Old Wilson Road - Good Hiking for the Fringe Seasons

Old Wilson Road

By Marcy Yates

This article was originally published in The Sand Paper, the membership newsletter of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association

Good Hiking for the Fringe Seasons

Not to be confused with the Wilson Trail, I have not found this hike mentioned in any of the hiking books covering Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Consequently, the times we’ve hiked in the area, we’ve had it entirely to ourselves. We never would have discovered it if my husband hadn’t been helping with a park cleanup of heaps of dumped trash a few years ago.

When we want to hike in late Spring or early Fall, we head to higher elevations where it’s at least a little cooler than the desert floor. For our latest outing, we chose Old Wilson Road near Ranchita.

Two miles off the paved road, down a narrow, packed-sand, bumpy and rutted dirt road, you will find the parking area for this hike. There is no easily visible sign, so watch your odometer and look for the big wide spot.

The signs to the trailhead may be partially obscured by vegetation.

With an elevation of over 3,900 feet, the views are stupendous any time of year. Volcan Mountain looms to the west, and ridges upon ridges of far distant mountains roll on in the southeast. Boulder-filled scenery with fractured and balanced rocks interspersed with scrub oak, sugar bush, yucca, and cholla surrounds the trail. While the path is mostly clear, in a few spots you may have to sneak by a grabby catclaw acacia.

We are not fast, nor long distance hikers. We amble along, admiring the environment, stopping to take photos, identify birds or investigate plants. We hope to see animals and keep an eye out for the unexpected. Our typical hike averages between two to four miles. The trail at Old Wilson Road is one that you can make as short or long as you wish. The farther you go, the more changes in elevation you will encounter.

On our latest hike in early October, most of the animals we saw were of the miniscule variety: ants, grasshoppers, and a dragonfly. We found some evidence of larger animals, though: dainty deer tracks, squirrel mounds, plenty of coyote scat, and the x-marks-the-spot footprint of a roadrunner. My subconscious seems to have a thing about sharks, as I spotted two different boulders that looked like a shark head.

The peaceful sounds crickets chirping and the call of a California Towhee gave us a sense of calm. The faint distant buzz of an airplane was far enough away to not be an irritant.

Late Spring can provide nice flower shows in the vicinity. It was here on one May morning that I first encountered the pretty pink fringed spineflower. Due to a late Summer 2021 shower, Mother Nature graced us with a few small pockets of tiny Autumn flowers to brighten the dry landscape. Returning to our car, near the start of the trail, a small spray of sapphire woolly stars winked at us as if to bid us a good rest of our day. Back near the pavement, yellow chinchweed bordered the roadside.

I am often reluctant to share our special places due to fear that they may become popular and overrun. As it is, a couple of small sections of the trail near the parking area are littered with broken glass and shell casings, the result of illegal target shooting. My hope is that people will quietly and respectfully enjoy this part of our wilderness park, a few of you at a time.

Directions

From Christmas Circle, drive west on Palm Canyon Drive (S22).
Turn left (south) on Montezuma Valley Road, driving up the Montezuma Grade.
Just after mile marker 6.0, turn left onto Old Wilson Road, which is marked by a green street sign.
The Welcome to Ranchita sign is visible along Montezuma Valley Road, just beyond the turn.
Follow the Old Wilson dirt road for approximately two miles until you see a wide, sandy parking area on the left.
The signs to the trailhead may be partially obscured by vegetation.

Marcy Yates is a long-time ADBNHA volunteer and a member of the ABDNHA Board of Directors.