Explore Anna Borrego State Park - view hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you.
reviewed Maidenhair Falls via Hellhole Canyon Trail
April 18, 2021Fun! Various terrain and a waterfall at the end! No one here either!
Amazing views of different rock formation
Fun loop thru the some tight canyons with one uphill climb at about halfway.
Wonderful slot. Once you come out of it though I recommend doubling back through to exit instead of using the very steep and much less scenic dirt road out.
Great trail, bring lots of water, but, you will be hiking to a waterfall in the desert with palm oasis’s galore, highly recommend, go all the way to the fall, a little bouldering to the falls, but, well worth it.
Hot but nice!
The slots were gorgeous but it was hot and somewhat claustrophobic for me. Then when you open into the rest of the walk there is little to no shade. Go early or late.
I recommend doing this hike as an out and back vs loop - you’re just walking along the road to get back to the parking lot otherwise. Much more scenic to go back through the slot
Definitely a fun experience to hike this trail. Came here 04/03/21 it was 99deg. for a short hike, felt like 6 miles at around 11 am. Bring a wet/cooling towel it helps alot.
The trail is not well marked so I was glad I downloaded the map. However, all trails says 5.6 mile round trip and the downloaded all trails map says 9.8. Luckily I planned for the longer hike, these things are important. The fall was running lightly, it was nice and cool. Very overgrown.
The slot is great, we came a little later in the day on a hot day and were glad we had PLENTY of water. We attempted the hike counter clockwise, it was our second slot hike of the day and wanted to avoid the "road" part of the hike. It was very difficult to find. There are zero signs and we were wandering around looking for the entrance along with several other groups of people that seemed to have the same problem. A sign would have been awesome but for you reading this; my advice would be to look over the edge of the parking lot, realize that IS the slot you are looking for and follow it around to the right until you find a reasonable way down. Its a quick hike if you just come in and back out the same way through the slot. There are thin parts to shimmy through and windy narrow paths that are breathtaking. Loved the slot hike, didn't love trying to find our way in. As an aside, we came on Sunday and had no issue with over crowding and there was no wait at the restrooms, parking lot or road... but then again is was Easter so do with that what you will :)
The slot was great. But don't make the mistake of not finishing the loop. The hike back - up the sandy dirt road and above the slot canyon - was just as great, if not better, than the slot canyon itself. Wide open incredible views.
I highly recommend going counter clockwise. Long walk along top of Ridge then steep, sandy trek down into Canyon before arriving at Slots. Slots are only about .5 mile long. Neat of course but there are other areas in Anza-Borrego that have slots too but not as accessible. $10 fee per car if ranger is out. I went at about 2pm on Sunday, 3/28 and parking was fine, no big crowds. Warning: no shade most of the hike until you get to slots.
Fantastic experience! We went early (7:00) Felt like we hadvthis beautiful trail all to
Did this hike yesterday (on a Friday early afternoon) and there was no line to get in, parking lot wasn't too full, and no one was collecting an entry fee (and saw no signs indicating there was a fee). Most visitors seemed on their way out and so we had the Slot Canyon nearly to ourselves. Did this hike counterclockwise. There's a tough hill to go up around the halfway point. Definitely preferred going up it then down it (would have been tough on the knees!). Really enjoyable hike.
Landscape changes from wash / desert floor to lush vegetation as you go into the canyon. You’ll encounter 2 palm oasis and a waterfall at the end. More wild flowers towards the oasis. Last half of hike involve some boulder hopping which made it more interesting. Recommend
If I read the comments before this hike, I would have realized hiking The Slot in the afternoon might mean waiting in a car line to be allowed to enter the road to the parking lot. That was about 50 min. The hike was done clockwise, hiking down the hill and up the slots. Much easier. Either way is great though.
So much fun!! We checked out a bunch of the caves and only had to back out of a couple as they got too narrow or ended. Many went through into canyons and we turned around just so we didn’t keep going further in. There were some really cool large open caverns you could take a break in..but most of them are quite narrow and involve crawling or slithering through. The access road did require a 4WD and there were definitely lots of campers out there.
Super good and fun trail went they’re in my stock jeep gladiator only model tires I did scrape a few times and there was a few sketchy parts I would advise to bring a good friend or a spotter with you or go on a big group 
Fairly easy for 4 wheel drive. Some fun hills to go through before you get to the patch. The patch is fenced off but you can walk through the fence and go in.
$10 fee at the trail head. I thought since we had some rain and should has water. No water!!! Beautiful hike for first day of Spring. Some flowers are blooming on the trail. No big tree so wear layer, bring water.
