Help me out here. As a kid, I explored some ancient indigenous peoples caves in what I see now as in the slot canyon caves. The bottoms were deep sand and the sides and tops were darkened with smoke from ancient cooking fire smoke. My mom found a stone Arrow Straightener in the sand which might be in the Yreka Calif museum now. Where exactly was this area? I do remember that to get up in there, my dad had to drive the little army Jeep up a real narrow sand creek bed, around huge boulders. Does this sound familiar?
Brown and raised in San Diego and have family in el centro and brawley. I love exploring out in the desert and this is your entire channel! Love it man!
I went down the hill to Borrego Springs the other day, it was an awesome drive! I had to go back up the hill, and go back down again, that's how neat it was. Car wasn't happy, that 8% grade is very intense for the 10 miles it goes up! The car happily went around 18, to 25 MPH up the hill. Slow and steady, got more time to see the views! Wow! That's a neat dragon! I didn't know the town had stuff like that, I just stayed on S22 the whole way. I will have to check them out another time.
You missed Clark Dry Lake, just north east of the Peg Leg monument. For decades, my high school Physics teacher, Mr. Karge, took the "Rocket and Astronomy Club" kids on weekend camping trips out there, where they would look at the heavens though telescopes in the really great seeing conditions, and launch home-built rockets, back when you could. Mr. Karge was a big influence on me but I never got to thank him :(
This was a nice documentary! Interesting that all those cars were parked at the slot canyon trail head but you didn’t see a single person while you were there. That is ideal! You mentioned Hellhole Canyon during your narration. There is a really spectacular waterfall called Maidenhair Falls up in Hellhole Canyon that’s worth the somewhat difficult hike to reach it.
We were originally going to do the Hellhole Canyon hike too, but weren't sure if we would have time to do it and then the Calcite Mine hike later. I figured with all the snow up top the waterfall would be flowing nicely. There were a ton of cars at the parking area for it, so I'm thinking a lot of people had the same idea.
@@SidetrackAdventures I did the hike to the waterfall in February a few years ago. Yes, the waterfall was flowing pretty nicely due to the winter rains. We got there late in the day and were pretty much the last people to start the hike up the trail to the waterfall. Consequently, we passed a lot of people who were headed back down the trail to the parking area as we were making our way up. I would estimate about 3/4 of them told us they did not make it to the waterfall. After checking out the waterfall, we were the only ones on the trail as we were hiking back. The hike is a little bit strenuous and sometimes there isn’t a clear-cut trail to follow, but it’s definitely worth it.
Oh boy… I’ve been fortunate to have travelled to Southern California a few times. My expat, now US citizen, brother moved to California for 2 years and has been there now for nearly 40 years! The countryside is nothing like we have here in the U.K. Yes, our Lake District and mountains in Wales and the Scottish Highlands are breathtaking, but driving through Southern California and up through the Sierra Nevada mountains is just wonderful. I love your videos. Fabulous stuff
Borrego Springs is actually one of my personal favorites among all places in Californie. I've spent many days hiking up to the palm paradises, hanging out at the Palm Canyon Resort and other places and I always enjoyed the great food at Carlee's Restaurant, which offers high quality food which noone would seriously expect so far away from San Diego or the Palm Springs areas. When travelling with visitors who haven't seen the desert, I always choose Highway 22. And the views never fail to blow them away.
Very nice and informative videos. Being an east coast person I love “exploring” the west with these kinds of videos. Keep up the great work and if you ever venture east, I can show you places that are equally as fascinating and beautiful.
Don’t know how I missed this video when it was first posted, but glad I saw it now. I’m a desert rat and the views you showed are ones I need to see. Maybe this winter! 👍🏼😎🌵
I love the Lyon air museum!! The docents are almost all veterans and are so kind and informative! Whether you’re asking specifics about the planes or vehicles or wars, they are always more than happy to give you a thorough answer as well as share their own personal combat stories. You should sign up for the museum’s email list because a few times a year, they have “open cockpit days” where they allow visitors to climb up inside some of the planes and into the cockpit or gunner positions. The B-25 mentioned in this video is usually on the list for open cockpit days and I have pictures of myself and my 3 year old nephew in every possible location inside that plane. Great museum to visit and also a great place for events
Yeah, Salton City... 9:57 shows it well, like stumbling into a Tarantino/post-apocalyptic movie set, including some of its residents. Thankfully, it's west of the Salton Sea, so the terrible outhouse-on-a-hot-day smell is blown away from you.
