Central Anza-Borrego: Plum Canyon

Plum Canyon

Back in the days when the roads across the desert were simple and unpaved, the way to get from Yaqui Well to Earthquake Valley was through Plum Canyon. Highway 78 did not exist. The roads over which people drove their wagons have long since washed away, shrinking to peaceful hiking trails. There is nothing here to attract today's speeding motorists, and that of course is a plus for people who like it quiet.

Plum Canyon apparently was named for the Desert Plum, Prunus fremontii, a deciduous shrub which grows by the side of the road and produces deliciously fragrant white flowers in spring, but for all too brief a time. You are more likely to see the red flowers of the Chuparosa, Justicia californica, a plant which sometimes grows to shrublike proportions in Plum Canyon and which attracts hummingbirds.

Cactus, particularly Teddy-Bear Cactus, Cylindropuntia bigelovii, grows in abundance on Sentenac Mountain. If you look up at the mountains to the south, you can see Juniper and Yucca that are signs of the Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, an area which holds the promise of good birding.

You can drive into Plum Canyon to a fork in the road. The left fork takes you south toward the base of the mountains. The right fork takes you west a point where you must park your car if you want to walk (on the California Riding & Hiking Trail) out of the canyon to the top of the ridge for a view of Earthquake Valley. The California Riding & Hiking Trail continues south to Blair Valley, Box Canyon, and beyond.

Getting to Plum Canyon. The entrance to Plum Canyon is on the south side of Highway 78 in the San Felipe Valley just east of Sentenac Mountain and the entrance to Sentenac Canyon. From Borrego Springs, take County Road S-3 south to Highway 78 and turn west, or from the southern desert take County Road S-2 north to Highway 78 and turn east.