How big is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park?

More than 600,000 acres, or roughly 1,000 square miles. It is the largest state park in California and the third largest in the United States, spanning parts of San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties.

How much does it cost to enter Anza-Borrego?

Day use is $10 per vehicle, collected at the Visitor Center, developed campgrounds and several popular trailheads including The Slot and Hellhole Canyon. The park has no entrance gates and much of it can be accessed without a fee.

When is wildflower season at Anza-Borrego?

Annual wildflowers can appear from January through mid-April, with peak bloom most often between late February and early April. Timing varies year to year based on rainfall and temperature.

Is Anza-Borrego a Dark Sky Park?

Yes. The park was designated an International Dark Sky Park in 2018 at Silver tier. Borrego Springs, the town at its center, has been an International Dark Sky Community since 2009, the first in California.

Do I need four-wheel drive at Anza-Borrego?

Not for the paved roads, the Visitor Center or the main campgrounds. The vast majority of the park's roughly 500 miles of dirt roads do require a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park open at night?

Yes, the park is open 24 hours a day, year-round. The Visitor Center is open daily 9am to 5pm October through May, and weekends and holidays only June through September.

Andrea McKenna • August 5, 2026

Historic Salton Seafarer Newspaper Archive Now Available Online

Nearly every issue from 1958 to 2008 is now searchable online.

Researchers, historians, and anyone interested in the history of the Salton Sea can now access nearly the complete run of The Salton Seafarer, a regional newspaper published from 1958 to 2008, through the California Digital Newspaper Collection (CDNC).

According to those involved with the project, all but four or five known issues have been located and digitized, making decades of Salton Sea history searchable online.

The Salton Seafarer was included in a UC Riverside effort to preserve and digitize 22 Southern California community newspapers that document local history often unavailable anywhere else. The California Digital Newspaper Collection serves as the state's primary online repository of digitized newspapers, providing free public access to millions of historic newspaper pages.

The digitization effort was led by Brian Geiger, director of the UC Riverside Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research, whose work has focused on preserving California newspapers and making them accessible to researchers, genealogists, educators, and the public.

>> Read Salton Seafarer Issue July, 1968

Browse the Salton Seafarer archive here: www.cdnc.ucr.edu

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>> The State of Local News -The 2025 Report

Learn More About Borrego Springs

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By By John Carroll / General Assignment Reporter & Anchor • September 18, 2026

People wearing yellow shirts, who are opposed to the proposed Golden Pacific Powerlink, are shown at San Marcos City Hall on Sept. 17, 2026 . Photo by: Carolyne Corelis /KPBS

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By Phil Brigandi • September 13, 2026

This column first ran ahead of the 50th annual Pegleg Smith Liars Contest in April 1998. Phil Brigandi, a longtime desert historian and four-time contest winner, died in 2019.

Borrego Springs and the Famous San Diego Chicken!

By Gabriel Wisdom, Ram Media Foundation • September 12, 2026

Borrego’s Bill Lawrence joined a sold-out San Diego History Center event celebrating Ted Giannoulas, The Famous San Diego Chicken, and the mascot’s remarkable 50-year legacy.

The Two Mile Radio Telescope on Clark's Dry Lake | Historic Borrego Sun

By Andrea McKenna • September 6, 2026

Learn about the historic Two Mile Radio Telescope on Clark's Dry Lake, built in 1961 for deep space research. Read more about its legacy!

Old Borego Open House Celebrates the Valley’s Historic Heart

By Martha Deichler • September 4, 2026

Please join the Civic Foundation for its annual Old Borego Days celebration No, Borrego is not misspelled in the title above. This is the way Borrego was spelled back in 1928, when the first post office opened in what is now called “Old Borego.” The site is located at 1580 Rango Way. Please join the Civic Foundation for its annual Old Borego Days celebration of the historic heart of the Borrego Valley on Sunday, November 8, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The turnoff from Rango Way will be marked with a sign. Please note that no restrooms are available. Visitors will be able to enter the old post office and general store, originally run by Eslie Wynn, and view a fascinating video from the 1950s extolling the virtues of life in Borrego Springs. One of the first homes in Borrego Springs will also be open for public viewing, offering a nostalgic look back at life in the community’s earlier years. In addition, Borrego Springs Elementary School fourth graders, who study California history, will have their essays on display. Three students will receive awards for their writing on “Borego Now and Then.” Old Borego Days Sunday, November 8, 2026 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. 1580 Rango Way, Borrego Springs