You should check out the Carrizo Scenic Overlook a short distance off McCain Valley Rd. A excellent view from 4000 feet looking east towards El Centro and well beyond. Amazing night time views as well. Nice place to camp back in the day.
I had a work project near Holtville. Traveling via auto from Fresno area, for variety I took many routes around the Salton Sea. But only a few in the hills and mountains to the west. They're on the list, though! Thanks for another great video trek.
Lots of interesting things to see on the backroads around there. On this trip I learned that Westmoreland claims to be the Honey Capitol of the US (per Capita) thanks to a cartoon bee at their city hall lol.
Palm Canyon is my favorite place off S-22. It's in Borrego Springs and is fee based with day use and camping. When I went there often about 20-30 years ago, that was the case. Everything changes but I think it is still there. It's a short hike about a 1!/4 mile to the palm oasis The creek will flow to the desert floor in the wetter season or you'll have to hike beyond the oasis in the dry season to find a flowing creek. I've also seen big horn sheep there. Side track should cover this in a video. I also went to a place called "Oh My God Hot Springs". It's not there anymore but it was only 7 miles from Salton City. I remember driving down a road called Yacht Club Way or Lane, it was a clean palm treed road that made me think, I won't be welcomed here in my rusty van. I arrived to find a yacht club that was what I would call a luxury ruin. It was a large downstairs area, with glass and other debris and stairs. I never went past the front door because it was a little creepy. The carpet still had its luster but with glass and debris.. At that time, the lake would either be red tidish and smelly, or blue and clean looking on other days. I like camping at a warm spring about 8 miles outside of Glamis. I will have to take a trip down the S22 someday to revive good memories from the past.
I think we last hiked to the oasis about 15 years ago or so. Have been wanting to head back, but you know how it goes. So much to see, so little time. I don't know of "Oh My God Hot Springs" though. I'll have to look into it.
@@SidetrackAdventures Oh My God Hot Springs was closed by the residents of Salton City more than 30 years ago. They used the health department to rule the spring a health hazard. It was an oil well that hit hot water and the owner was fined daily until the pipe was filled with concrete. It was a political stunt because someone didn’t like the people that hung out there. I saw a newspaper article that said that people could still swim in the Salton Sea which was worse than the spring. Also the article said that the city was losing revenue because of the closing. The place was nice with wooden decks and seating around the spring. The last time I looked at the spot where the spring was, you couldn’t tell there was ever a spring there.
Two sites to visit for the 2WD folks are The Red Rock indian casino in salton City or the Aqua Calenete State Campground on the way up the mountain toward Hwy 79 and Julian. Aqua Calente has full RV hookups and a pool of hot water from the local hot spring well. The sculptures mentioned in the video are a must stop to enjoy.
Another great video. S-22 (Montezuma Valley Road) is a fun drive. It was great seeing the Peg Leg Smith monument. I was one of the judges for the Liars Contest in the early 2000’s. Fonts Point is an awesome viewpoint and the Calcite Mine was fun in the Jeep.
@@SidetrackAdventures It is funny how to both Californians and Texans 2 hours isn't that far of a drive, but in most other states you've already gone half way across the whole state.
That was a great video! Not something I would have every heard of here in South Carolina. Thanks for making it. I've enjoyed all your videos I've watched.
Can I go back to the video you did in Needles Calf. In 1964 as a 19 year old soldier, I took part in war game that was played out in the tri state area of Cal. Arz. and Nev. 250,000 took part in a battle over the water rights on the Col, river. I was in the area where General George Patten was with his tanks back during WW2. I spent a lot of time in Needles. Watched movies in the old theater. So when you drove into Needles it was just like being there my self. Patten's soldiers tore Needles up pretty bad. And to this day The people hate soldiers.
