Trip Dates: 4/1/2011 – 4/3/ 2011 (~ Friday evening to Sunday)

Agua Caliente Hot Springs:

This year’s car camping campground will be spend at Agua Caliente Hot Springs. It’s a 910-acre San Diego County Park, complete with a picnic area and a large campground with shady trees at some sites. It is located near the south end of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California. There are 2 hot spring pools here. One is a large outdoor pool that is kept at a natural 90 degrees (Fahrenheit). The other pool (102 degrees F) is protected inside a glass-walled building and – ready for this? – equipped with whirlpool jets.

This will be a luxury car camping trip with short day hikes and off-road explorations. Camp site contains restroom and showers. The key attractions to this site is the hot springs, so bring your swim wear.

Camp site Location:

Agua Caliente Hot Spring Campground (reserved sites # 81 and # 91)

39555 Great South Stage Route of 1849
Julian, CA 92036
ThomBros: 430-D3

GPS Coordinate: 32° 57′ 1.43″ N  116° 18′ 23.48″ W

Directions: 111 miles from San Diego. From Ramona through Julian: East on State Highway 78 to Scissors Crossing then south 26 miles on Highway S2 to the park entrance. From Interstate 8: East on Interstate 8 and exit at Ocotillo, then 22 miles north on Highway S2 to the park entrance.

Wild Flowers: With the plentiful amount of rain SoCal has received, the wild flowers this year should be good. To monitor desert flower blooming on a weekly basis, you can visit http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca.html

Planned Itinerary:

Friday night: leave late evening, camp out.

Saturday: (timing is totally estimated)
-embark by 9:30a-10a, pit for supplies if desired
-off-road to Font’s Point (12p)
-off-road to Calcite Mine, backtrack into Palm Slots (2p)
-take S-22 to Salton Sea (Salton Sea Beach) via Highway-86 (3:30p)
-backtrack down H-86 to H-78 (5p)
-off-road to Fish Creek wash, walk up to Wind Caves (5:30-6p)
-resupply if needed at Borrego Springs, return to campsite

Sunday: Leave desert, hopefully to Alpine Brewing Co. for lunch