Borrego Sink
San Gregorio campsite
Borrego Sink and Borrego Valley
Groundwater Table
LocationBorrego Sink
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Coordinates33°13′19″N 116°16′12″W / 33.222°N 116.270°W / 33.222; -116.270
Built1775
DesignatedFebruary 16, 1959
Reference no.673
Borrego Sink is located in California
Borrego Sink
Location of Borrego Sink
San Gregorio campsite in California
Borrego Sink is located in the United States
Borrego Sink
Borrego Sink (the United States)

San Gregorio campsite at the Borrego Sink in the Borrego Valley, Borrego Springs, California in San Diego County, is a California Historical Landmark No. 673 listed on February 16, 1959. The San Gregorio campsite was a desert camp for the Spanish Commander Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition of 1775 and 1776. The expedition passed through the Imperial Valley then through the Colorado Desert, now the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The expedition's goal was to start Spanish missions in California and presidio forts through Las Californias to the San Francisco Bay. The expedition route is now the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.

At the Anza San Gregorio campsite in the Colorado Desert, the Anza Expeditions stopped and dug deep wells in a dry wash to get water for the expedition and its stock of mules, cattle, and 140 horses. [1] The underground water at Borrego Sink comes when Coyote Creek is flowing, Coyote Creek runs down the valley into Borrego Sink. During rain storms the Borrego Sink can turn in to a swallow lake or a vast mud flat. Coyote Creek is the only reliably perennial creek in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Coyote Creek is 18 miles (29 km) long and runs from the city of Anza, California to Borrego Sink. Borrego Sink is at an elevation of 455 feet (138 meters) at the low spot of the Borrego Valley. Coyote Creek supports Desert bighorn sheep and a desert riparian zone. Coyote Creek is divided up into three zones Upper Willows, Middle Willows, and Lower Willows. The Coyote Creek riparian zone supports: narrow-leaf willow (Salix exigua), Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), western sycamore (Platanus racemosa), arrowweed (Tessaria sericea), white alder (Alnus rhombifolia), mulefat (Baccharis glutinosa), honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), and tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima an invasive species). In a few spots palms (Washingtonia filifera) grow. Coyote Creek riparian zone supports seasonal birds: Bell's vireo, Black-crowned night heron, green-backed heron, common yellowthroat, American kestrel, yellow-breasted chat, black-tailed gnatcatcher, blue grosbeak, downy woodpecker, willow flycatcher, yellow warbler, prairie falcon, red-shouldered hawk, and the black-shouldered kite. [2]The Cahuilla tribe lived along Coyote Creek in the past.[3][4]

A Historical marker is near the campsite in the desert at Borrego Sink, 3 Miles Southeast of Palm Canyon and Peg Leg Roads in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. [5]

Panoramic view from Font's Point westward over Borrego Valley to the Laguna Mountains, Borrego Sink is in the bottom of the valley
Borrego Valley and Borrego Sink at the low spot

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.


References

  1. ↑ "San Gregorio #673". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  2. ↑ A Survey of the Birds of Riparian Habitats, Anza-Borrego Desert, by Wier, Harold A., and Barry Jones, 1986
  3. ↑ COYOTE CREEK (SAN DIEGO COUNTY) MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION AT ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, by David H. Van Cleve, Lyann A. Comrack and Harold A. Wier, fs.usda.gov
  4. ↑ "Basin Boundary Modification Request System". sgma.water.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  5. ↑ "San Gregorio Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org.
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