Hawk’s Canyon campground.

I just happened to find a wonderful camping spot in Anza-Borrego State Park in Southern California called Hawk’s Canyon. I came across a reference to it when looking for hikes on Trails.com and found a little information about it on the web (incl. directions).

The article is right — this is one of the best remote desert camping spots I’ve seen. Since I was arriving on a Friday evening, I wasn’t sure how crowded it was going to be — and much to my surprise, only a few other campers were in the area. The area offers wonderful and somewhat secluded camping spots, but no facilities and only a few fire rings. It also offers a wonderful amount of wildlife and wildflowers (in the right season, of course).

I set up my tent in between two large boulders and the canyon wall. Little did I know that two great horned owls made their home only about 10 feet away. It made for a loud, but interesting evening. I also saw a number of falcons and hummingbirds. No bighorn sheep, though. Maybe next time.

Clear, cool evening in Anza.

There are a lot of hiking trails accessible from the campsite itself and if you have a good compass or GPS, it’s easy enough to go off trail and hike some of the hills and canyons in the area.

The sites got a little more crowded later in the evening — most of the campers were people wanting to go off-roading on the nearby trails and on the Octillo Wells Recreation Area. There are hundreds of miles of off-road trails in this area — I will be back to explore.

Had a great night. Met some fellow campers from the Bay Area who were surprised I had ever heard of the site. We traded stories around their campfire and enjoyed the very clear night sky. If you have a chance to visit Anza-Borrego — this is the place to stay.

Things to know:

• You will likely want a high clearance 4X4 to drive to the campsite and on nearby trails
• There are no facilities anywhere nearby
• Little or no cell phone coverage
• You can pull your car right up to your camping spots
• Arrive early for the best spots
• Spring/fall are the best seasons to visit and expect to see wildflowers in March.
• Follow the directions very closely — it’s very easy to miss the turn off the highway