Bikepacking Anza-Borrego

[weaponsgrade]

I'm going to be in So Cal this summer and am thinking of doing a short bikepacking trip. It'll be my first time bikepacking but I've taken a bunch of backpacking trips. I found this route:

https://bikepacking.com/routes/anza-...o-overnighter/

Has anyone done it and can offer comments/suggestions (or any route in the So Cal area that's good?). Some concerns I have about that Anza-Borrego loop are the summer time temps and the route description says there's no water.

[mhespenheide]

I haven't done it, but I've car-camped in that area. I'd steer clear of it in the summer; it's one of the hottest deserts in the country. There are many times that it's as hot as Death Valley.

Come on out, but look for other alternatives. Garner Valley/Idyllwild, Big Bear, the Los Padres...

[bart998]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

I haven't done it, but I've car-camped in that area. I'd steer clear of it in the summer; it's one of the hottest deserts in the country. There are many times that it's as hot as Death Valley.

Come on out, but look for other alternatives. Garner Valley/Idyllwild, Big Bear, the Los Padres...

I second this... extreme heat in the summer. I've camped there in September, yikes.... and I had a/c. Try a nice coastal route. Hwy 1 through Santa Barbara up to Big Sur is outstanding.

[Ken Robb]

I loved riding motorcycles in that area but NEVER in the summer. I would guess November would be the best time for that ride when it should be cool but rain and flash floods unlikely. I think the only places to ride in SoCal in the summer are along the coast or above 6,000 feet elevation. Last year we abandoned our planned stay in Paso Robles in July because it was 105F when we got there so we kept going to Cambria which is on the coast just a few miles over the coastal hills where it was 68F.

[idrinkwater]

I bikepacked through Anza Borrego in December and wouldn't consider doing it in the summer. That trip got cut short due to the govt shutdown...

[Dino Suegiù]

My family and I have been in the area, camping, with friends from near San Diego, in the very early spring some years ago. It is a very beautiful place, but in the high summer (no water, extreme heat, little shelter, no flowers, first time bikepacking, all that)...I would really advise against it. It is a tough, harsh place.

In the summer in that area, maybe up in the near mountains, the areas around Julian/Santa Ysabel, with all the apples etc, is much more enjoyable.

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

I haven't done it, but I've car-camped in that area. I'd steer clear of it in the summer; it's one of the hottest deserts in the country. There are many times that it's as hot as Death Valley.

Come on out, but look for other alternatives. Garner Valley/Idyllwild, Big Bear, the Los Padres...

If Dan Caine still has his bike shop in Borrego Springs, he's the best source of info.

I know he lives there year round, but rides up Montezuma Grade to get to the top of the mesa in the summers. It gets HOT in that part of CA. Ditto with Amboy, Twentynine Palms, and all the way down to Yuma

M

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

I loved riding motorcycles in that area but NEVER in the summer. I would guess November would be the best time for that ride when it should be cool but rain and flash floods unlikely. I think the only places to ride in SoCal in the summer are along the coast or above 6,000 feet elevation. Last year we abandoned our planned stay in Paso Robles in July because it was 105F when we got there so we kept going to Cambria which is on the coast just a few miles over the coastal hills where it was 68F.

I've ridden thru there in the summer. It's hot, but managable. ...as long as you're moving!

M

[PeregrineA1]

North Pacific coast of Baja is ideal in summer. Coolish...beautiful, decent dirt roads, bicycle aware population. Tacos.


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