Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California's largest state park, covers more than 600,000 square acres encompassing parts of San Diego, Imperial and Riverside Counties.  It is part of the Colorado Desert, which is a sub-region of the Sonoran Desert that extends into Arizona and Mexico.  Due to good winter rains (1) there were a lot of flowers to be seen during this two-day visit to Anza-Borrego in early April.  Yellow clumps of brittlebush, red streaks of ocotillo, and occasional bright cactus flowers dotted the landscape, while hikes revealed many other plants in bloom.  According to a UC Irvine research center based here, there are more than 900 plant taxa in the park.  Bees, butterflies and other insects were busy.  More than 300 species of birds visit the park; among those spotted were phainopeplas and hummingbirds.  Driving at dusk one is likely to see jackrabbits bounding across the road, and I came close to stepping on a rattlesnake.  We stayed overnight at the Tamarisk Grove Campground.  On the first day we hiked Plum Canyon.  The next morning I did the Cactus Loop Trail.  We then did a hair-raising hike across the desert looking for Smuggler's Canyon and the route up to Blair Valley.
 1. For example, in Jan. 2017 there were 2.53 inches of precipitation compared to no rain in Jan. 2014, 0.31 inches in Jan. 2015 and 1.95 inches in Jan. 2016.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association
Anza-Borrego Foundation
 Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center (UC Irvine)
Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum
Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers