Diablo Dropoff

Trail Overview

Diablo Dropoff is a 2.3-mile point-to-point trail rated 3 out of 10 located within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. In the middle of the Deep of the Carrizo Badlands portion of the ABDSP lies the Diablo Dropoff trail. The trail is well known to local offroad riders and has been well-documented in various videos. The trail should be run west to east per the state park map as it is designated a one-way trail. Signs have been placed at the bottom of the dropoff repeatedly but always seem to be removed by riders. The trail can be divided into four sections. The trail starts at the intersection with Arroyo Seco Del Diablo and crosses the flattop mesa along a well-used sand track for 1.3 miles. The second and third sections are the actual dropoff which starts with a steep drop, followed by a short plateau and a second dropoff. The park service will periodically grade the dropoff when the erosion gets too bad. Then over time, the weather will take its toll and the trail will erode with crosscuts and deep sand. The last section of the wash tends to be narrow and rocky leading out to the end where it spills into Fish Creek Wash. The top of the dropoff provides a view of the Fish Creek area and the Vallecito Mountains. All canyons and washes in the area are subject to flash floods. Travelers should watch the weather reports for the mountains to the west. There is no cell phone service within the canyon. The nearest services are located in Borrego Springs to the northwest and Salton City to the northeast. Offroad travel within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is restricted to street-legal vehicles only.

Photos of Diablo Dropoff

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Difficulty

The trail consists of loose rocks, dirt, and sand with some slick rock surfaces and mud holes possible. No steps are higher than 12 inches. 4WD may be required, and aggressive tires are a plus.

History

The name Arroyo Seco del Diablo means the Devil's Dry Wash and is located in the Carrizo Badlands. It formed from water flowing from the ancient Colorado River cutting through the sandstone and rock concretions as the water made its way to the Gulf of California. (Concretions are cemented bodies of sediment particles embedded into rock or sandstone, usually round or disk-shaped.) The concretions that were carried downstream helped to form the deep-sided canyon walls of Arroyo Seco del Diablo. Diablo Drop Off sits on a mesa (Spanish for table) above the paths carved by the massive floodwaters millions of years ago.

Technical Rating