Central Anza-Borrego: Split Mountain Road

Anticline, Split Mountain Gorge

Split Mountain Road runs south of Highway 78 from Ocotillo wells to the U.S.Gypsum Company quarry. At various times this area was the setting for an inland sea and for a lake. It is still possible to see waterlines on the mountainsides and seashell fragments on the ground.

Split Mountain Road leads to several of Anza-Borrego's most popular destinations, including:

Elephant Tree Area

Elephant Tree Trail, Malperia Ridge, Alma Wash, Alma Canyon, Starfish Cove

Split Mountain Gorge

Where the Fish Creek mountains on the left meet the Vallecito Mountains on the right. Earthquakes and some horrific miles-long landslides have helped shape this two-mile stretch which includes places geologists call The Wall, The Face, The Amphitheatre, The Boulder Bed, The Anticline, and the Crazycline.

Vallecito-Fish Creek Badlands

Wind Caves, North Fork, Elephant Knees, Loop Wash, Camels Head Wash, Blackwood Basin, Layer Cake, Sandstone Canyon, Olla Wash, Hapaha Flat, Harper Flat

Road EC 058

US Gypsum Mine, Fish Creek Mountains, Plaster City