How big is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park?

More than 600,000 acres, or roughly 1,000 square miles. It is the largest state park in California and the third largest in the United States, spanning parts of San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties.

How much does it cost to enter Anza-Borrego?

Day use is $10 per vehicle, collected at the Visitor Center, developed campgrounds and several popular trailheads including The Slot and Hellhole Canyon. The park has no entrance gates and much of it can be accessed without a fee.

When is wildflower season at Anza-Borrego?

Annual wildflowers can appear from January through mid-April, with peak bloom most often between late February and early April. Timing varies year to year based on rainfall and temperature.

Is Anza-Borrego a Dark Sky Park?

Yes. The park was designated an International Dark Sky Park in 2018 at Silver tier. Borrego Springs, the town at its center, has been an International Dark Sky Community since 2009, the first in California.

Do I need four-wheel drive at Anza-Borrego?

Not for the paved roads, the Visitor Center or the main campgrounds. The vast majority of the park's roughly 500 miles of dirt roads do require a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park open at night?

Yes, the park is open 24 hours a day, year-round. The Visitor Center is open daily 9am to 5pm October through May, and weekends and holidays only June through September.

East County News Service • June 8, 2026

Rabies on the rise: 14 rabid bats found in San Diego County

Photo via San Diego County News Service

East County News Service

(San Diego) – County health officials are warning residents to avoid touching wild bats, due to an increase in rabies cases locally. You don’t have to be bitten to contract rabies, which is deadly virtually 100% of the time without prompt treatment and vaccination. Saliva on an infected bat’s fur can enter a cut or scrape, infecting a person – or transmit the disease if the person touches their eyes, nose or mouth.

If a rabies vaccine is administered immediately after exposure, before neurological symptoms begin, the vaccine is nearly 100% effective at preventing rabies.

So far this year, 14 bats have tested positive for rabies, including four in In May. Two were wild bats found at the San Diego Safari Park in Escondido: one on May 11 on a tree near Thorntree Terrace and another on Friday, May 29 inside the Mombasa Cooker Restaurant.

With summer approaching—the season when rabies detections are most common, County health officials are reminding residents how to stay safe.

People who come in direct contact with a bat, or who think they may have touched one, should contact County Public Health Services at (619) 692-8499 immediately.

“Human rabies is almost always fatal without prompt postexposure vaccination and treatment,” said Dr. Sayone Thihalilopavan, County Public Health Officer. “Rabies can be transmitted through a bite or when an infected bat’s saliva enters a cut, scrape, or the eyes, nose or mouth.”

Public health officials remind residents:

Give wildlife space. Bats are protected species, and it is illegal to kill, harm or keep them.
If you touch a bat, wash the area with soap and seek medical advice immediately. Post-exposure vaccination is highly effective before symptoms begin.
Rabies symptoms can take weeks to months to appear, but once symptoms start, the disease is almost always fatal.
Bat bites can be too small to see. Any bare-skin contact with a bat could be an exposure.
Keep pets up to date on rabies vaccinations.

Rabies remains rare in humans thanks to strong prevention efforts. California’s most recent human rabies case occurred in 2024 in a Fresno County resident who was exposed to a bat in Merced County.

Bats play an important role in our local ecosystem by eating insects and pollinating plants. They are most active around sunset.

For more information on rabies, visit the County’s website and view local data on the County’s rabies dashboard.