Wildflower wow factor in the desert

One heck of a spring show is on view at Anza-Borrego, California’s largest state park. First-timers can’t miss the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail, a 3-mile round-trip flowering with brittlebush, desert lavender, and ocotillo. For a hike twice as long, there’s the 6- mile round-trip into Hellhole Canyon for blooming barrel cactus, lupine, and phacelia, plus Maidenhair Falls. Four-wheeling flower fans, scope out the sand verbena and dune evening primrose on the 20-mile Coyote Canyon Jeep Trail. 760/767-4205.