San Gregorio campsite at the Borrego Sink in the Borrego Valley,

Borrego Springs, California Borrego Springs (''Borrego'', Spanish for "Sheep") is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 3,429 at the 2010 census, up from 2,535 at the 2000 census, made up of both seasonal and year-round reside ...

in San Diego County, is a California Historical Landmark No. 673 listed on February 16, 1959. The San Gregorio campsite was a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

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 California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

, 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 San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. 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

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

s, cattle, and 140 horses. 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 Anza is a census-designated place located in southern Riverside County, California, in the Anza Valley, a semi-arid region at a mean elevation of above sea level. It is located south of Idyllwild, east-northeast of Temecula, southwest of P ...

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 ''Pluchea sericea'', commonly called arrowweed or ''cachanilla'' (Mexico), is a rhizomatous evergreen shrub of riparian areas in the lower Sonoran Desert and surrounding areas. It is common in the lower Colorado River valley of California, Nevada ...

(Tessaria sericea), white alder ( Alnus rhombifolia), mulefat (

Baccharis glutinosa ''Baccharis glutinosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names saltmarsh baccharis and Douglas' falsewillow. The species has a discontinuous distribution, found in western North America (California ...

), 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 The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...

, green-backed heron, common yellowthroat, American kestrel, yellow-breasted chat,

black-tailed gnatcatcher The black-tailed gnatcatcher (''Polioptila melanura'') is a small, insectivorous bird which ranges throughout the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is nonmigratory and found in arid dese ...

blue grosbeak The blue grosbeak (''Passerina caerulea''), is a medium-sized North American passerine bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae. It is mainly migratory, wintering in Central America and breeding in northern Mexico and the southern United States. ...

, downy woodpecker, willow flycatcher, yellow warbler, prairie falcon, red-shouldered hawk, and the

black-shouldered kite The black-shouldered kite (''Elanus axillaris''), also known as the Australian black-shouldered kite, is a small bird of prey found in open habitats throughout Australia. It resembles similar species found in Africa, Eurasia and North America, ...

. The Cahuilla tribe lived along Coyote Creek in the past. 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. Pano-fonts-point

Borrego Valley and Borrego Sink at the low spot

External links

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Official website
– National Park Service *
NPS: Brochure Map for driving Anza Trail
*

* ttps://anzahistorictrail.org/ Anza Trail Foundation
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
– BLM page

References

{{reflist Colonial United States (Spanish) California Historical Landmarks History of San Diego County, California East County (San Diego County) Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Colorado Desert Rivers of San Diego County, California

See also

External links

References