The Calcite Mine is an unexpected hidden gem (pun intended!) in the Anza Borrego Wilderness near San Diego. This relatively unknown hike features an epic slot canyon, sweeping desert views, and fascinating history. Not to mention the trip to the trailhead requires some exciting off-roading and the canyon itself holds several technical obstacles. Slot Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a hike very similar to another Explore San Diego story we brought you. Like the name suggests, this fissure on the floor is full of tight squeezes. Willis Creek Slot Canyon is the perfect complement to its fabulous canyon friends. With its trickling creek and gorgeous canyon walls, Willis Creek is the friend you almost forgot to invite but turns out to be the life of the party. The trail starts out through brush and trees, then takes a turn down toward Willis Creek. The beautiful slot canyon of “Annie’s Canyon Trail” in San Elijo Lagoon, Solana Beach (North San Diego), California. Whoever thought that a gorgeous, easy to hike slot canyon existed just a fraction of a mile away from California’s Interstate 5 freeway, less than a mile from the beach?
The Calcite Mine is an unexpected hidden gem (pun intended!) in the Anza Borrego Wilderness near San Diego. This relatively unknown hike features an epic slot canyon, sweeping desert views, and fascinating history. Not to mention the trip to the trailhead requires some exciting off-roading and the canyon itself holds several technical obstacles.
Keep your eyes out for calcite crystals on this hike. This area was mined for calcite during World War II to fabricate Norden bombsights. The mining operation has since been abandoned but hikers may spot vestiges from decades ago.
I’ll start off this trail description by saying that we almost certainly did not take the correct route! There are lots of side trails and off-trail options and we ended up doing a long loop through the canyon and up a mountain adjacent to the parking lot. I would estimate that it was about 5 miles over all. The map I show on this page is also my best guess as to the route we took on legs outside of the slot canyon.
We started southeast from the parking area on the most prominent looking trail and ended up on a large hill with panoramic views of the whole area. This helped set our bearings and locate the slot canyon. We returned part of the way back down the hill and then veered east towards the most gradual looking slope towards the canyon. Before that we took a wrong turn and found ourselves too high above the slot canyon to get down to it.
This trail wound around and merged with the main slot canyon. We headed north up the canyon which quickly closed in around us. We passed through a variety of rock formation – smooth walls, swiss-cheese looking stones, and carefully balanced boulders. We reached a number of technical obstacles that already had some ropes in place. Using the ropes and boosts/hands from friends we didn’t have much trouble climbing them.
After some time, the slot canyon started to open up and we were in more of a valley. Honestly, at this point we weren’t entirely sure where we were so we started hiking off-trail up a large hill to our west which seemed to be in the direction of the car. Fortunately, after a grueling hike to the top we were met with a birds-eye view of the trail, road, and parking area! We chose a gradual path back down and made it back to the cars!
This hike is somewhat dog-friendly for those that like hiking and can scramble over stones. As I mentioned above there are several obstacles where you have to use ropes and do some bouldering. We have a smaller dog so we were able to pick her up and pass her over the obstacles (her harness helped). I’m not sure how this could be done with a larger dog.
Season
We hiked this loop towards the end of March and it was very hot and dry! This is a desert so make sure to bring tons of water, sunscreen, hats, and other sun protection. Always avoid slot canyons if there are any signs of rain, dangerous flash flooding can occur.
getting there
This trailhead is located in the Anza-Borrego Wilderness. Turn north off the Borrego Salton Seaway onto Calcite Road.
Fortunately, I went on this trip with friends who were well prepared for off-roading! To start at the actual trailhead, you'll need a high-clearance 4WD vehicle as well as some confidence to navigate over large boulders and through narrow passages. Otherwise you can hike an extra 2 miles each way from the main road. If you hike up the off-road section, it looks like there are options to enter the slot canyon closer to where it actually starts. As I mention above the trail we took merged in the middle of the canyon.
There are no permits or fees required for this hike.
Updated May 2016
A slot canyon is a long, narrow, deep and tortuous channel or drainageway with sheer rock walls that are typically eroded into either sandstone or other sedimentary rock. A slot canyon has depth-to-width ratios that typically exceed 10:1 over most of its length and can approach 100:1. The term is especially used in the semiarid western United States, including the Colorado Plateau region. Slot canyons are subject to flash flooding and commonly contain unique ecological communities that are distinct from the adjacent, drier uplands.[1] Some slot canyons can measure less than 1 metre (3 ft) across at the top but drop more than 30 metres (100 ft) to the floor of the canyon.
