Central Anza-Borrego: Mescal Bajada

Photo of morning light on North Pinyon Mountains at Mescal Bajada
Mescal Bajada and Pinyon Mountains

Photo of a peaceful cove beside Chuckwalla Wash with ocotillo, cholla, desert agave, and other desert plants
Cove, Chuckwalla Wash

Photo of Gander's Cholla with a collection of cholla stems, evidence of a packrat den
Gander's Cholla and Packrat Den

Photo of Mescal Bajada from Yaqui Ridge showing flow of drainages from the Pinyon Mountains
Mescal Bajada from Yaqui ridge

Photo of Mescal Bajada with cholla, ocotillo and other desert plants. Pinyon Ridge is in the distance.
Mescal Bajada with Pinyon Ridge in the distance

Driving east past Tamarisk Grove Campground on Highway 78, it may appear to you that the North Pinyon Mountains to your right have pulled or slipped away from the road, leaving a large mostly flat sloping surface. If you walk this area, which is called Mescal Bajada, you will notice the ground close to the surface is hard.

A bajada is an accumulation of sand that has washed down from the side of a mountain, but that isn't what we have here. This is what geologists call a pediment. Pinyon Pediment might be a more appropriate name. The terrain changes abruptly when you reach the soft sands of Pinyon Wash at the foot of Sunset Mountain.

Mescal Bajada lies south of Highway 78 between Stag Cove on the west and Sunset Mountain to the east. There are jeep trails at Stag Cove, Mine Wash, Pinyon Wash, and Quartz Vein Wash. Chuckwall Wash and the Narrows Nature Trail are for hiking only.