Anza Borrego, Blair Valley,Diablo Drop Off, Fish Creek

[1996XJ]

Earlier i made a post and asked for any ideas for visiting Anza Borrego state park in southern California. Quite a few people gave me some ideas and considering I had never been to the park I decided from looking at some maps to try the Diablo drop off to fish creek route. I camped in Blaire Valley campground which is right by the S2 and Highway 78 intersection. The next day me, the wife, and dogs headed south on S2 to the Vallecito Creek road, That leads you to Arroyo Tapiado, Then into a pretty neat and tight wash canyon road called Arroyo Secco Del Diablo, after a long journey through that canyon we took the Diablo Drop Off to Fish creek wash (nice and wide in most parts and very cool sandstone) headed east all the way till it ends at Split Mountain Road. Took that north up the 78 and looped back to the campsite. Probably left at 9:30 AM got back to camp at like 3 or 4 PM. Next time I'm in the park I want to try checking out the Hawk Canyon area.
Thanks to mx5red who gave me the idea and GPS info so i knew what i was doing on my first rodeo.

vallecito creek rd (32.9153083, -116.2406586).
arroyo tapiado road (32.8951470, -116.1794128)
arroyo secco del Diablo rd (32.8809063, -116.1573553)
Diablo Drop Off (32.9391886, -116.1899163)
The trip was fun and easy the only scary thing was not knowing if conditions had changed so much that some of the washes might not be passable especially after going down diablo drop off was easy but going back up may or may not have been possible as its getting dug out bad and the sand is deep at the base of it.
I am going to try and post a few videos down below in the thread BEWARE they were filmed via cell phone and are very unstable so i dont want to give anyone a seizure or hear how crappy they are lol. (edit when i try to upload it just say oops we had some problems when it hits 100 %) ill post them if i can figure it out.

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[1996XJ]

Chiweenie recovery team

 

[Volksparts]

Haha I take my dogs too. I think they love offroading. Thanks for sharing the pics. Gave me flashbacks of Diablos drop.

 

[ecidiego]

Awesome. We go out there a lot. Last trip was lower coyote canyon to the willows closure. Upper coyote is next.

 

[1996XJ]

Ill have to look that up. Sandstone Canyon is one i found on youtube i want to check out.

 

[1996XJ]

Haha I take my dogs too. I think they love offroading. Thanks for sharing the pics. Gave me flashbacks of Diablos drop.

Nice! I think by the end of the loop my dogs were ready to get out of the jeep lol.

 

[ecidiego]

Ill have to look that up. Sandstone Canyon is one i found on youtube i want to check out.

My truck is torn apart atm...adding front trail cam and aux switches. I'm always down to cruise on the rare occasions my 3 kids don't have sports on weekends.

 

[Volksparts]

My biggest thing is that the friends I last went with drive super fast through all those trails almost like it's a race. Not cool considering I have all my gear and my dogs getting launched everywhere with the bumpiness. On the flip side, can cover a lot of ground that way in short amounts of time.
Bet your Mojave handled like a dream compared to my Rubi.

 

[ecidiego]

My biggest thing is that the friends I last went with drive super fast through all those trails almost like it's a race. Not cool considering I have all my gear and my dogs getting launched everywhere with the bumpiness. On the flip side, can cover a lot of ground that way in short amounts of time.
Bet your Mojave handled like a dream compared to my Rubi.

Anza is definitely Mojave dream land. Super impressed with mine there.

As for how a group drives, yeah, that should all be agreed to ahead of time.

 

[Mojave40]

Ill have to look that up. Sandstone Canyon is one i found on youtube i want to check out.

I live fairly close to Anza Borrego and go there often. So many cool places but by far my 2 favorite trails are Sand Stone Canyon and Pinyon Mountain.

 

[ecidiego]

I live fairly close to Anza Borrego and go there often. So many cool places but by far my 2 favorite trails are Sand Stone Canyon and Pinyon Mountain.

Those doable with stock Mojaves on 33s? I added rubi rear sliders and will be getting Apex swaybar discs soon....lol

 

[Mojave40]

Those doable with stock Mojaves on 33s? I added rubi rear sliders and will be getting Apex swaybar discs soon....lol

Yes and No. I've done both in stockish Wranglers but the Mojave wheelbase on 33's might be a challenge. In my opinion still capable as long as you don't mind possible (likely) trail rash on your wheels and underbelly.

 

[Volksparts]

As far as wheel base I think for sure you can make it. I'm on rubi wheels with 35s and 2 inch wide spacers and my gf is running her jku on 35s and -12mm offset. Both wide stances but definitely need a spotter in between some of those canyons. Heck some of our buddies even with full size trucks fit but they have to pull in their side mirrors and barely make it.
As far as ground clearance I also think you can make it but don't be surprised if you scrape underneath on some trails. We all run 2" plus lifts. And that's plenty of clearance with no issues. Just be mindful going over rocks and make sure you don't line up your diffs on the rocks. One of our inexperienced drivers (she was only 17 and her dad let her drive) did this and we had to get her unstuck. Great experience though for all of us.
My gf and I are relatively experienced drivers now and we pretty much make it out of all the trails unscathed.

 

[BUZZHEAD]

Chiweenie recovery team

To funny ,nice pic

 

[1996XJ]

Those doable with stock Mojaves on 33s? I added rubi rear sliders and will be getting Apex swaybar discs soon....lol

Yes and No. I've done both in stockish Wranglers but the Mojave wheelbase on 33's might be a challenge. In my opinion still capable as long as you don't mind possible (likely) trail rash on your wheels and underbelly.

I had seen a video of a stock Rubicon JT doing sandstone canyon. I didnt think to look up and see if anyone in a JT attempted the squeze in pinyon canyon though. Im going to look that up tonight and see.

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