The Slot in Anza Borrego State Park

I heard there was a Slot Canyon in Southern California, so I did some investigating. To my surprise, I found one on Alltrails.com. It’s called “The Slot” and it’s in Anza Borrego State Park. Bec and I had a free Saturday for a small adventure, so we headed out to the desert. It didn’t look like a long way on the map, but it takes a full 2.5 hours to get there from our house. It’s actually south of the Salton Sea.

The trail is 3-miles long and follows an easy descent into a wash that turns into a narrow slot canyon for about a half-mile. The slot is narrow in places but not in a claustrophobic way. It’s quite fun. After a mile the slot widens into a wash again then connects to a 4WD road. When you reach the road, you follow it left up a steep sandy grade that takes you out of the canyon and back to the trailhead.

The trail is fun, but not that impressive. This is not Buckskin Gulch or Zion, but it’s a fun little hike – especially if you have small kids. If you don’t mind the long car ride, your kids will dig this hike!

If you decide to try this hike, make sure you have the All-trails App on your phone with the route downloaded so you can track your position on the map without cell service. The desert is not somewhere you want to get lost :)

Trailhead Map