Borrego Springs Palm Canyon hike + Grapevine Canyon offroad Trail -Fri 2/16

[Dezert4Runner]

I’ll be headed out to Borrego Springs next Fri 2/16 with the gf for a scenic hike (and hoping to see the Bighorn Sheep) and then hitting the Grapevine Canyon Trail. Throwing out the invite to anyone interested.

Did the Palm Canyon hike around New Years 2016-2017 with a buddy and we saw 2 of the Rams (some pics below, and Where’s Waldo on the last photo lol), so the gf and I wanted to take advantage of a day off and do this hike. Apparently your chances of seeing the herd is hit or miss, so keep that in mind.

I haven’t run the Grapevine Canyon Trail but it is an easier trail and should be pretty straight forward from the videos I’ve watched on YouTube and the info from Trailsoffroad.com. Any tips or advice on this trail or an alternative is welcome of course but that’s the game plan for now.


What to bring:

Weather as of now is showing it’ll be a warm one @ 82* but that might change as we get closer to next Friday. Bring good hiking shoes, camelback, sunscreen and a hat. Palm Oasis at the top is worth the hike for anyone who hasn’t been! Any stock 4wd should be fine for the Grapevine Canyon Trail, but it goes without saying that decent tires and an air compressor/ spare fluids, extra water etc etc are a good idea.


Tentative Itinerary:

Planning on being at the parking lot at the Palm Canyon around 9am-ish (it’s a pay lot, $10?) and hiking up to the Palm Oasis. This hiking trail is a 3 mile loop, so 1.5 miles each way and should take about 1 hr each way at a leisurely pace plus time for any photo ops, so should be back to the truck no later than noon. Then top off on gas just down the street in downtown Borrego and shoot out to Yaqui Wells Road near the 78 highway to start the Grapevine Canyon Trail after airing down sometime around 1pm and finishing up top at the S-22 near Ranchita around 3pm and then heading home.


Palm Canyon hiking Trail -3 Miles round trip, approx 2-3 hours round trip
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/borrego-palm-canyon-to-south-fork-falls-trail

Grapevine Canyon offroad Trail -14 miles, approx 2hrs
https://www.trailsoffroad.com/trails/2316-grapevine-canyon-road


I will be updating this post in case any details change.


:cheers:
-Evan

 

[Lionel_Hutz]

edit: whoops, wrong Palm Canyon. Nvm.

 

[MACT4R]

That's a nice hike. Family and I hiked thar a couple of years ago. We started out late and it was dark by the time we got back to the parking lot. We didn't see any bighorn. Hopefully you guys do. Have fun!

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[Dezert4Runner]

That's a nice hike. Family and I hiked thar a couple of years ago. We started out late and it was dark by the time we got back to the parking lot. We didn't see any bighorn. Hopefully you guys do. Have fun!

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Thanks Mike! It’s a popular place so hiking on a weekday will hopefully be a little less crowded than the last time I was out there.

 

[Dezert4Runner]

Weather is now supposed to be 74* so should be a nice day to be out there!

 

[NKspartan]

Tempting! I'll discuss with the girlfriend.

 

[85straight]

[MENTION=68460]Dezert4Runner[/MENTION] how was it? I’d expect it to be very busy even on a weekday

 

[Dezert4Runner]

[MENTION=68460]Dezert4Runner[/MENTION] how was it? I’d expect it to be very busy even on a weekday

The hiking trail wasn’t too busy actually. There were probably 7 cars parked when we showed up so not too bad. Saw the herd of Bighorn Sheep from a distance on the ridge line after we got up to the palms so that was a plus (really crappy iPotato photo below). Weather was mid 70’s by the time we got back to the truck. Only went though 1.5L of water between the 2 of us. This place is definitely a must see if you can make it on a weekday, or really early on the weekend to avoid the crowds.

We didn’t make it out to Grapevine Canyon due to time constraints though. Took too long when we made the mistake of eating lunch at a sit down retaraunt after the hike and had to pick up our kid by a certain time so we just cut it too close and decided not to run the trail.

 

[JBurt]

That's a great hike. Glad you two had a good day. Everytime I've done it I've never seen any sheep there. Too bad about the trail run though.

 

[Dezert4Runner]

That's a great hike. Glad you two had a good day. Everytime I've done it I've never seen any sheep there. Too bad about the trail run though.

The gf was pretty enamored with the trail by the time we got up to the palms, so we’ll be back at some point. It’s hard to get out there early enough on a weekend to beat the crowds, so going last Friday was a good opportunity to go. The weather cooperated with us too, which is key for that hike.

As far as the sheep go, I learned the first hike a year ago that you have to stop a lot, like every 5-10 mins and scan the ridge line very slowly to look for their outline and any movement. They seem to favor the right side of the canyon ridge line as you’re hiking up.

I was pretty bummed that we had to skip the Grapevine Canyon Trail but it’s easy to get to and not too time consuming so it’ll be on the short list for next time we’re out there.

 

[JBurt]

That's good advice! If you want some company let me know when you're going to try again for Grapevine.