books - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

Coyote and Rockhouse Canyons to the
ancient Santa Rosa villages of another
Cahuilla group. At San Ignacio are the
ruins of another church with an adjacent
cemetery, several homes that are
still occupied by cattle-owning members
of the Los Coyotes band and some of the
loveliest oak canyons in Southern
California.
The area escaped in two major San
Ysidro fires in the past five years but
visitors are warned to be careful with fire
pits anywhere on the reservation. Help
has to come all the way from Warner's
and brush fires are the biggest worry of
the Cahuilla. No hunting is permitted on
the reservation.
Borrego Palm Canyon rises near San
Ignacio but hikers are warned that heavy
brush and some steep rock falls make the
seemingly short journey down to the
permanent stream an arduous one.
Hikers or motorists who make the long
climb up to Hot Springs peak are rewarded
— on a clear day at least —
with one of the most incomparable views
still available in Southern California. The
Coronado Islands, even Navy ships in
San Diego Bay, and still farther out,
Catalina and San Clemente Islands can
be seen from the deck of the lookout
tower. The Forest Service caretakers
welcome visitors.
Some of the best off-roading is off the
northeast slopes of Hot Springs, in the
headwaters of Sheep, Cougar and Indian
Canyons and on to the locked gate at the
entrance to Lost Valley. An isolated section
of Anza-Borrego park adjoins the
reservation here but access is blocked by
Los Coyotes from the south and the huge
Lost Valley Boy Scout Reservation to the
north.
Orange County Scouts 15 years ago
purchased the old Henry Bergman
Ranch in Lost Valley, more than 3,000
acres of mountain meadow that now has
a big recreational lake and other activity
areas including hiking and riding trails
and back country campsites. Even the
600-plus acres belonging to the state are
not open to casual visitors, although
Old cattle loading
chute attests to the
rich ranching
history of the
Santa Rosa
Mountains, an area
that offers many
summer camping
sites for desert
area visitors.
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Anza-Borrego rangers occasionally lead
tours into Lost Valley. Eventually, the
park is expected to exchange the Lost
Valley acreage for land more accessible
to the public. However, the state will not
be able to pass land title to private interests
because the Lost Valley parcel
contains known archeological sites and
therefore must be protected under state
law.
Los Coyotes camp is one of the original
units in a new all-Indian enterprise designed
to give reservation members a
new economic base through recreational
development. Known as Indian Campgrounds,
Incorporated, the new interstate
entity has access to federal economic
development funds. Banning
Taylor, longtime Los Coyotes elective
spokesman, has been an ICI director
several years. The ICI system also includes
Chemehuevi Valley on the
Colorado River's California side opposite
Lake Havasu City.
Other camping areas in the mountains
fringing Anza-Borrego include several
Forest Service campgrounds, at Mt. Laguna
and Descanso to the southwest and
Indian Flats near Warner Springs, on the
Pacific Crest Trail at the entrance to Lost
Valley.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management
is the newest public agency landlord in
the region with several campgrounds in