Hike Sunset Mountain Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA

Feb 22, 2024 — Sunset Mountain ended up being a burlier undertaking than we anticipated, both because of the midday heat and the particularly bouldery western approach. Unlike the kinder Coyote Mountain we did earlier today, there were no hints of a trail on this one. The southwestern slope approached seemed to be the most efficient way to gain the summit, though a longer hike from the northeast might be more commonly done. To reach our starting point, drive south on Pinyon Wash Road here (33.13212, -116.31146). There are some embedded rocks to avoid, but a crossover SUV or better can make it to where we parked.

We hiked east toward a drainage, dodging ample ocotillo, cholla, and agave as we made our way across the desert floor. We briefly entered the sandy wash formed by the drainage but climbed out of it to gain the southeastern slope of Sunset Mountain. This slope began climbing abruptly and introduced some Class 2 immediately, chunky boulders strewn across deteriorated granite that more resembles sand. The slope was wide enough that there wasn't a defined ridge crest, but I can't imagine the terrain being easier-going anywhere else. While there were very few boulder-hopping requirements, we had to engage our brains just enough to plan a little bit ahead to avoid the occasional rock cluster or agave/cholla grove.

After picking our way up the first steep few hundred feet, we reached a flatter portion at around 2400' that lasted only a short time. Then we were hiking uphill again, now quite steeply. The terrain here was loose enough that we kept our distance from one another, lasting a couple hundred vertical feet. The slope became more mild, though still impeding us with plenty of boulders and cacti we needed to avoid, all the way until we reached the northwest ridge of Sunset Mountain. While certainly not miserable, it was definitely tedious to get here.

Some larger boulders along the ridge added some light scrambling fun, and soon we reached the summit of Sunset Mountain. We could see Lower Borrego Valley from the ridge far below, as well as the majority of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Although we planned to hike a couple of the smaller peaks to the south to form a loop, they looked too bland and we decided to just head back and grab another summit of more interest. On the way back, we barely overlapped our ascent track, but both options felt similar in difficulty, so it's unlikely there's a "best" option for ascending via the southwest slope.