ABDSP Interpretive Activities

Beginner’s Bird Walk - 7:30 am
90 minutes
Join Volunteer Naturalist Ann Keenan for an easy walk around the Visitor Center Garden looking for the common birds of our desert. Meet in the Visitor Center parking lot. Please bring binoculars and a field guide if you have them. (This program will be canceled if raining.)

Roving Naturalist in Borrego Palm Canyon - 8:00 am
3.5 hours
Volunteer Naturalist Toni Alexander will be roaming the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail searching for bighorn sheep and other interesting features along the trail. Look for her as you hike to the palm oasis. This is not a guided hike.

Hornblend Canyon - 9:00 am
3 hours
Hornblend Canyon is a little gem hidden in Anza Borrego...it’s not even on the maps! Come and explore this wonderful canyon with Volunteer Naturalist Thad McManus. We will see interesting geologic formations, flowers, and bushes in bloom, a wild beehive, and a large number of morteros and metates. This hike is rated as “fairly strenuous”, since we do climb up or around some dry waterfalls, but the pace will be moderate so we can look and see. Total distance is 3 miles. Bring water, something to eat and a good hat. Meet at the Box Canyon Memorial, 8.6 miles south of Scissors Crossing on S2.

What is a Borrego? - 10:00 am
1 hour
Join Park Interpreter Nova Clarke at the Borrego Palm Canyon trail head to learn about our resident desert bighorns. From there we will wander part way up the canyon to learn a bit more about the ecosystem and perhaps see a bighorn.

Military Wash Experience Tailgate Tour - 10:00 am
1 hour
Join Ranger Jim to discuss the history of Rake Station at Military Wash. Meet at the restroom of the Arroyo Salado Primitive Campground off Highway S22, MM 34.8. 4WD required.

Junior Rangers - 10:00 am
45 minutes
Special program for children ages 7-12. Discover secrets of the desert environment. Sign up at the Visitor Center as space is limited.

In Search of the Elusive Elephant Tree - 11:00 am
30 minutes
The seldom seen, endangered elephant tree survives in only a few scattered and isolated spots in California. Join Volunteer Naturalist Karen Cormier at the Visitor Center to find out how to identify these distinctive trees, hear why Native Americans valued the trees, and discover where you can look for elephant tree herds “in the wild.”

Where is that Wascally Wabbit? - 2:00 pm
45 minutes
Join Park Interpreter Nova Clarke to learn about the rabbits, roadrunners, and coyotes of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Find out what the cartoons get right and wrong. Meet at the Visitor Center Amphitheater.

Campfire: Ranger Encounters! - 7:30 pm
1 hour
Join Ranger Don Strampfer to explore the multitude of remarkable experiences a Ranger might encounter while patrolling Anza-Borrego Desert State Park’s great expanses! Meet at the Borrego Palm Canyon Campfire Center.

These events are free of charge. Call ABDSP Visitor Center for more information (760) 767-4205