Really solid stops! It feels like a great deal of things to do out there are for 4WD or high clearance vehicles (as you noted on the Fonts Point stop) so having some other nearby alternatives are helpful (ESPECIALLY that slot canyon!). I can't tell you how many times we were staring at Google maps trying to figure out if our car could make it. 😅
Yeah, if you have a 4WD there are a lot of roads that open up to you in the area. I can't say how many roads we passed where I was wondering what was down them.
It’s all very interesting. I assume Barega Springs is in the middle of the dry desert 🌵 🏜. I’m curious where the water comes from and how far away the source is. Thanks for another great video. 👍☮️🌞🌟🌵🏜📹
The family was there just last week (end of January 2023) after coming down from visiting Palomar. We specifically went to Borrego Springs for Badlands. It's awesome. Went up close to the edge to see the bottom. Wasn't brave enough to explore a way to the bottom to check out the slot sections. Wish I would've seen this video before going. Would've loved to go just a bit further to check out the slot canyon area.
The smell is pretty bad at the Salton Sea if you get close enough to the water. For some reason, and maybe its just getting luck with wind patterns, but it always seems worse on the east side.
@@SidetrackAdventures regardless it is a place I'd love to see and bring back some large samples with me. I know a few people here that are grad students that study different types of bodies of water. No ides what they'd do with it.
I love going to the Salton Sea. I never miss a chance. Now, I have a whole new way to get there. Regarding getting to the Yacht Club site, which street(s) would I take?
A surprising amount of green grass in that park, indeed! Isn't this part of CA in drought? Dry, baron land farther on. Nothing grows. Snakes don't have much to hide under except rocks. Wouldn't want to find out! You didn't see anyone in the slot canyons because they were smart enough not to go into snake territory. Lots of crevices there for snakes. Obviously, I don't like snakes. I'll stick to major trails. You can do the side tracks, thank you.
We went a few years without seeing any snakes then we saw a few rattlesnakes on hikes near home and then one at Yosemite last year, but that one wasn't poisonous. Haven't seen any since.
For you RVers do not take your motorhomes or travel trailers down this road into Borrego. It is steep, long and has many corners you will have to slow for and end up overheating your brakes.
My wife and I have done this trip. There's nothing like a desert drive in the Crown Victoria while cranking out some solid tunes. ( back in the good old days when it didn't cost 80 bucks to fill the tank)
very cool! I lived in Borrego Springs from the mid 80’s till ‘94 and enjoyed seeing the sights again after this many years.
Help me out here. As a kid, I explored some ancient indigenous peoples caves in what I see now as in the slot canyon caves. The bottoms were deep sand and the sides and tops were darkened with smoke from ancient cooking fire smoke. My mom found a stone Arrow Straightener in the sand which might be in the Yreka Calif museum now. Where exactly was this area?
I do remember that to get up in there, my dad had to drive the little army Jeep up a real narrow sand creek bed, around huge boulders. Does this sound familiar?
Brown and raised in San Diego and have family in el centro and brawley. I love exploring out in the desert and this is your entire channel! Love it man!
Thank you. We really appreciate it.
I went down the hill to Borrego Springs the other day, it was an awesome drive! I had to go back up the hill, and go back down again, that's how neat it was.
Car wasn't happy, that 8% grade is very intense for the 10 miles it goes up! The car happily went around 18, to 25 MPH up the hill. Slow and steady, got more time to see the views!
Wow! That's a neat dragon! I didn't know the town had stuff like that, I just stayed on S22 the whole way. I will have to check them out another time.
