Exploring The Wind Caves

Right outside of Anza Borrego State Park in the Yuha Desert, we did a 5 mile hike to some incredible wind caves! From Anza Borrego, we followed the S2 east toward El Centro (see the El Centro Skate Park here) and turned left onto a dirt road marked 93. Right off of that road there is an information sign with a map of the area and the hike. Follow the 93 until it ends at a parking area near the trail head.

Hiking to The Wind Caves

The hike begins on a well defined dirt/dry mud trail. It takes you through a beautiful barren desert setting and then into a wash. Follow the trail through the wash and then up and out.

While looking back towards the road we drove on, you can see lots of electric turbine wind mills. It was nice to see renewable energy in the area. Hiking in the desert can be tough, the sun was pretty extreme this day so we brought an umbrella with us.

Once out of the wash, the trail is less obvious but cairns (stacks of rocks) are a good indicator of which direction you’re headed. This part of the trail has more rocks, cactus and desert vegetation. The desert has more colors than most people would think. There are colors such as green, orange, and purple in these plants, and the desert mountains contrast well with the bright blue sky.

The dehydration of the desert heat was obvious in many parts of the land. Some spots of the ground looked like the earth was made out of big puzzle pieces.

Eventually, the trail starts to get more rocky and then pretty steep. Once at the top, some of the wind caves come into view as well as a vast beautiful badlands landscape!

You can see the first of the wind caves up close when you get to the top. These caves were formed from years and years of wind erosion. The wind has hollowed out caves in the sides of the surrounding mountains.

And There’s More!

After exploring the first wind cave area we continued on to more. The ground in this area was covered in fossils of shells, sand dollars and of what used to be the seafloor! There was evidence everywhere!

It was amazing to see a countless amount of sea creatures in the middle of the desert on top of a mountain.

There were lots of wind caves. And they were so much fun to explore! The caves were formed in the rocks of the mountain, so it felt as if we were just climbing on rocks. The caves look like they could be homes to the Flinstones or some other cartoon characters.

The walls of the canyons below and the canyons across the way were all filled with wind caves. Unlike the Mud Caves that we explored in Anza Borrego (You can read about those in our Arroyo Tapiado Mud Caves article here), these caves seemed sturdy and made of rock. Though it still felt a little sketchy to be standing on top of something hollow!

We were able to climb on top of many of the caves and we were also able to explore the caves that we fit in.

Since we were cutting it close to sunset we had to head back. But we would love to make it back to this area and do more exploring! The colors of the desert at sunset were beautiful! We saw no others on this hike and the desolate, unique terrain felt like we were on another planet!

This adventure was so worthwhile! A pleasurable hike with a mesmerizing view and a super unique destination! Thanks for reading about our experience hiking to the awesome wind caves!

Thank You For Reading!

If you enjoy caves, check out our Mud Cave experience in Anza Borrego State Park by clicking here. If you happen to be heading to or from El Centro check out our article about the El Centro Skatepark by clicking here. Check out more hiking adventures here or if you wanna see our latest longboard adventures click here

Thanks for your support! If you’re visiting the desert this winter, hit the desolate desert roads with a new longboard! Check out the latest line up of hand painted longboards at our Lost Coast Longboarding shop!

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