Best of 2000: Best Dry Lake

Borrego Sink
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Where does the water that falls on Borrego Springs and the Borrego Valley go? Most of it sinks quickly into the desert sand. In times of rare flood, the excess does not reach the ocean or even the Salton Sea; rather it spreads over a one-half-mile by one-mile oval expanse of bottomland known as the Borrego Sink. Only very fine particles of sediment can remain suspended in the sluggish floodwaters that manage to reach the Borrego Sink. On drying, the surface of the sink fragments into millions of irregularly shaped polygons -- utterly symbolic of drought and desolation. The western edge of Borrego Sink lies just one mile northeast of La Casa del Zorro resort, which is located very near the intersection of Borrego Springs Road and Yaqui Pass Road. You can hoof it across the flat desert floor from the intersection, or visit the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park visitor center to pick up a topographic map that will show varous dirt roads leading toward the sink. The visitor center's phone number is (760) 767-4205.