You missed Clark Dry Lake, just north east of the Peg Leg monument. For decades, my high school Physics teacher, Mr. Karge, took the "Rocket and Astronomy Club" kids on weekend camping trips out there, where they would look at the heavens though telescopes in the really great seeing conditions, and launch home-built rockets, back when you could. Mr. Karge was a big influence on me but I never got to thank him :(
I know this comment is a year old but if you see this was that Mr. Karge from San Dieguito? He was a physics teacher when I was there 1969-1973
This was a nice documentary! Interesting that all those cars were parked at the slot canyon trail head but you didn’t see a single person while you were there. That is ideal! You mentioned Hellhole Canyon during your narration. There is a really spectacular waterfall called Maidenhair Falls up in Hellhole Canyon that’s worth the somewhat difficult hike to reach it.
We were originally going to do the Hellhole Canyon hike too, but weren't sure if we would have time to do it and then the Calcite Mine hike later. I figured with all the snow up top the waterfall would be flowing nicely. There were a ton of cars at the parking area for it, so I'm thinking a lot of people had the same idea.
@@SidetrackAdventures I did the hike to the waterfall in February a few years ago. Yes, the waterfall was flowing pretty nicely due to the winter rains. We got there late in the day and were pretty much the last people to start the hike up the trail to the waterfall. Consequently, we passed a lot of people who were headed back down the trail to the parking area as we were making our way up. I would estimate about 3/4 of them told us they did not make it to the waterfall. After checking out the waterfall, we were the only ones on the trail as we were hiking back. The hike is a little bit strenuous and sometimes there isn’t a clear-cut trail to follow, but it’s definitely worth it.
Oh boy…
I’ve been fortunate to have travelled to Southern California a few times. My expat, now US citizen, brother moved to California for 2 years and has been there now for nearly 40 years!
The countryside is nothing like we have here in the U.K. Yes, our Lake District and mountains in Wales and the Scottish Highlands are breathtaking, but driving through Southern California and up through the Sierra Nevada mountains is just wonderful.
I love your videos. Fabulous stuff
Borrego Springs is actually one of my personal favorites among all places in Californie. I've spent many days hiking up to the palm paradises, hanging out at the Palm Canyon Resort and other places and I always enjoyed the great food at Carlee's Restaurant, which offers high quality food which noone would seriously expect so far away from San Diego or the Palm Springs areas.
When travelling with visitors who haven't seen the desert, I always choose Highway 22. And the views never fail to blow them away.
Love driving this Highway. Good job on the video, I enjoyed it 👍
Thank you! We appreciate it.
Seems like such a scenic drive! Such a unique landscape to be cruising through! 🚙
Very nice and informative videos. Being an east coast person I love “exploring” the west with these kinds of videos. Keep up the great work and if you ever venture east, I can show you places that are equally as fascinating and beautiful.
Don’t know how I missed this video when it was first posted, but glad I saw it now. I’m a desert rat and the views you showed are ones I need to see. Maybe this winter! 👍🏼😎🌵
I love the Lyon air museum!! The docents are almost all veterans and are so kind and informative! Whether you’re asking specifics about the planes or vehicles or wars, they are always more than happy to give you a thorough answer as well as share their own personal combat stories. You should sign up for the museum’s email list because a few times a year, they have “open cockpit days” where they allow visitors to climb up inside some of the planes and into the cockpit or gunner positions. The B-25 mentioned in this video is usually on the list for open cockpit days and I have pictures of myself and my 3 year old nephew in every possible location inside that plane.
Great museum to visit and also a great place for events
Love this!!! … ❤️❤️💯💯🌴🌴🌴🌴 … Time for another road trip 🎊💯🌹🌴🌴
Another great road trip thanks for the share, great views and content.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow those slot canyons👍were really fun l bet!
My first trip on the Truckhaven Trail was in 1957. It was strictly a 4x4 road. We did it with a CJ Jeep.
WOW 😣, que hermosos paisajes!!!!👍👍👍New subscriber!!!!
Yeah, Salton City... 9:57 shows it well, like stumbling into a Tarantino/post-apocalyptic movie set, including some of its residents. Thankfully, it's west of the Salton Sea, so the terrible outhouse-on-a-hot-day smell is blown away from you.
You should check out the Carrizo Scenic Overlook a short distance off McCain Valley Rd. A excellent view from 4000 feet looking east towards El Centro and well beyond. Amazing night time views as well. Nice place to camp back in the day.
I had a work project near Holtville. Traveling via auto from Fresno area, for variety I took many routes around the Salton Sea. But only a few in the hills and mountains to the west. They're on the list, though! Thanks for another great video trek.
Lots of interesting things to see on the backroads around there. On this trip I learned that Westmoreland claims to be the Honey Capitol of the US (per Capita) thanks to a cartoon bee at their city hall lol.
Beautiful scenery. Loved the slots. Looking forward to the vids on hellhole and the mine.
Palm Canyon is my favorite place off S-22. It's in Borrego Springs and is fee based with day use and camping. When I went there often about 20-30 years ago, that was the case.
Everything changes but I think it is still there. It's a short hike about a 1!/4 mile to the palm oasis The creek will flow to the desert floor in the wetter season or you'll have to hike beyond the oasis in the dry season to find a flowing creek. I've also seen big horn sheep there. Side track should cover this in a video. I also went to a place called "Oh My God Hot Springs". It's not there anymore but it was only 7 miles from Salton City. I remember driving down a road called Yacht Club Way or Lane, it was a clean palm treed road that made me think, I won't be welcomed here in my rusty van. I arrived to find a yacht club that was what I would call a luxury ruin. It was a large downstairs area, with glass and other debris and stairs. I never went past the front door because it was a little creepy. The carpet still had its luster but with glass and debris.. At that time, the lake would either be red tidish and smelly, or blue and clean looking on other days. I like camping at a warm spring about 8 miles outside of Glamis. I will have to take a trip down the S22 someday to revive good memories from the past.
I think we last hiked to the oasis about 15 years ago or so. Have been wanting to head back, but you know how it goes. So much to see, so little time. I don't know of "Oh My God Hot Springs" though. I'll have to look into it.
@@SidetrackAdventures Oh My God Hot Springs was closed by the residents of Salton City more than 30 years ago. They used the health department to rule the spring a health hazard. It was an oil well that hit hot water and the owner was fined daily until the pipe was filled with concrete. It was a political stunt because someone didn’t like the people that hung out there. I saw a newspaper article that said that people could still swim in the Salton Sea which was worse than the spring. Also the article said that the city was losing revenue because of the closing. The place was nice with wooden decks and seating around the spring. The last time I looked at the spot where the spring was, you couldn’t tell there was ever a spring there.
Great channel by the way!
We bought a retirement home in the Warner Springs area so I know this route. Thanks for sharing!
Cool...I think that the desert is beautiful.
Two sites to visit for the 2WD folks are The Red Rock indian casino in salton City or the Aqua Calenete State Campground on the way up the mountain toward Hwy 79 and Julian. Aqua Calente has full RV hookups and a pool of hot water from the local hot spring well. The sculptures mentioned in the video are a must stop to enjoy.
I have gone down the S-22 several times with my son. A favorite stop is Calico Cafe that is near the store you mentioned. I think the food is good.
We actually were going to grab some food there but they had a pretty long line. Will have to try it next time.
Another great video. S-22 (Montezuma Valley Road) is a fun drive. It was great seeing the Peg Leg Smith monument. I was one of the judges for the Liars Contest in the early 2000’s. Fonts Point is an awesome viewpoint and the Calcite Mine was fun in the Jeep.
I really want to see the Liars Contest some time. Sounds like a lot of fun.
You make the best travel videos. They are so good they make me want to visit each spot. Especially those "Slot" canyons!
Thanks so much!
i love california among all 50 states .
my favourite states are california,florida,texas ,virginia
Looks great. Another interesting episode. Some incredible geological places.
Hi from the U.K..
Wow another awesome video! I did not know the salton sea was so close to San Diego (Relatively speaking.)
If you take the freeway you can get to Salton Sea from San Diego in about 2 hours.
@@SidetrackAdventures It is funny how to both Californians and Texans 2 hours isn't that far of a drive, but in most other states you've already gone half way across the whole state.
