strong, they snapped the poles providing power to Borrego Springs. The miles of toppled power lines caused a regional power-outage all the way to La Quinta.
We had a nervous night trying to sleep in our wind-blown 20ft travel trailer. The wind break of trees and small slope behind our site helped but it was still an experience we won’t soon forget. The power went out Tues around midnight and didn’t come back till after midnight Wednesday. Because the power outage disabled the two gas stations in Borrego Spring. Wednesday became a search for gasoline since we needed to refuel before our Thurs departure. Not knowing when power might be restored, we ended up driving to Red Earth Casino, about 40mi, to fuel up.
The other consequence of the storm was the snow level had dropped to ~2000ft so chains were required on our planned route home. So we ended up driving the long way back through Palm Springs to avoid the continuing stormy weather and ice. Thursday morning the winds had slackened but it was raining hard, even hailing. We made it home without incident and Howie handle the craziness without issue.
This is the first time we’ve encountered these kind of conditions so it was good it happened on a short trip near home. Our preparedness for such a situation is okay – Howie has batteries and a solar panel. But we need to keep some fresh water in our tanks & be able to dry-camp even when we are staying at a full hookup campground.

Trip-planning, Navigation, & Hiking Tools

by JamesNational Parks / RV Parks / RVing / State Parks / Travel / Trips

We’ve been taking trips around the western USA in our 20ft travel trailer Howie for over two years. I find myself relying on the same websites, apps and navigation tools to help get to where we are going.
Here are a few of my favs as of Feb 2023:

Trip Planning

  • recreation.gov app & recreation.gov – the must-visit website/app for planning a trip to a National Park. Camping, lodging, tickets, passes, permits, and even day-use passes can be bought or reserved here. We have a lifetime America the Beautiful pass ($80) and we’ve enjoyed getting into national parks for free.
  • Roadpass.com & app: although TogoRV,com-related websites & apps have free & trial versions. A Roadpass Pro subscription is one of the few I have. It gives me access to all the features of TogoRV-related websites & apps such as:
    • Roadtrippers – which has become my favorite desktop and mobile trip-planning tools
    • Campendium – is a great campground search tool & the pro features are included with a Roadpass Pro subscription. During a regional search, it’s map displays all the campsites, rv dump sites, state & county campgrounds, and dispersed (free) campgrounds. It can check for site availability & often take you to a booking portal. I use this and GoodSam to find campgrounds since we prefer hookups vs dry-camping/boondocking.
    • TogoRV.com & app – general RV information, maintenance reminders, discounts on products and campsites. If you follow RVMiles on YouTube, you can stay current on RV news, RV app news, and often get a discount code for the annual subscription ($10 off).
      TogoRV GPS app provides navigation that considers weight limits, overhead clearances, grades of terrain, and your route preferences to give you turn-by-turn directions specific to your RV.
  • GoodSam app & GoodSam.com – When we started RVing, I bought a multi-year membership from Camping World. It’s 10% discount on campsites has more than paid for itself over the past two years. I will very likely renew it this August, when it expires. GoodSam has a reliable campground review and rating system along with booking site portals.
  • FlattestRoute – is a free website that let’s you enter your start and end point and calculates the flattest route. It’ also works’s also great for bicycle route planning. It calculates & scores the different routes using a point system based on incline %grade, duration, & distance. I still prefer InRoute but this can show you some alternate options.
  • KOA app & .com: we’ve enjoyed staying at KOA campgrounds during our trips. They usually have available sites when others don’t, nice amenities, plus with a membership, are affordable. The only ‘quirky’ thing about KOAs is often their name vs location. They are named for nearby destination spots but are often many miles away. Monterey/Santa Cruz KOA is ~32mi away from Monterey; St.George KOA is 15mi from St. George; Joshua Tree KOA is 37mi away from Joshua Tree’s west entrance, 53mi away from the north entrance.
    Still, if you compare the KOA location vs your desired destination(s). You can decide if it’s worth the drive – campsite availability often decides for you.

