Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → Anza Borrego Desert → Goat Canyon Trestle

♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Location: Southern Anza Borrego Desert, California

Distance: 6 miles roundtrip (to the trestle and back); 5 miles if you stop at the trestle viewpoint

Elevation Gain/Loss: 3000 ft/3000 ft (to the trestle; save 500 feet both ways by stopping at the viewpoint)

Red Tape/Notes: no permit required, but the trestle is private property so don’t walk on it; route finding can be difficult and there is no defined trail for most of the hike, so don’t attempt this unless you’re prepared for more rugged conditions. A GPS unit would be helpful. The drive to the trailhead was pretty tough with a low clearance vehicle – I don’t recommend it unless you like to live dangerously. The route is in full sun nearly the whole way. It’s a desert. Be smart.

What’s Nearby?: Old Highway 80, Descanso, Kitchen Creek

Some people feel this is the best hike in San Diego County. The highlight of the trip is a view (up close if you want, just stay 15 feet away from the tracks) of the fabulous trestle over Goat Canyon, a tributary of Carrizo Gorge. The trestle, which is on the San Diego & Eastern Arizona rail line, is 200 feet high and 600 feet long (give or take…apparently this is much debated by people who have time to stress out about the heights and lengths of railroad trestles), and has been called the longest curved railroad trestle and one of the highest wooden trestles in the world.

This trail takes you to the Mortero Palms grove (look for the namesake morteros – Indian mortars – 100 yards below the lower end of the grove, in the center of the wash), after which you continue traveling up the canyon ahead. After crossing over a saddle at 3300 feet, you’ll eventually descend 100 feet to a delightful little bowl with juniper trees. From here, travel a little further down Goat Canyon, where you’ll find nice views of the trestle. It’s fairly steep to get down to the bottom for an up close view of the trestle, but totally passable if you’re comfortable with this sort of activity. There are some cool rail cars around the trestle and a very alluring tunnel shaft in the wall of the canyon on the left from the previous railroad route.

The Last Adventurer has a very nice description of the route (find it here) – other people have done great trip reports and route descriptions for this hike, so feel free to do a Google search for more detailed info if it sounds and looks interesting. Just make sure you take the hike that goes via Mortero Palms and not one of the illegal ones that hikes along the railroad.

I want to go! How do I get there?: Take I-8 east from San Diego and exit at Imperial Highway (S2), turning towards Anza Borrego (north). After 4 miles, turn left on Dos Cabezas Road (it’s unpaved). Stay to the left after 1 mile, then continue heading northwest of the tracks for 4.5 miles. Cross the tracks and turn left once you’re on the west side of the tracks. Continue on for almost a mile, then turn left. After another 0.3 miles, hang a right to Mortero Palms.

You can download gps data for the route from Modern Hiker’s post on this trail.
Trailhead coordinates: 32.719879,-116.146283 (32° 43′ 7.57″N 116° 8′ 26.93″W)

Click here for the Google Maps link

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → Anza Borrego Desert → Goat Canyon Trestle