Hellhole Canyon Hike to Maidenhair Falls

This hike up Hellhole Canyon is similar to the more popular Borrego Palm Canyon hike but with a couple of big differences.  One is that Hellhole Canyon isn’t advertised much so there are a lot fewer people hiking the trail.  Borrego Palm Canyon typically attracts a lot more hikers because it’s closer to the Anza-Borrego Visitor Center.  The other big difference is that Hellhole Canyon has the added attraction of having a waterfall surrounded by maidenhair ferns.  This is the appropriately named Maidenhair Falls.

The plant life is plentiful here thanks to the loose alluvial fan soil.  In addition to the spring wildflowers (when conditions are right), there are a multitude of desert plants indigenous to the Sonoran Desert that thrive in this environment.

You don’t need any special type of vehicle to get to the Hellhole Canyon trailhead.  Start your trip at Christmas Circle in the center of Borrego Springs.  Reset your odometer to zero and drive west on Palm Canyon Drive towards the Park Visitor Center.

At about 1.4 miles, turn left onto Hwy S22 (continuing straight here would take you to the Visitor Center).  At 2.2 miles, look for the trailhead parking area on the right.  The dirt parking lot can easily accommodate 10-15 vehicles and is located about 100 feet west of S22. Just beyond the parking area on Highway S22 is the base of Montezuma Grade which takes travelers over the mountains.

• See directions to trailhead on Google Maps.

This is a 5 mile round-trip hike and, for most of the hike, the trail is easy to follow. There’s a large kiosk at the parking lot that gives valuable information about the hike. This is also the trailhead for the California Riding and Hiking Trail (CRHT) that climbs the ridge to the south and heads over the mountains and into Culp Valley.  About a quarter of mile from the trailhead, the CRHT turns left and climbs the steep ridge to the south.

The first mile or more of the hike is up-hill on a mildly slopping alluvial fan that drains Hellhole Canyon.  This type of loose soil is ideal habitat for a variety of desert plants so enjoy the scenery.  February and March are the best months to see wildflowers.

At about 1.5 miles from the trailhead, the canyon walls of Hellhole Canyon begin to narrow and you will soon notice that you’re in a typical desert canyon.  The trail twists around many large boulders and crosses the drainage often.  Watch for water flowing in the drainage at any point along this hike. 

Also look for the Hellhole Palms in the distance.  This grove of palm trees is about 2.2 miles from the trailhead.  When you reach them, the trail becomes difficult to follow because of the large boulders here.  It would be difficult (if not impossible) to build and maintain a trail here where there are long stretches of these large boulders.  Plus, each year can bring new flash floods that rearrange the boulders and plants which, of course, would change the path of the trail.

Getting to the two waterfalls requires some keen path-finding skills and patience.  You’ll cross the creek many times and have to scramble over boulders.  Our best suggestion to any hiker is to follow the majority of the footsteps and listen for the waterfalls.  We are certain that many hikers who have made the effort to come up this far have never seen the waterfalls but they do exist and are worth the effort!  Enjoy the views and the challenges!

Water is the lifeblood to any desert environment.  Unlike other hikes in Anza-Borrego, this fact will be very apparent on this hike.

As the canyon walls begin to narrow, you’ll see running water.  It’s likely that there will be more water in the winter and spring seasons but the summer monsoons can also bring lots of water.  And where there’s water, plant life thrives.

We took this hike in April, on a year that had modest rainfall, and already the plants on the alluvial slope heading up-canyon were blooming.  As the canyon narrowed (where we first saw the running water), the variety and density of plants increased as well as the number of plants that were blooming.

Because the water supply in Hellhole and nearby Borrego Palm Canyon is pushed up to the surface, it provides a consistent source of year-round water.  This reliable water source attracts an array of desert animals (including big horn sheep) that come here to feed and drink.  Hellhole Canyon, however, is not as popular at Borrego Palm Canyon so you are more likely to see some of that wildlife here.