Canyoneer Travelers Peak via Palm Wash Slot Canyons Loop Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA

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This is a technical canyon. If you are unfamiliar with how to build anchors or the gear required for canyoneering do not attempt this route.

Travelers Peak just looks like a desert hump from the road, but it's got some character along the ridgeline approach. To make the route more fun, Austin and I wanted to make a loop out of the slot canyons at the base of Travelers Peak. The standard route for Travelers Peak avoids the slot canyons, but I really liked our loop addition and I'd recommend it if you have the time. The narrows are known both as Palm Wash Slot Canyons or Calcite Mine Slot Canyons, named after the Calcite Mine at the end of the dirt road. I visited the Calcite Slots back in 2015, but had no idea where I was going. With a much better plan, Austin and I set out into the badlands from the main road and followed a fairly good, though steep at times (AWD required), dirt road. The road is obvious and only goes one way, until a fork just before the trailhead. Keeping left leads to the Travelers Peak route, missing the slots, and to the right drops down into a wash leading to an Anza-Borrego Desert State Park official trailhead. We did the latter, parking a bit before the trailhead because the sandy road looked less good than I wanted to drive on.

Once at the official trailhead, we decided to head up the West Fork, since the East Fork apparently has a couple of handlines/raps that we weren't sure we could ascend. The West Fork narrows were beautiful and longer-lived than I thought they'd be. We passed over the dirt road that most use to access Travelers Peak (the road that leads to the Calcite Mine site), but continued north to explore more narrows in West Fork. We encountered a chockstone obstacle, which required a couple of Class 5 moves to ascend. Shortly after the chockstone was a Class 3 bit on the right which we ascended in order to exit the canyon and get up to the Calcite Mine site. Alternatively, you could backtrack to the approach road and follow it to the Calcite Mine site. Both options lead here.

From the Calcite Mine site, we located the ridge leading generally northwest toward Travelers Peak. The ridge undulated a couple of times over additional bumps. There was also a short section toward the middle that required some thought, where we kept to the right around a rocky outcropping. There was some Class 2+ on interesting conglomerate rock just before the summit. We enjoyed the views for a bit before heading back to the Calcite Mine site, where we would continue our loop down the East Fork, more slot canyon goodness to come.

Sidenote for canyoneers: We initially descended much farther up from the Travelers Peak ridgeline and into the East Fork, hoping to get more canyon time. We encountered a big dryfall, which was unexpected. I rappelled the first of two visible drops and then scouted the second, which was a very long rappel (maybe 150+ feet?). I had to ascend the first rope with a Gri-Gri and then we backtracked to the Calcite Mine, sightly defeated. I've removed our mishap from the attached map (except for a dot marking the spot) to prevent confusion.

Anyway, from the Calcite Mine site, a social trail led east into a small drainage, and we were stopped just before the entrance to East Fork by a drop into the canyon. A little bit of wandering north led us to a crack in the canyon wall (Class 2) that allowed for easier access into the East Fork. The East Fork of Palm Wash was equally pretty to the West Fork. There were two obstacles along the way. The first was a handline, and I was happy we brought a rope for this short descent. Some may want to rap it. The second was a chockstone with some old webbing that we barely trusted enough to descend. More narrows led us back to the junction with the West Fork, and we continued back to the car.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Travelers Peak

2697 ft

697 rise

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Official trailhead for Palm Wash Slots.

Starting up the West Fork.

Avoiding a tiny bit of water in West Fork.

Open section within West Fork before it narrows back up again. We crossed the dirt road leading to the Calcite Mine site at some point.

A chockstone obstacle with a Class 5 move. If this is too hard, head back to the road and follow it to the Calcite Mine site.

Above the chockstone obstacle, we exited the canyon using this Class 3 option.

Past the Calcite Mine site, view south. You can see the Calcite Mine above Austin on the left.

Travelers Peak out of frame along the ridge.

Looking back at our progress.

Travelers Peak coming into view in the center.

Travelers Peak ahead.

Avoiding a rock outcropping.

Class 2 stuff to avoid a rock outcropping. Travelers Peak visible in the sun on the right.

Travelers Peak just ahead.

Short Class 2+ scramble toward the summit.

Class 2+ close-up.

Travelers Peak summit, view south toward the Salton Sea.

Travelers Peak summit, view northwest into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

We returned to the Calcite Mine site and followed a small drainage to a dryfall. After avoiding the dryfall by going just north, we found the crack visible on the left in this photo. It provided Class 2 access into the East Fork of Palm Wash.

First handline obstacle in East Fork.

And more gorgeous narrows.

Second handline obstacle in East Fork.

Continuing through the narrows of East Fork and back to the car.

2015 photo: Overlooking badlands of Anza-Borrego. West Fork visible below, Travelers Peak in the center distance.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!