Loca­tion map for Mid­dle Wil­lows in Anza-Bor­rego State Park. 33°25’34.03“N, 116°29’09.71“W.

Coyote Creek is San Diego coun­ty’s only stream that flows year-round, under­scor­ing just how arid the San Diego region real­ly is. The stream attract­ed the atten­tion of the fed­er­al land office in the mid-1850s, when high­ways and rail­ways into Cal­i­for­nia were first being explored. The flow of water also dic­tat­ed the path of the Anza Expe­di­tion of 1775, which pro­ceed­ed up the stream after find­ing a major well in the Bor­rego Val­ley a few days earlier.

To reach the Low­er Wil­lows by vehi­cle, three high-wheel­base cross­ings of Coy­ote Creek are usu­al­ly need­ed in the win­ter months (when hik­ing is pos­si­ble; in the sum­mer the tem­per­a­tures are typ­i­cal­ly around 110 degrees).  The vehi­cle trek from Bor­rego Springs is sev­er­al miles over undu­lat­ing sand roads, climb­ing through a wide, pic­turesque val­ley before even­tu­al­ly encoun­ter­ing the now-impass­able canyon from the Low­er Wil­lows to Collins Val­ley above.

Park­ing near the crossing.

At this point, Coy­ote Creek is a respectable stream and can be crossed by foot via step­ping stones through occa­sion­al bulrushes.The veg­e­ta­tion is thick, and so stick­ing to the trail along the stream is rec­om­mend­ed. The palms are native Wash­ing­to­nia fil­if­era, Desert Fan Palm, plant­ed by the orig­i­nal inhab­i­tants of Collins Val­ley and who very pos­si­bly were asso­ci­at­ed with a rancheria near the palms that was denot­ed on the 1855 Unit­ed States Gov­ern­ment Land Office Plat of the val­ley.  The green­ery is present for about a mile before pop­ping out into a plain of mixed desert scrub, mesquite and, con­spic­u­ous­ly, the native fan palms that rise above the oth­er veg­e­ta­tion.  Off to the west, about a mile across the val­ley, is the entrance to Sheep Canyon, where a ranger sta­tion was once active.  An Indi­an trail once con­nect­ed the rancheria to Sheep Canyon and the large canyon to its south, Indi­an Canyon.

A stand of Wash­ing­to­nia Fil­if­era, native fan palm.

The stream can break to the sur­face and dive back under the many sandy wash­es repeat­ed­ly. Hik­ers may find a clear way to the north end of the val­ley either along the cen­tral jeep road or by fol­low­ing any of the wash­es, oth­er­wise the trek is over light desert scrub to Mon­key Hill, where a tec­ton­ic mon­i­tor­ing sta­tion may be found. Fur­ther up the stream scram­bles over large boul­ders, sand coves and steep banks after it emerges from the Mid­dle Willows.

Hik­ers from the San Diego Hik­ing Club steady their cross­ing of Coy­ote Creek at the Low­er Willows.

Here at the Wil­lows is found dense veg­e­ta­tion with yet more stands of fan palms, com­pris­ing a jun­gle of zigza­g­ing pas­sages where hik­ers have sought to blaze the few hun­dred yards to the north end.  The norther­ly area of veg­e­ta­tion is near the San Diego Coun­ty Line.  Alder Canyon pours into the val­ley here, and it may be explored for sev­er­al miles to the west.  Alder Canyon cra­dles a major trib­u­tary and dur­ing a flash flood is a rag­ing riv­er.  Fur­ther up Coy­ote Canyon, the upper Wil­lows may be reached, and beyond that the high val­ley of Anza.