The Desert and the Sky
Sat. March 14 - Sun. March 15 | 2026
Borrego Springs, Calif.
We’ll be on the verge of a new moon next weekend, which means it’s perfect timing for a little heavens-gazing in one of the best dark sky communities in the country.
Included this weekend:
The perfect outpost: a tile-spangled desert resort that rises oasis-like from the Anza-Borrego desert.
Dinner at an arts-loving new American restaurant with an unsurpassed view of the mountains.
The moon is a sliver, the stars are out. You’re going to see a night sky that has few equals in the world.
As always, your stay, meal and local experience are all bookable in one click.
This Overnight is no longer available. Get our weekly destinations (early!) here.
Where you’re going: a glorious pocket of dark sky in Southern California.
Why here?
You’re looking at the biggest state park in California and the third largest in the country. This is Anza-Borrego: it’s colossal.
At the core of this place is a platter of expansive desert, 650,000 square acres of it, all enclosed by mountains. The rolling badlands come trenched with deep gullies and washes that give it all an other-planet feel. You half expect a NASA rover to come trundling by to acquire a soil sample.
But it is jaggedly, wildly, decisively beautiful.
Read on or
The sights extend upward.
Borrego Springs, your town for the weekend, is California’s first certified International Dark Sky Community. It’s only a couple of hours outside of San Diego — remote but by no means the end of the earth — and the trick to the darkness is two-fold.
First, the mountains are configured perfectly to block big-city light bleed, and secondly, the residents and businesses here are incredibly committed to keeping their skies star-filled. Borrego Springs has exactly zero stop lights, for example, and all the other nighttime lighting is kept to an absolute minimum.
Beyond the stargazing is the vibrant desert art. At Galleta Meadows, there’s an amazing assembly of metal-wrought ‘Sky Art’: upwards of one hundred large-scale dinosaurs and pre-historic creatures and uncategorizable beasts stalk the sandy road that curls through the scene.
And more formally, there’s the Borrego Art Institute, a comprehensive gallery and educational center that sits with surprising sophistication among the tumbleweeds in a town of only 3,000.
It’s a town that specifically deserves an overnight. Whether you’re a proper stargazer, or a photographer that wants to capture the perfect star trail, or would just like to give the sky a non-expert nod of reverence, this is the place.
“We believe that artistic surprise is one of life’s most delightful elements,” says the Borrego Art Institute. “Surprising artistic discoveries are good for all of us.”
The same is true of travel. Arriving in a place like Borrego Springs, with the aesthetic shock of it vs. wherever you just came in from, is a wonder.
This weekend in Borrego Springs, discover…
The stay.
Borrego Springs Resort
The town of Borrego Springs is completely enveloped by the Anza-Borrego desert and mountains, and the views from here are something special.
One of the key amenities of this hotel is the stargazing. More on this later, but the resort is very much built around giving guests a prime spot to take in the sky; each room comes with its own private balcony/patio that makes a perfect little private observatory.
There’s great on-site dining, a heated outdoor pool, six tennis courses, and a lot of other conventionally good things, but again, you come for the stars.
For anyone who “wants to see the Milky Way with their own eyes,” says the hotel, “our resort offers the ideal setting to reconnect with the universe.”
You have a king suite reserved for Saturday night. Sleeps up to four.
The day.
Galleta Meadow Sculptures
One of the most interesting things about Borrego Springs: the 130 metal sculptures at Galleta Meadow. The art is spread out over a sprawling campus of desert, and includes a strangely wonderful conglomeration of old miners, elephants, pre-historic cats, a tyrannosaurus or two, an extinct camelops, and a giant cricket (facing down a scorpion),
The artist is Ricardo Breceda, a former cowboy boots salesman turned metal worker, and his creations have created a certain iconography for Borrego Springs.
The meadow is completely free, and there’s a fantastic map that pinpoints every sculpture. Best enjoyed by car, because it’s a pretty vast expanse.
The find.
Desert Lovers & Co.
A rich, shoppable showcase of work from makers and local artisans.
The shop carries gifts for “those who love the desert and those who don’t realize it yet,” and there’s distinct pride in the works that are carried here. We love this pleasantly leaping big horn sheep by Martha Turner.
We’re including a $50 credit to put towards a deserty thing to bring home with you
Photo: @desertloversandco, Instagram
The food.
Michaell’s in Borrego
The view from Michael’s — there’s a striking mountain vista from here — is a powerful complement to the food. Good American fare, beautifully plated, and all infused with an artist’s dedication to craft and creation.
Michael’s is also affiliated with the nearby Art Institute of Borrego.
Prepaid, just arrive. You have reservations at 7pm on Saturday evening.
The tucked away.
Fonts Point
Elaboration beyond this photo not totally required. It’s a 4-million-year-old portal into the sweeping badlands of the Anza-Borrego.
A place that looks like this should really be accessible only through strenuous three-day ascent of some sort, but not the case. This is a 10-mile drive east of your hotel.
You do need a four-wheel-drive vehicle in the sand, and you’ll need to watch the weather, but otherwise, comparatively easy to get to.
We should also say a word here about the famous Superbloom (a happening here where dormant wildflower seeds grow and bloom all at once in late February and early March). This is a spectacular annual phenomenon in these parts, depending on rain levels, and the desert was ablaze a few weeks ago. We’re a bit past peak this weekend, but there is still beautiful color to be found.
The evening mood.
Back at your hotel, with stars
Well, where else? The place you’re staying is perfectly situated to take in the sky, so no need to go off gallivanting into the desert at night.
“From the moment the sun dips below the Santa Rosa Mountains,” says Borrego Springs Resort in its dedicated ‘stargazing’ section, “the sky begins its nightly performance.”
There is first-rate celestial observation to be had from your room’s private patio, and the hotel also has designated viewing areas set apart from any light on the premises. You just look up from right where you are.
The temperature is going to be just right, in the high 40s to mid-50s, and with the low-light new moon approaching, it means you’ll have an even better chance to see something wonderful.
Book it all in a click.
This Overnight includes:
A king suite at the Borrego Springs Resort & Spa, reserved for Saturday, March 14, 2026. Prime dark sky viewing from right here.
Dinner at Michael’s in Borrego. Pre-paid, reservations at 7pm on Saturday evening.
A $50 credit to find something artful at Desert Lovers & Co., right down the way from your hotel in Borrego Springs.
This Overnight is no longer available. Get our weekly destinations (early!) here.
See here for a full list of photo credits for this story.