Imperial County, California
27 locations. View on the interactive map
- Blue Angels Peak — Geology · Imperial County, CA
Summit on the Jacumba Mountains skyline above the Imperial–San Diego desert border, a landmark peak for the southwest Imperial desert approaches. A geology/n…
- Bombay Beach — Historic · Imperial County, CA
Faded Salton Sea resort town on the northeast shore that boomed mid-century and later became a surreal open-air art and ruinscape of half-buried trailers, pi…
- Carrizo Badlands — Natural · Imperial County, CA
Expansive eroded badlands of clay hills, mudstone, and fossil-bearing sediments on the Imperial / Anza-Borrego desert margin east of the Coyote Mountains. A …
- Crucifixion Thorn Natural Area — Natural · Imperial County, CA
A fenced BLM natural area in the Yuha Desert preserving one of California’s largest stands of crucifixion thorn (Castela emoryi), a rare Sonoran Desert shrub…
- Finney Lake (Imperial Wildlife Area) — Wildlife · Imperial County, CA
Freshwater lake and wetland complex in the Finney–Ramer Unit of CDFW Imperial Wildlife Area, along the Alamo River east of the Salton Sea. Premier Imperial V…
- Fossil Canyon (Coyote Mountains) — Geology · Imperial County, CA
Shell-rich canyon on the edge of the Coyote Mountains Wilderness near Ocotillo, where marine Imperial Formation beds expose abundant invertebrate fossils. Pu…
- Fountain of Youth Spa (Hot Mineral Spa) — Hot Spring · Imperial County, CA
Developed mineral-spring resort on the northeast Salton Sea shore at the Hot Mineral Spa community—public day-use and guest soaking in multiple hot mineral p…
- Hauser Geode Beds — Geology · Imperial County, CA
Classic public rockhounding ground in the Wiley Well District of the Chuckwalla Valley, long known for geodes, nodules, and agate in volcanic host rock. BLM …
- Heber Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area — Natural · Imperial County, CA
California State Parks OHMVR Division unit (~343 acres) of creosote-studded sand dunes, fine-sand hills, and hard-packed dry-lake clay three miles north of t…
- Holtville Hot Springs — Hot Spring · Imperial County, CA
A low-desert geothermal oasis on BLM land near Holtville, with developed outdoor mineral pools still flowing at soaking temperature beside the Hot Springs Lo…
- Imperial Sand Dunes (Gecko Road) — Natural · Imperial County, CA
North America's largest sand-dune system (Algodones/Glamis) in the Colorado Desert — endless ridges of wind-sculpted sand managed by BLM as the Imperial Sand…
- Juan Bautista de Anza Overlook — Natural · Imperial County, CA
BLM overlook on the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail with a panoramic view across the Yuha Desert ACEC south of I-8 near Ocotillo. The Yuha is C…
- North Algodones Dunes Wilderness — Natural · Imperial County, CA
BLM wilderness (~26,000+ acres) protecting the tall, vehicle-free northern Algodones / Imperial Sand Dunes north of State Route 78. Hiking and horseback only…
- Ogilby — Ghost Town · Imperial County, CA
Southern Pacific railroad siding and supply town (est. 1877) that served the Cargo Muchacho gold camps and the Imperial sand-dune Plank Road era. Buildings a…
- Old Plank Road — Historic · Imperial County, CA
Remnants of the 1915 wooden plank road that once carried early motorists eight-by-twelve-foot sections across the shifting Algodones (Imperial) Sand Dunes—Ca…
- Painted Gorge — Geology · Imperial County, CA
Colorful faulted sedimentary badlands and canyon walls in the Coyote Mountains Wilderness near Ocotillo—a BLM dirt-road drive into striped reds, ochres, and …
- Picacho — Ghost Town · Imperial County, CA
Colorado River gold camp turned remote California State Recreation Area on the Imperial–Arizona border. Late-1800s placer and hard-rock mining built a rivers…
- Pumpkin Patch — Geology · Imperial County, CA
Field of spherical sandstone concretions (“desert pumpkins”) exposed by wind and water erosion inside Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area. Formed …
- Salton Buttes — Geology · Imperial County, CA
Chain of five Holocene rhyolite lava domes on the southeast shore of the Salton Sea—Mullet Island, North and South Red Hill, Rock Hill, and Obsidian Butte—am…
- Salvation Mountain — Historic · Imperial County, CA
Leonard Knight’s enormous adobe-and-paint folk-art mountain outside Niland proclaiming “God Is Love” — a public desert art landmark on the edge of Slab City …
- Shell Reef — Geology · Imperial County, CA
Exposed ridge of marine shell beds and badland topography in the Ocotillo Wells / northwestern Anza-Borrego desert, where ancient sea deposits weather into f…
- Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge — Wildlife · Imperial County, CA
Pacific Flyway refuge at the south end of the Salton Sea where managed wetlands, fields, and desert uplands support huge seasonal concentrations of waterfowl…
- Sunbeam Lake County Park — Wildlife · Imperial County, CA
Imperial County park around a freshwater irrigation reservoir west of El Centro / Seeley, used by waterfowl, shorebirds, and desert-edge species as well as a…
- Superstition Mountain — Natural · Imperial County, CA
Isolated desert mountain mass rising from the Imperial Valley west of the Salton Sea, a landmark for west-county BLM lands and popular high-clearance / OHV t…
- Tumco Historic Mine — Ghost Town · Imperial County, CA
California Historical Landmark No. 182 gold camp in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains—formerly Gold Rock, then Hedges (peak ~3,000 residents 1890s), later Tumco—B…
- Wister Unit (Imperial Wildlife Area) — Wildlife · Imperial County, CA
Primary Type-A unit of CDFW Imperial Wildlife Area on the east shore of the Salton Sea northwest of Niland. Managed salt marsh, freshwater ponds, and desert …
- Yuha Desert — Natural · Imperial County, CA
Broad Colorado Desert plain west of El Centro managed largely as BLM ACEC and route network, known for fossil oyster-shell beds, the historic Yuha Well on th…