Familiar with Anza-Borrego/Cleveland Forest area?

[TGYoung]

Hi:

My daughter and I are planning to take our first self-supported tour (we'll, actually, our first bike tour of any kind) in March and thought we'd try something in the Cleveland National Forest and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park area in eastern San Diego County.  We'll be driving down from San Francisco and hope to park the car somewhere in or near Cleveland/Anza-Borrego and ride some sort of roughly circular route from/to the car.

Can anybody suggest a suitable starting/ending point where a car might park for 6 or 7 days safely?  Looking at the map we've identified a couple of towns (wide spots on the road?) that might be suitable: Warner Springs on Hwy 79 about 20 miles west of Borrego Springs, Ranchita on S-22, or possibly even Borrego Springs itself.  Can anybody comment about these spots, or suggest others to consider?

Thanks.

Tom Young

[wanderingwheel]

I can help with some specific suggestions, but first what time of year are you going?  Anza-Borrego is a great place to go this time of year, but it will be less welcoming in the middle of the summer.  If you do go in the summer, I'd suggest staying in the cooler mountains that surround Anza-Borrego and off the hot, barren valley floor.

Sean

[TGYoung]

We'll be riding sometime in March and be out about 6 or 7 days.

Tom Young

[wanderingwheel]

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you.  When I've gone backpacking in Anza-Borrego I've left my car in any number of places depending on the trailhead and if I'm going one-way or not.  Never had a problem with any of them.  

Borrego Springs is a startlingly artificial desert oasis and the largest town in the area.  My only complaint about starting there is that you can only go up, or towards the Salton Sea.  The Salton Sea is a curious place, home to thousands of snowbirds with their RVs in the winter and to the only modern ghost towns that I know of.  In the other direction you can start you tour with the challenging climb up Montezuma Grade. However, the road can feel a bit narrow, as can any mountain road in the area.  Another, even more challenging way out of Borrego Springs would take you up Yaqui Pass to Banner, and then Banner Grade to Julian.  There are also a number of nice unpaved roads in the higher reaches of Anza-Borrego such as Grapevine Canyon that you can explore and avoid traffic.

Ranchita should also be a fine place to park during your tour.  One more place to consider that may be a little more reliable may be Julian.

Sean

[TGYoung]

Thanks for the reply.  Have you ever been through Warner Springs (looks like Warner Springs Ranch is the big deal there) and do you have any feel for leaving a vehicle there for a week or so?

Tom Young

[wanderingwheel]

I've ridden through it, but can't say anything much beyond that.  Warner Springs Ranch itself is private so their probably going to be less than hospitable about unattended parking.

Sean

[bern]

Hi Wanderingwheel!   I am intrigued by your route descriptions of that part of CA. Ideas on touring maps of those areas? Distances? and anything further in the form of text? Like Tom, I am also interested in biking up there but probably a longer distance!

Thanks a bunch.

Bern

[wanderingwheel]

Sorry for the late reply Bern, I've been in the middle of moving and starting a new job.  I've only used standard roadmaps in the area.  Like many other Western areas, there are very few road choices and even the largest scale map will show nearly all of them.  For some routes out of San Diego that go through the area, take a look at the San Diego Century Riders (http://www.sandiegocenturyriders.com/) and the San Diego Longriders (http://www.coolbike.com/sdl/)

Sean