Salton Sea State Recreation Area: Ironwood Nature Trail (Blog Hike #990)

Trail: Ironwood Nature Trail
Hike Location: Salton Sea State Recreation Area
Geographic Location: southeast of Mecca, CA (33.49002, -115.90180)
Length: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: February 2024
Overview: An out-and-back with 2 short loops along the east shore of Salton Sea.
Park Information: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=639
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=955773
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming January 17, 2025)

Directions to the trailhead: This hike can be started at either the Mecca Beach Campground or the New Camp Campground, but the parking is better for day-users at the Mecca Beach Campground.  Get there by taking SR 111 south 12.3 miles from Mecca to the signed state park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, pay the entrance fee, and park in the day-use parking area to the right of the beach parking at the rear of the campground.

The hike: With an elevation of 236 feet BELOW sea level, the Salton Sea is one of the lowest points on the surface of the earth.  The Colorado River now flows nearly 100 miles to the east, but it used to flow through the Salton Sea's valley.  The present sea was formed in 1905 when water from the Colorado River broke through an irrigation gate and flooded the previously dry river/lake bed.  The lake would have dried up many years ago but for local farmers who pumped in large amounts of Colorado River irrigation water and let the excess flow into the lake.

            Over time the Salton Sea became an ecologically troubled area.  The body of water is indeed a saline sea, not a freshwater lake, and the salinity has increased over the years as the sea has shrunk and contamination from farm runoff has increased.  By the 1980's, the toxicity had caused massive die-offs among area wildlife, and by the 1990's the shrinking sea exposed enough seabed to send toxic clouds of dust into nearby communities.  In fact, the Salton Sea has been dubbed the greatest environmental disaster in California history, and today the sea's salinity is twice that of the Pacific Ocean.

            Problems remain today, but a management program adopted in 2018 has mitigated the disaster.  Several wildlife areas and parks exist along the sea's shore, and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area on the sea's northeast shore has the region's best amenities.  The area features 5 campgrounds with more than 200 sites plus fishing, boating, and paddling on the Salton Sea.  For hikers, the area's best trail is the Ironwood Nature Trail described here.  The Ironwood Nature Trail offers a short nearly flat hike, but do not underestimate the heat and sun in the summer: there is no shade to be found on this trail.

Trailhead at Mecca Beach Campground

            The Ironwood Nature Trail connects the Mecca Beach Campground and the New Camp Campground, so in theory you could start at either end.  The day-use parking is better at the Mecca Beach Campground on the trail's south end, so this description will start there.  A small brown metal sign bearing a leaf symbol marks the trailhead.  The trail heads north into the desert on a sandy dirt track that is wide enough for a golf cart to pass.  The trail is unmarked except for some numbered wooden posts that correspond to an interpretive guide that was only available from a dispenser at the other (north) trailhead when I came here.

Salton Sea and Santa Rosa Mountains beyond

            The larger-than-life scenery of the Santa Rosa Mountains to the west and the Orocopia Mountains to the north immediately becomes apparent, and the sea remains in view to the west for most of this hike.  Despite the scenery, you never really get a sense of solitude: SR 111 and an active train track sit only a couple hundred feet to the east.  Trains first came through here in 1875, and the present-day track owned by Union Pacific carries over 50 trains per day.

Union Pacific train

            At 0.4 miles and near post #19, you reach a short loop in the middle of the trail that exits right.  This loop explores a small wash, and I recommend taking it on your way back when you have an interpretive guide in hand to help you understand the interesting ecology of the wash.  Staying left and taking the more direct route going north brings you to the other end of the loop and post #7 at 0.55 miles.

Small wash

            0.8 miles into the hike, you intersect a concrete trail that goes straight and left.  The concrete trail is the ADA-accessible loop portion of the Ironwood Nature Trail.  I suggest continuing straight for the shortest route to the New Camp Campground, which is reached just shy of 1 mile.  The aforementioned interpretive guide dispenser is located here, as is an elaborate and sturdy but purely functional concrete bench.

ADA-accessible loop

            I recommend taking both the concrete ADA-accessible loop and the loop through the wash on the way back southbound.  The ADA-accessible loop passes through an area with denser greenery than you have seen for most of this hike, an indication that more water is present in this area.  The interpretive guide calls this area Whitfield Stream, and it tells you about the spring (dry on my visit) that used to supply water reliably here.  The wash loop also has some interesting plants described in the interpretive guide.  Take your time to explore the area and admire the scenery on your way back to Mecca Beach Campground and the end of this hike.