Hike Split Mountain West Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA

Jan 24, 2026 — Split Mountain is an extended feature bisected by Fish Creek Wash. The western peak is a ranked summit, so with a bit of daylight still remaining I figured it was a nice short objective. I originally planned to drive around to the south side of Split Mountain West and ascend using the standard Oyster Shell Wash route, but upon seeing the peak’s impressive cliffs on its east side I quickly shifted my plan. It looked far too interesting over here to not at least attempt a route. I parked on the side of Fish Creek Wash, which had more ATV traffic than I was expecting way out here, but any car can likely make it to where I did.

Knowing this more direct route might be ambitious considering the sheer honeycomb-looking cliffs above could likely shut me down, I set out anyway up what I thought would be the prettiest and deepest canyon based on the topography (the southern route on my attached map).

Almost immediately the canyon introduced beautiful, colorful walls with some interesting conglomerate formations. There were a few Class 3 dryfalls to overcome, as well as a bunch of slabby Class 2 obstacles. It was actually a lot of fun, and surprisingly the route kept going. Before I knew it, I’d made it to nearly the rim, and while I’d started in a canyon, it had opened up into a slope. The rock became a little bit loose as it steepened, but it didn’t exceed Class 2+ until I reached the rim itself. I thought I reached the end of my route, but a fortuitous Class 3 weakness led through the honeycomb-looking layer and above.

Once on the rim, it was a quick hike to the summit. A small sandstone cliff band guarded the summit block, bypassable by wrapping left, but I kept to the right and found a Class 2+ weakness just below the high point.

I decided to descend via a different route, the canyon just north of my ascent route. It was much easier, but also a lot less scenic, though it did have its own charm. A Class 3 move brought me down through the initial narrow upper reaches of the canyon, and typical obstacles continued for the duration through it. Farther down, there were two separate dryfalls that were impassable, forcing me to leave the drainage. Comparatively, all of the dryfalls on my ascent had offered some fun scrambling. The fun obstacles were basically replaced by standard desert boulder hopping, so I was glad I’d taken the ascent I did to make the peak a short and fun scramble route. After the second dryfall bypass, I decided just to stick to the high ground and continue down to my car.