Anza-Borrego North: Alcoholic Pass

Looking Northwest from the Top of Alcoholic Pass

It's all about the views. Even if you don't climb all the way to the top and across to the other side, even if you just walk up the trail a few yards, you've got magnificent views to enjoy. Of course, the higher you climb, the better the view.

Alcoholic Pass, which connects Coyote Canyon and the upper Borrego Valley with the Clark Valley, is a pathway with a past. Jerry Schad advanced the notion that it was originally a Cahuilla trail, and that makes sense. The route offers access from villages along Coyote Creek to sheep country, particularly in the high ground south of the pass. There are places beside the pass where hunting parties could have camped. It is possible to see sheep tracks or even sheep here.

The Alcoholic Pass route also offered the Cahuilla quick access to the mesquite that grew (and grows) so abundantly around what today is Clark Dry Lake. Mesquite was a vital food source and mesquite beans could have been taken to the Cahuilla near the Salton Sea and traded for fish.

The name itself, obviously, is not Cahuilla. Diana Lindsay (Anza-Borrego A to Z) offers a couple of theories.

For visitors today, the Alcoholic Pass trail means a walk of an hour or less, but those who might shy away from steep trails should note that it only is ncessary to walk up the trail a few yards to where a personcan turn around and enjoy a magnificent view. You will see he upper Borrego Valley from the citrus groves of the south to Lower Willows and the mountains around Collins Valley to the north. The Vern Whitaker Horse Camp is across the valley to the west.

Distance hikers and backpackers also make use of Alcoholic Pass. One popular route, described by Schad, is to walk north on the Coyote Canyon Jeep Trail to Lower Willows, then enter Box Canyon (or North Canyon as Reed calls it) and then climb out of the canyon and walk norhteast to Butler Canyon and finally Hidden Spring near a former Mountain Cahuilla village. One exit route is to walk south on the Rockhouse Canyon road and cross over at Alcoholic Pass.

Getting to Alcoholic Pass. Most people drive north on DiGiorgio Road in Borrego Springs. Where the blacktop ends, continue on the Coyote Canyon Jeep Trail about 2.5 miles. The marked trailhead is on the right. It is also possible to walk to Alcoholic Pass from Rockhouse Canyon Road in Clark Valley, but identifying the pass can be difficult. You'l want to carry the Borrego Palm Canyon and Clark Lake maps of the Geological Survey 7.5-minute series.