This 40,000 acres of magnificent desert offers a unique variety of geologic forms and is open to off-road exploration and recreation year-round. It is located at the eastern edge of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California's largest park, encompassing half a million acres in the southheast region of the state.

Our panoramic view is taken from the Pumpkin Patch. Here, the result of continuous wind and water erosion reveal globular sandstone concretions -- pumpkins -- formed by the cementing of sand particles to small objects like shell pieces, insects and other grains of sand. Our initial view looks north toward the Santa Rosa Mountains in the distance As we turn left (west, then south), we look across Tule Wash, Pumpkin Patch Trail, then toward Shell Reef.