Talk about a trip you took out to Anza Borrego
Upper Palo Verde Wash
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TheFastRunner Posts: 2
7/12/2025
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This is a couple years old, but I recently found the forum and thought I would add to some of the other reports in here. My family loves spending time in Anza Borrego and I've done a number of hikes and backpacking trips in the area. It really is amazing what you can find out there just a couple hours from LA or San Diego.
On a prior hike to Rattlesnake Spring I hiked down into Palo Verde wash on the way out and noticed the huge dry fall that separates Lower Palo Verde wash and Upper Palo Verde wash. It's at least 100'; I would love to see what it looks like during a heavy rain. On a number of topo maps it shows there is a spring (Palo Verde Spring) on the headwall of Lower Palo Verde wash, but I had not seen any sign of water in that area.
I decided to put together a hike that would take me up into Upper Palo Verde wash, then up to the mountain that looms over the wash before hiking across to Pyramid Peak and back down into Smoke Tree Canyon. I hadn't been into Smoke Tree Canyon before and wanted to see the water tanks as well before I took the cut across back into Palo Verde wash to get back to the car.
On New Years Eve I set off and climbed the steep trail that brings you out of Palo Verde wash and up onto the ridge. From there I hiked a little further to get above the upper section of the wash before I dropped back down to Upper Palo Verde wash. The way down was not a lot of fun. Upper Palo Verde wash is great--I highly recommend exploring it. The section right before the drop off is really amazing--it's' completely scoured from water and is just granite. I was a little nervous around the edge--it's a long way down.
It was in this area (noted on the track below) where I think I found a small spring (pictured). There was no standing water or even wet gravel anywhere else on this hike and there hadn't been any recent rain. I wonder if this is "Palo Verde Spring" as called out on some of the topo maps, or if it's something else entirely. Worth checking out--always exciting to find sources of water out here.
From here I climbed out of the wash and made my way to the top of the nearby mountain to take a break. Tons of Cholla on the way up but manageable (pictured). Beautiful views from the top, especially with some morning fog in the valley. From here, it was a fairly easy cross country hike over to Pyramid. Pyramid was really windy, but again great views from the top.
Going down I wasn't sure if there was a path so I just went straight down the face towards Smoke Tree Canyon, which was easy enough. I think there's a trail that stays out of the upper section of the canyon but I hadn't been here before and I knew if I stayed in the canyon I couldn't get lost. Unfortunately there are a few small dry falls that need to be navigated. This is not my favorite thing to do, especially by myself but it wasn't too much of a problem and otherwise the canyon was a lot of fun to descend. There wasn't an easy way around that I could see, so it's probably best to find a path that avoids this altogether. I included pictures of a couple of them.
Once I got down into the flatter section I detoured to check out the water tanks (fairly full) then found the cut off that led back towards Palo Verde wash and the Moly Mine. All in the hike was 10.8 miles with 3,937 feet of elevation gain. It took me five hours with a stop for lunch.
Has anyone else spent any time in the upper section of the Palo Verde wash? It looks like you could almost follow it to the top of Mile High Mountain, which I might try later. I've done Rabbit and Villager, and feel like I need to cross mile high off the list. But it's just such a long hike any way you go. I've also been meaning to hike Indian Head some time, maybe this fall. So many great things to see in the area.
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+1
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Rocko1 Posts: 626
7/15/2025
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Interesting find! Was there enough to collect if needed?
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TheFastRunner Posts: 2
7/16/2025
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Maybe. I didn’t try to dig it out at all, but it may be possible. The standing water that was there looked pretty green so I would leave that alone.
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+1
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