Many slot canyons are formed in sandstone and limestone rock, although slot canyons in other rock types such as granite and basalt are possible. Even in sandstone and limestone, only a very small number of streams will form slot canyons due to a combination of the particular characteristics of the rock and regional rainfall.
Slot canyons around the world[edit]
Slot canyons are found in many parts of the world, predominantly in areas with low rainfall. Some of the best-known slot canyons are to be found in the Southwestern United States. Other significant areas include the Sierra de Guara in northern Spain, the Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain, and the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia.
Australia[edit]
The largest known area of slot canyons in Australia is in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. They occur in a narrow band of sandstone that runs roughly 30 kilometres (19 mi) from east to west, and about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from south to north. The majority of these canyons are in the Wollemi Wilderness, and are difficult to access. A small number are regularly visited by canyoners on weekends in summer. The Grand Canyon, near Blackheath, has a tourist track along its rim, but requires abseiling (rappelling) or swimming to visit fully.
Sandstone slot canyons can also be found in a few more remote parts of Australia, including Karijini National Park and the Bungle Bungles in Purnululu National Park, both in Western Australia, and Carnarvon Gorge in Queensland.
Slot Canyon Near San Diego Resorts
United States[edit]
Southern Utah has the densest population of slot canyons in the world with over one thousand slot canyons in the desert lands south of Interstate 70.[2] Utah's slot canyons are found in Zion National Park at The Narrows, along Canyonlands National Park's Joint Trail, throughout Capitol Reef National Park, within the San Rafael Swell and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, especially along the Escalante River drainage including Coyote Gulch. Many more slot canyons are located on public Bureau of Land Management and state-owned lands in southern Utah, in areas surrounding the aforementioned parks and monuments. Buckskin Gulch—one of the longest slot canyons in the world—begins in southern Utah and continues into northern Arizona within the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. Northern Arizona also has a high concentration of slot canyons including Antelope Canyon and Secret Canyon, which are two of the most famous slot canyons located near Page on land owned by the Navajo Nation. Slot canyons are also located in the valley between U.S. Route 89 and the Vermilion Cliffs in Arizona, and can be seen as one descends into the valley on U.S. 89, but these are on the Navajo reservation and are closed to the public. The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument's slot canyon trail in New Mexico is unique as it was carved into tuff (volcanic ash). In California, several slot canyons are located within Death Valley National Park.
Drowning danger[edit]
Local as well as distant storms can cause dangerous flash flooding in slot canyons, and hikers should not enter them if there is any sign of rain in the surrounding area.[3] In many slot canyons, it can be miles before a safe exit or rescue is possible.
On August 12, 1997, eleven tourists, including seven from France, one from the United Kingdom, one from Sweden and two from the United States, were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by a flash flood.[4][5] Very little rain fell at the site that day, but an earlier thunderstorm had dumped a large amount of water into the canyon basin, seven miles upstream. The lone survivor of the flood was tour guide Francisco 'Poncho' Quintana, who had prior swift-water training. At the time, the ladder system consisted of amateur-built wood ladders that were swept away by the flash flood. Today, ladder systems have been bolted in place, and deployable cargo nets are installed at the top of the canyon. A NOAA Weather Radio from the National Weather Service and an alarm horn are stationed at the fee booth.[6]
Gallery[edit]
The Siq and Al-Khazneh (the Treasury), Petra, Jordan
Taminaschlucht, Tamina River, Switzerland
The Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah
Kasha-Katuwe, New Mexico
Slot Canyon Near San Diego Restaurants
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of Agriculture document: 'Soil Survey of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Area, Parts of Kane and Garfield Counties, Utah'(PDF). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. p. 305. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
- ^Zion slot canyons
- ^'Safety Tips'. blm.gov. Bureau of Land Management. 2016-03-24. Archived from the original on 2016-09-30. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
- ^'Flash Flood Antelope Canyon'. Retrieved 2006-03-20.
- ^'Antelope Canyon'. Archived from the original on 17 March 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-20.
- ^Kramer, Kelly (2008). 'Man vs. Wild'. Arizona Highways. 84 (11): 23.
External links[edit]
Media related to Slot canyons at Wikimedia Commons
Slot Canyon Near San Diego Airport