Fish Creek Wash — Anza-Borrego Desert Slot Canyon and Badlands Circuit

Fish Creek Wash is one of Southern California’s most satisfying desert drives — a 30-mile round-trip route that cuts through the Anza-Borrego badlands past the infamous Sandstone Canyon narrows, Split Mountain gorge, and the wind caves carved into the canyon walls by millennia of abrasive desert wind. You’ll thread between towering ochre walls so tight at points that your mirrors whisper the rock, then pop out onto open alluvial fans scattered with fossil whale bones and ancient oyster beds — proof this chunk of California was once seafloor. The route runs from S-22 near Ocotillo Wells south through the wash to where it opens near the Vallecito Mountains.

Sand is the main enemy here — deep, loose, and unforgiving if you’re running street tires or anything under 32 inches. A stock 4WD with decent all-terrains will make it in dry conditions, but run your pressures down to 18–20 psi before you drop in. The wash can flash flood violently and without warning; October through April is the sweet window. No permit required for day use. Nearest fuel is Ocotillo Wells or Borrego Springs. Dispersed camping is allowed in the state park’s open zones. Cell service disappears at the canyon mouth — tell someone where you’re headed.