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Grapevine Canyon Road
Borrego Springs,
California
(San Diego County)
Last Updated:
08/06/2022
Trail Information
Highlights
Grapevine Canyon was one of the historic routes into Borrego Valley before SR-78 was completed in the 1930's. Even before it was used as a horse and wagon trail by settlers and miners, Grapevine Canyon was home to the Kumeyaay Indians and their artifacts can still be found in the area. Today, Grapevine Canyon provides a fun off-road trail either on its own or as a leg of an overland expedition through the desert Southwest. The trail also serves as a great entrance route into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, starting from S-22 outside Anza-Borrego and descending into the heart of the park near Tamarisk Grove Campground. A smattering of historic sites dot the trail, including Yaqui Well, a historic year-round seep that has been used by native peoples and desert travelers for centuries. The area around Yaqui Well is also known for attracting numerous and diverse bird species, making it an excellent spot for bird watching.
Trail Difficulty and Assessment
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Trail Reviews
Impassable
Visited: 08/06/2022
Difficulty Accuracy:
Spot On
This area got a lot of rain the first week of August. I drove this trail last year around the same time and thought it was the easiest part of the drive from Hanna Flats / Big Bear down to Lucerne Valley. With the rain, there is now a lot of washed out parts of the trail and it is very easy to get stuck if don't pick the right line.
When you get to the bottom, just south of the Pacific Bell antenna farm, there is a giant sinkhole and no way to get around it in a truck. Location of sinkhole is 11S MU 94449 05345.
Open
Rated
5/5
Visited: 09/19/2021
We just ran this trail today in our Rubicon with friends in a Tacoma. We started from down low, on the 79 and climbed up and up, and exited via Jasper Trail connecting to the Culp Valley trail and on out to the S-22 -- much the same dirt, but a different route than what's described in the intro here. We by-passed all the privately-held, buckshot in the ass possibilities that way. Previously this trail has had a challenging reputation, mostly because of some boulder fields that needed to be navigated. They're gone. The State Parks have graded everything and removed the major obstacles. It's still beautiful and fun, but I'd rate it Easy now, and I'm no macho about these things. There are some ruts and some tight squeaks with minor boulders near the end on the Culp Valley Road stretch, but otherwise the only real challenge would be encountering someone coming the other way on the narrow parts.
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