Navigation (and Route-planning)

  • InRoute – free iPhone app that helps route planning AND navigation. The free version allows 8 locations and the subscription version allow 150 locations (destination, attractions on-route, waypoints, gas stations, etc). I find the 8 points adequate since I only use it for identifying the route that has the lowest elevations/inclines and least curvy. If you have more than 8 waypoints, you can break your trip into groups of 8.
    Like other RV navigation apps, it plans the optimal RV-friendly routes with height clearances (based on your RV height setting), no tolls, & no propane restrictions. I have yet to find another mobile app that graphically shows the elevation & curviness plus distances & drive times of three alternate routes. It has audible turn-by-turn directions but if Apple Maps shows the same course, I usually use it, synced with my Apple Watch.
  • Google Maps – of course, this is a great route planning & navigation app but often chooses shortest vs the best RV-friendly routes. I made the mistake of doubting InRoute and used Google Maps to navigate to Ventura Ranch KOA. It took me on the shortest but curviest white-knuckle route possible. So I only use it when unhooked or its route matches InRoute’s.
  • Apple Maps – same situation as Google Maps, I do not use it for RV route-planning. I will use it when towing if the directions match InRoute’s. It’s great for general directions and it syncs with my Apple Watch. Giving me haptic turn reminders so I can keep my eyes on the road.

Hiking

  • AllTrails app & AllTrails.com or GaiaGPS – I have both AllTrails and GaiaGPS but primarily use AllTrails since it just works for me. I prefer its interface, downloadable offline maps & hike-tracking features, enough to subscribe to AllTrails+. If you hike, bike, or off-road in areas without cell service, these apps are essential.
    Downloading Google Maps for use offline is an affordable alternative. But it you like saving your trek, then using either of these apps is great for recording your actual path.
  • Garmin app & .com – we still use a Garmin Inreach Mini 2 GPS for its SOS feature. We know that our new iPhones have SOS but the tried-and-true Garmin’s battery lasts a lot longer & is a reliable two-way satellite communicator. So, for us, for now, it’s still clipped to our gear when we hike anywhere.

07 Oct 2022: Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

by JamesDay Trips / Hikes / Kanab / State Parks / Utah

About 20 miles from Kanab is the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. According to the State Park website, these 10,000-15,000 year old sand dunes are created by three things: sand, high winds, and a notch between the Moquith and Moccasin mountains, that causes the dune formation. The eroding Navajo sandstone gives the sand dunes their ‘coral pink’ hue.


The park is popular with ATV/OHV vehicles and has campsites for visitors who want to stay overnight. Many people, like us, come to sled or sand-board down the dunes. There’s a $10 state park day-use fee and sand-board/sled rentals are $25 for all-day. With the sled, the Ranger will give you a small block of wax and instructions on how to apply it to the underside of the board. They also explain the best technique to successfully ride the sled down the dunes. Properly applying the wax to the bottom of the board greatly affects the speed downhill.
For $5, you can get a permit to fly your drone in the park – one of the few State Parks I’ve visited that allows this. I brought my drone so after sledding, I flew it over the park (video below).

Coral Sand Dunes State Park (drone footage; slow to play)

Most visitors come to sand-board or sled down the dunes. There are several smaller dunes but everyone seemed to pick the largest dune to ride. We started lower then moved higher as we got the hang of it and got braver. You can have some great, fast runs if you start high on the right slope angle. But climbing back up in the soft sand is an exhausting workout. The higher you start, the longer the climb back up. After a few runs, we were done.

Carol’s Best Run (slow to download & play)

In the afternoon, the wind can start blowing so be prepared for everything, including you, to be covered with the fine, red sand. Bring sunscreen, water and snacks with you cause once you hike out to the dunes. You will not want to trudge back to the picnic area or parking lot unless absolutely necessary.
We had a great time and highly recommend spending a couple hours here especially if you have kids.
One tip – a couple was having a terrible time sledding successfully down the dune. They tried all the tips & suggested techniques but their sled would turn sideways and catch-an-edge after several feet. Since we were done, we offered them our board and, like us, it worked fine for them. Applying wax to the underside of theirs wasn’t working because it was so heavily scratched/gouged. So when you rent, be sure to check out the underside of your sled and ask for a smoother one if it looks rough. Ours had gouges but not nearly as many as theirs. These sleds look like they’ve been around a long time and the undersides surely shows their age.
They log the board number when you rent so you’ll want to return the same board. When the couple were done with ours, we got it back to return. I do not know the park’s policy if you swap boards with somebody & return a different number.