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Tectonic Gorge - Ocotillo Wells SVRA
Salton City,
California
(Imperial County)
Last Updated:
06/05/2017
Trail Information
Highlights
Overlapping San Diego and Imperial Counties nestled between Anza Borrego Desert State Park and the Salton Sea is the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area; an 85,000-acre playground for off-road enthusiasts. Some of the popular attractions in the park are Truckhaven, the 4x4 Training Area, the Badlands, Pumpkin Patch, Shell Reef, Devil's Slide, and Blowsand Hill among many others. There is a network of dirt trails and washes that sprawl throughout the park. The main trails are marked with street signs at every intersection, and trail markers at every 1/10th mile. Please use caution while traveling through the park keeping mindful that other vehicles (such as dirt bikes, quads, and buggys) can be zipping through.
Trail Difficulty and Assessment
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Zulu Juliet
Official Crew
Trail Navigation
Trail Reviews
Open
Rated
5/5
Visited: 12/29/2022
Difficulty Accuracy:
Spot On
Very fun & rewarding trail when visiting the Borrego Springs area. Softroaders should be fine (if you are adventurous), although higher clearance and tougher tires will help. Rocky sections at times might put road tires at risk--pay attention to where you're putting your tires. Deep sand in places and some very tight turns--full size trucks will have to navigate those turns with care. Lots of cool stuff to get out an look at along the way. Great for families.
The trail starts off on the plain and I was thinking, "where does the gorge start?? This doesn't look like the pictures!" It takes about seven minutes of driving before you drop in--that's where the fun begins.
It takes less than an hour to transit the length of the gorge--it took me about 45 minutes.
Open
Visited: 05/23/2021
Begin a newbie this was just about the perfect trail, just the kind on why I got an offroad vehicle. Some soft sand so would suggest airing down, and now that we are entering summer season would most definitely suggest checking out the weather in advance.
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Open
Rated
5/5
Visited: 03/21/2021
Fun trail!!! Starts off mellow then gets really fun when you get deep into the canyon! It's like a slalom course... came across a few SXS & dirt bikers so keep your ears open for oncoming traffic on blind switchbacks. Deep sand here and there, couple of rocky sections but nothing a stock 4x4 can't handle! As a big X-FIles fan this was an awesome little trail to visit before we ended our vacation in Borrego Springs!
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