I took my first backpacking trip of the season to Oriflamme Canyon in the Anza Borrego State park.  This canyon, nestled near the foot of Granite Mountain, is a bit different than the the cholla and creosote dotted flatlands that make up the surrounding area.  Oriflamme Canyon is fed by a spring originating in the mountains near Julina, and has year around moisture, supporting a Riparian landscape, and is downright lush for Anza Borrego standards.

The trailhead for Orriflamme Canyon is located about 3 miles just on the north side of mile marker 27 on hwy S2.  It is about a mile or so past the Box Canyon Historical Marker if you are heading south from scissors crossing where Hwy 78 and the S2 intersect .  The trail is marked by a small sign that indicates “Oriflamme Canyon”  You will follow the sandy dirt road north a ways, paralleling the well marked and fenced Daley Ranch private property on your left.  As you enter the canyon the road splits; the right fork heads into Rodriguez Canyon while you stay to the left, into Oriflamme Canyon.  The road becomes pretty rugged at this point, and gains altitude.  About 1 mile from the fork, you will come across a side road, on the left, where a barbed wire fence begins.  Take this side road for a short drive into a well shaded, abandoned old complex that is in ruins other than a few  intact foundations. This is a great place to park and begin hiking. It is worth spending a little time wandering the area before heading up into the canyon, as there are several impressive morteroes in the vicinity.

There are several routes up Oriflamme canyon.  The most rugged is an overgrown game trail that winds back and forth through the riverbed.  Be sure to wear long pants and long sleeve through this trail as the brush will eat you alive.  There is a much mellower trail on the west side of the canyon, that winds through the much less overgrown scrub up from the stream bed.  The high trail crosses through the stream bed a bit less than 2-miles up, in one of the nicest sections of the canyon,  where there are numerous trees, and flowing water tumbles through boulders.

Unfortunately October is a very dry time in San Diego County, and there was not a speck of flowing water to be seen in this area of Oriflamme canyon.  This made for a pretty uneventful hike,  and not one I would repeat in the fall.  I will return later in the season, when the rains have had an opportunity to refresh the spring that feeds the canyon, and see what it looks like with water flowing through this interesting area of the Anza Borrego State Park.