Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

The park covers around 240,000 hectares, making it the largest state park in California, and it holds badlands, slot canyons, sandstone concretions and native California fan palm oases fed by springs along fault lines. In years when autumn and winter rain falls in the right pattern and the wind stays down, the desert produces a bloom of annual wildflowers across whole valleys - these are irregular, occurring perhaps a few times a decade at full intensity, and they draw enormous crowds to a town of a few thousand. Around Borrego Springs stand more than a hundred and thirty large metal sculptures of prehistoric animals and a serpent, commissioned privately by a landowner. It is an International Dark Sky Community.

What you actually see

• 240,000 hectares - the largest state park in California.
• Native palm oases - fed by springs along fault lines.
• Irregular super blooms - a few times a decade, when rain cooperates.
• Metal sculptures round Borrego Springs - over a hundred and thirty of them.

When to go

November to April; blooms if they happen are usually March. A full day or several.

Honest expectations

Blooms are unpredictable and most years there is no super bloom - do not plan a trip around one. Summer heat is lethal. Many roads require four-wheel drive. Bloom years overwhelm the town's roads and parking.

Nearby

Salton Sea is east; Julian is west up the mountains.