"Award-winning nonprofit media in the public interest, serving San Diego's inland region"
Our deserts section covers the Anza Borrego Desert State Park and the communities of Borrego Springs, Ocotillo, Ocotillo Wells and Jacumba.
East County News Service
Photo: Alvin Ray Quarles. (File photo courtesy of California Department of Corrections)
November 15, 2025 (Borrego Springs) — Alvin Ray Quarles, a sexually violent sex offender who had been temporarily placed in a Borrego Springs home, has been arrested on an alleged parole violation. In Superior Court on Friday, Quarles, 63, pleaded not guilty to the parole violation, which was not disclosed.
Some native plants have already begun to show up in Glorietta Canyon, like this chinchweed that’s growing on the pad where the previous owner of the property had his trailer. Photo courtesy Anza Borrego Foundation
East County News Service
Nov. 18, 2025 (Borrego Springs) -- A nearly two-decade conservation effort has culminated in a major victory for the Anza-Borrego Desert.
The Anza-Borrego Foundation in late October shared that it has successfully acquired the 40-acre Glorietta Canyon property, a crucial parcel of land on the western edge of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, securing its protection from future development.
East County News Service
East County News Service
October 21, 2025 (Anza Borrego)—You’re invited to walk by the light of a full moon in Anza Borrego Desert State Park’s South Palm Canyon Wash on November 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.. The hike will be led by Mike McElhatton, education director at the Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association (ABDNHA).
“Experience the unique and serene beauty of moonlight on the canyon walls as we take a 1.5-mile walk through South Palm Wash,” the invitation states.
East County News Service
Oct. 10, 2025 (San Diego) -- The heartbeat of the Borrego Springs art scene is coming to downtown San Diego this weekend.
Metal sculptorRicardo Breceda's Public Art Roadshow will be on the San Diego County Administration's Lawn No. 2 from Friday, Oct. 10 through Monday, Oct. 13.
Presented by Borrego Community Builders, a Rams Hill initiative supporting community, creativity and connection, the event included a Friday morning meet-and-greet with Breceda, creator of more than 100 metal "Sky Art" sculptures that bring the desert to life.
East County News Service
October 3, 2025 (Borrego Springs, CA) -- Borrego Springs hosts its annual Borrego Days Desert Festival on October 18 and 19. Saturday features a morning flyover and parade, as well as the "Shine and Show" vehicle show.
There's also a beer garden, kids' zone, food stations, and booths featuring everything from art to information. Plus you can enjoy live music and other activities all weekend long.
By Miriam Raftery
Photo: award-winning blues musician Doug MacLeod
September 29, 2025 (Borrego Springs) – The Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center 2025-2026 season is underway. In October, the center will host the Miss Borrego Springs Pageant on Saturday, Oct. 11, followed by legendary blues musician Doug McLeod in concert on Friday, Oct. 17.
East County News Service
East County News Service
ByGig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office
Photo: Zach Pope, Youtube screenshot
September 24, 2025 (San Diego) - It doesn’t arrive in theaters until Friday, but a new blockbuster movie generating Oscar buzz has already been a big financial hit for San Diego County.
Kumeyaay native plant presentation by Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretative Center. Photo by Laurie Brindle
By Miriam Raftery
August 6, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) – Dangerously high temperatures are forecast across much of East County through Friday, peaking on Thursday. Other East County communities could reach the high 90s.
East County News Service
July 29, 2025 (Jacumba Hot Springs) -- Bad Vibes Good Friends and Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel will present Jacumbia Fest on August 30 starting at 5 p.m.— a one-night-only celebration of Afro-Colombian rhythms, traditional and psychedelic cumbia from Colombia, Mexico and USA.
By Miriam Raftery
July 29, 2025 (Borrego Springs) – When a fire engulfed her home in Borrego Springs on July 24, Cherie Bianco, a hairdresser and yoga teacher, lost everything – her home, her car, clothing and other belongings, and even her beloved pet dog and cats.
By Miriam Raftery
Photo: 5th Supervisorial district candidates Kyle Krahel, John Franklin and Rebeca Jones.
July 27, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego’s5th Supervisorial district will soon have a new representative. Supervisor Jim Desmond, a conservative Republican, has announced plans to run for the49th Congressional district . The 49th District, currently represented by Congressman Mike Levin, a Democrat, is a coastal enclave that includes Oceanside, Camp Pendleton and San Clemente.
Photos and story By Karen Pearlman
July 17, 2025 (San Diego County) – There won’t be any light rail coming to Alpine to zip people out to downtown San Diego, but the planners at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) have unfurled some grand ideas in its Draft 2025 Regional Plan to improve transportation in both rural and urban areas in East County as well as countywide.
