Hike Sombrero Peak Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA

Apr 13, 2023 — Sombrero Peak is a small summit located at the tip of Anza Borrego Desert State Park in an interesting region where the desert collides with the chaparral landscape found closer to the coast. It seems many hikers choose to reach the summit from the northeast using a more direct, steeper desert approach option after driving along a reportedly poor road. I was more interested in the longer hike from the west from within McCain Valley. Despite a much more lengthy trail hike, I enjoyed the scenery and was happy I made a more extended outing for this hike rather than a quick out and back using that other more direct option. For someone like myself who doesn't live in San Diego, it's a bit of a driving effort to get to the trailhead since access comes from the south. Follow McCain Valley Road north here (32.69577, -116.25957), then turn right here (32.80023, -116.33827). I parked at a pull-out off the dirt road outside the Cottonwood Campground. The trailhead can be reached by any vehicle.

Today was forecasted to be much colder than the last few days so I decided Sombrero Peak made sense, but I didn't account for the wind. I bundled up in all the clothes I had, which to my dismay turned out to be far too few. I set out along the Pepperwood Trail, clearly eroded by dirtbike tires. I'll note that dirtbikes seem to be the reason many of the trails along this hike exist, but I could be wrong. I just know they're illegally entering the Carrizo Gorge Wilderness Area at a certain point, but I wasn't going to complain about a well-beaten singletrack to follow. Anyway, the Pepperwood Trail headed through El Centro Field Office BLM land for a while, passed wind turbines, crossed a creek, and undulated a bit through the lumpy desert. I felt like it was sort of aimlessly wandering, especially when it reached a confusing trail junction. Keeping right along the most obvious trail option would lead to private property, while left led away from the route. A less-obvious trail, though marked with a sign, led east shortly before emerging onto a dirt road labeled on maps as Canebrake Road.

Along Canebrake Road is an old homestead/barn and some crudely-constructed fenced-in areas housing nothing but overgrowth. I followed this road as it bent north, keeping right at a junction about a mile later. Continuing along this next road, I ascended slowly toward a minor, though cool-looking, peak called Bow Willow Peak. It has a Class 5 summit block, so I opted to skip this potential add-on. After ascending to its northern shoulder, Sombrero Peak came into view and then I found myself losing elevation again, now dropping east and away from Bow Willow Peak. The dirt road I'd been following narrowed into a trail and descended more than it had to, but I suppose dirtbikes aren't concerned about efficiency like peakbaggers are. Now ascending yet again, this unmarked trail led north and wrapped in and out of small gullies and arroyos as it made its way toward the west ridge of Sombrero Peak.

When the trail was clearly not going to get closer to Sombrero Peak, I left it and headed east through the wildflower-filled desert toward the summit. From here it looks like an unassuming lump, but the closer I neared I realized the summit was riddled with abundant granite boulders. Along the approach to Sombrero Peak there was no clear best route, so I left two options on my attached map. My ascent stayed high and required some wrapping around boulder obstacles, but had nicer views. The lower one kept had hints of a social trail, but had a bit more brush and was harder to stay on a route since the lumpy terrain kept trying to push me away from the ridgeline. Either way you chose, you'll end up at the base of Sombrero Peak, where a nearly illegible old sign inscribed with "Sombrero Peak" marked a barely discernible social trail. I had trouble staying on this social trail, but it wasn't a big deal since I could easily find my way up the steep southwest slope of the peak, which didn't exceed Class 2.

I wrapped around the base of some particularly massive boulders below the summit which formed an impenetrable wall and found a Class 3 series of moves on more manageable boulders. I even located a crawl-through space that added a bit of fun and avoided some harder moves. You can make the ascent harder if that's your thing, and possibly easier if you spend the time searching. A bit of Class 2 route-finding led me to the summit boulder, where I could barely stand up for more than a second due to the intense wind. Make sure you remember which way you came up, since the boulders create a bit of a maze around the summit area.