That was a great video! Not something I would have every heard of here in South Carolina. Thanks for making it. I've enjoyed all your videos I've watched.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent job on this video. Thanks so much for covering the awesome highway S22!
Our pleasure!
Another great video.
Thanks again!
That's such a fun drive and day trip! I've done it a few times. It's definitely worth a trip if you live in the area.
I totally agree!
Can I go back to the video you did in Needles Calf. In 1964 as a 19 year old soldier, I took part in war game that was played out in the tri state area of Cal. Arz. and Nev. 250,000 took part in a battle over the water rights on the Col, river. I was in the area where General George Patten was with his tanks back during WW2. I spent a lot of time in Needles. Watched movies in the old theater. So when you drove into Needles it was just like being there my self. Patten's soldiers tore Needles up pretty bad. And to this day The people hate soldiers.
Really solid stops! It feels like a great deal of things to do out there are for 4WD or high clearance vehicles (as you noted on the Fonts Point stop) so having some other nearby alternatives are helpful (ESPECIALLY that slot canyon!). I can't tell you how many times we were staring at Google maps trying to figure out if our car could make it. 😅
Yeah, if you have a 4WD there are a lot of roads that open up to you in the area. I can't say how many roads we passed where I was wondering what was down them.
It’s all very interesting. I assume Barega Springs is in the middle of the dry desert 🌵 🏜. I’m curious where the water comes from and how far away the source is. Thanks for another great video. 👍☮️🌞🌟🌵🏜📹
Under ground spring
Nice.
thanks!
My favorite road in the whole World.
I always stopped in Borrego Springs to buy freshly picked dates.
Pictures don’t do the badlands justice. We go there every time we camp in Borrego Springs
Yeah. They are incredible in person.
The family was there just last week (end of January 2023) after coming down from visiting Palomar.
We specifically went to Borrego Springs for Badlands. It's awesome. Went up close to the edge to see the bottom. Wasn't brave enough to explore a way to the bottom to check out the slot sections.
Wish I would've seen this video before going. Would've loved to go just a bit further to check out the slot canyon area.
Should have put a salton sea video link. The smell there is said to be horrific but still a great place to look back at 20th century history
The smell is pretty bad at the Salton Sea if you get close enough to the water. For some reason, and maybe its just getting luck with wind patterns, but it always seems worse on the east side.
@@SidetrackAdventures regardless it is a place I'd love to see and bring back some large samples with me. I know a few people here that are grad students that study different types of bodies of water. No ides what they'd do with it.
I love going to the Salton Sea. I never miss a chance. Now, I have a whole new way to get there. Regarding getting to the Yacht Club site, which street(s) would I take?
The S22 turns into Marina, just keep following that till you get to Yacht Club Drive, then just follow that to the end.
@@SidetrackAdventures Thanks!
My favorite road trip. I travel it at least once a month. It's a driver's dream. Just use engine braking, or you'll lose your brakes.
I would offer the Sunrise Highway (S1) as a challenger to the "Best Desert Views" claim!
A surprising amount of green grass in that park, indeed! Isn't this part of CA in drought? Dry, baron land farther on. Nothing grows. Snakes don't have much to hide under except rocks. Wouldn't want to find out! You didn't see anyone in the slot canyons because they were smart enough not to go into snake territory. Lots of crevices there for snakes. Obviously, I don't like snakes. I'll stick to major trails. You can do the side tracks, thank you.
We went a few years without seeing any snakes then we saw a few rattlesnakes on hikes near home and then one at Yosemite last year, but that one wasn't poisonous. Haven't seen any since.
For you RVers do not take your motorhomes or travel trailers down this road into Borrego. It is steep, long and has many corners you will have to slow for and end up overheating your brakes.
My wife and I have done this trip. There's nothing like a desert drive in the Crown Victoria while cranking out some solid tunes. ( back in the good old days when it didn't cost 80 bucks to fill the tank)
Driving in the desert is so great because you can see so far.