SANDAG leadership offered some insight into the plan at an hourlong Zoom meeting on Wednesday, July 16. The meeting was geared to those in the unincorporated parts of East County, and while it offered opportunities to ask questions, the SANDAG hosts mostly shared information about its long-term blueprint aimed at shaping the region’s transportation, housing, land use and climate goals over the next two decades.
The meeting hosts encouraged residents to visit an interactive project map on SANDAG’s website athttps://www.sandag.org/regional-plan/2025-regional-plan
The proposed Regional Plan shows six “neighborhood shuttles” being proposed for unincorporated areas: Alpine, Casa de Oro/Spring Valley, Borrego Springs, Lakeside, Ramona and Fallbook/Pala.
Initiative would serve as a model for community-led energy resilience, delivering more reliable power and improved energy security for Borrego’s most vulnerable residents and businesses
File photo, left: Sunbeams over Anza-Borrego Desert near Borrego Springs
By Gabriela Dow
May 16, 2025 (Borrego Springs) -- The Borrego Springs Microgrid Collaborative (BSMC) has submitted a grant application for funding through San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) under the California Microgrid Incentive Program (MIP). California Senate Bill 1339, enacted 2018, directed the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to develop microgrid policies, leading to the MIP.
This funding opportunity is a critical step in advancing a community microgrid that enhances energy reliability, resilience, and sustainability for Borrego Springs – a community of just over 3,000 residents in San Diego County, surrounded by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
The MIP was established to improve electricity reliability, increase resilience in high-risk communities, and promote clean energy technologies. This milestone marks an important step toward a more sustainable and reliable energy future for the Borrego Springs community.
Three other state parks in San Diego County also recognized
East County News Service
Photos. left and right by Bob Kutschner: Wildflower fields at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
May 17, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) – Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has been named the best California state park for wildflower viewing in a new “Best of California State Parks” poll released by the California State Parks Foundation. Anza-Borrego also won an honorable mention for best camping location.
Three other state parks in San Diego County also made the list.
East County Wildfire & Emergency Alert Service
Update May 2, 2025 -- The fire is 100% contained according to CalFire. One firefighter has suffered a minor injury, according to City News Service.
Update 4:30 p.m.--The fire has grown to around 50 acres and is burning at a slow rate. Per Cal Fire, crews are working in steep,rocky terrain but firefighters are making good progress. The fire is 5% contained.
May 1, 2025 (Julian, CA) – The #FelipeFire is burning along Highway 78 east of San Felipe Road and north o f Shelter Valley near Julian. The fire is 15-20 acres and has shut down all lanes of State Route 78 in both directions, per Cal Fire.
The fire has a moderate rate of spread with potential for extended attack, however no structures are threatened at this time, Watch Duty reports. Air attack has requested additional air tankers and incident command is asking for two more hand crews.
By Karen Pearlman
The Anza-Borrego Desert in inland San Diego County is captivating with its beauty and expansiveness, humbling and powerful in its quietness. A landscape of extremes -- sun-scorched earth and hidden blooms, rugged canyons carved by time, and sudden spring wildflowers when the rain gods have been kind -- the desert has a raw quality that strips everything down to the essentials of light, shadow, stone and sky.
Our desert region includes Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, famous for its spring wildflowers and rugged terrain; the city of Borrego Springs, the nation’s first “Dark Sky” community and ideal for stargazing; Agua Caliente State Park, known for its thermal pools; Ocotillo Wells, a wildly popular draw for off-road vehicles; and Jacumba Hot Springs, a town that has reinvented itself and become a destination on its own merits.
By Miriam Raftery
April 24, 2025 (Borrego Springs) -- Just over a year ago, on March 16, 2024 amid a superbloom season, Tom Eichacher and Olivia Natt visited the flower fields along Henderson Road in the Anza-Borrego Desert, where they became engaged to be married.
“Someone with a professional photo set-up took our pictures, and I'm trying desperately to find them!” Natt told East County Magazine. At left is the photo of the couple.
She says the photographer is a woman, who said she is Korean. “My partner actually took a photograph of me with the photographer, looking at her monitor,” adds Natt, who provided the image below right.
East County News Service
April 23, 2025 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – Miguel Sua, 31, has been arrested on suspicion of burglarizing multiple homes in Jacumba Hot Springs.
After obtaining a warrant, deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Rural Command station searched Sua’s home Monday morning, where they found stolen property, guns, over a quarter pound of fentanyl, and burglary tools.
He is charged with multiple counts of burglary.
East County News Service
