These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
Did you know that the small desert town of Borrego Springs in California is overrun by colossal creatures and mythical beasts once thought to be extinct? Don’t worry, this isn’t a real-life Jurassic Park. These are giant metal sculptures, part of the Galleta Meadows created by artist/welder Ricardo Breceda. Galleta Meadows is a collection of over 130 metal sculptures scattered throughout the desert landscape of Borrego Springs, a small town in the middle of Anza Borrego State Park. Some of these metal sculptures are out in the open, while many are hidden unless you’re willing to explore. So, we put together an ultimate guide to show you how to find all of these awesome metal sculptures in Borrego Springs.
Christmas Circle Community Park:
Borrego Springs, CA 92004
Coordinates: 33.256496, -116.375091
*Note: This is just your starting point. The sculptures are spread all over the town. We included the exact locations of each sculpture below.
Borrego Springs is located 1.5 hours southeast of Temecula or 1.5 hours south of Palm Springs. The Galleta Meadows metal sculptures are scattered along the main Borrego Springs Road. Therefore, the Christmas Circle Community Park is a good starting point since it is right in the middle of all the sculptures.
Using our map above, if you make a right onto Borrego Springs Road from the Christmas Circle, you’ll head toward state route 78 and the trailhead for The Slot, a neat slot canyon hike in Anza Borrego State Park. We’ll refer to this as the right side of the Christmas Circle. The left side of the Christmas Circle goes toward Indian Head Ranch. We will start with the right side of the Christmas Circle first.
This eagle sculpture is one of the more popular Galleta Meadows metal sculptures in Borrego Springs. It is on the right-hand side of the Christmas Circle, about 0.46 miles down the road. If you pay attention, you can’t miss it. It is a giant sculpture of a giant eagle bringing a serpent home for dinner for her two little chicks. Besides being a popular sculpture, it is also one of our favorites. The details on the feathers are just amazing.
Horses: 33°12’43.53″N 116°21’6.89″W
Elephants: 33°12’43.99″N 116°20’52.12″W
Down the dirt road from the Breceda’s Eagle, you’ll come to a meadow full of metal horses. Make sure to drive around and find all of these interesting metal horses, ranging from horses peacefully grazing, a mother feeding her foal, and two horses rearing up, ready for battle.
A little bit further down the road. There are two full-sized mammoths and their adorable baby. You can definitely drive right up to them, although we recommend getting out of the car and seeing them up close. This is the only way to truly appreciate the metal sculptures of Galleta Meadows in Borrego Springs. The details on these sculptures are breathtaking. We love everything from the scales on the serpents and the feathers on the birds, as well as all the fine hairs on all the horses, elephants, and sabertooths.
Across the main road from the Breceda’s Eagle are a bunch of feisty felines. Across the main road from the eagle are a bunch of feisty felines. Like with the horses, the sabertooths are engaged in all sorts of mischief. Some are striking a pose, waiting for their close-up. Others are showing off their athletic prowess with impressive lunges. A couple in the back got a little hangry and decided that donkey was on the menu. One of our favorites is the fully airborne sabertooth, determined to take down its poor victim.
As you leave the sabertooth area, make a right onto Borrego Springs Road toward state route 78, then make the first right onto Anzio Drive. When you come toward the end of the road, you’ll turn right onto the first dirt road you see. This is where you can see a giant eagle with an entire boar grasped in its talons. Apparently, bacon was on the menu for breakfast that day.
First Spinosaurus: 33°11’58.53″N 116°20’55.00″W
T-Rex battle: 33°11’56.17″N 116°21’4.40″W
Single T-Rex and other dinosaurs: 33°11’58.30″N 116°21’11.01″W
The T-Rex & dinosaur metal sculptures of Galleta Meadows in Borrego Springs are a bit harder to get to. To get to them, you’ll have to drive through some bumpy dirt roads. Even though you can get there in a regular sedan (we did before), we recommend bringing a high-clearance vehicle. First, you’ll want to continue all the way down to the end of the Anzio Drive. From here, you’ll see a dirt road next to some fences. This magical dirt road will take you back in time, millions of years ago, to the age of the dinosaurs.
The first one you will see is the Spinosauraus. The funny thing about these Galleta Meadows metal sculptures is that you have to keep your eyes peeled. As we admired the magnificent beast, we realized there was another little raptor, and another one, AND ANOTHER ONE! It’s a good thing that these aren’t living dinosaurs because those three would have snuck up on us.
From there, keep going about 250 yards further down the road, and you will find yourself in the middle of a fierce battle between two massive, bloodthirsty T-Rexes. This is up there on our favorites list. There is a big gap between the T-Rexes, big enough to fit a car. It is perfect for a photo op!
If you haven’t gotten your fill of dinosaurs yet, you can keep going for another 200 yards down the road to see another cool T-rex, some more sneaky and almost hidden dinosaurs, and two raptors. One of the raptors is a proud mama guarding a nest with some eggs.
Pecarry: 33°16’57.96″N 116°22’26.02″W
Camels: 33°17’0.88″N 116°22’27.21″W
The dinosaurs are the last of the Galleta Meadows metal sculptures on the right-hand side of the Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs. To the left side of the Christmas circle, the first set of Galleta Meadows metal sculptures are the Pecarry & Camel. It is about 1.6 miles down the road, at the corner of Borrego Springs and Big Horn Road, on the right-hand side.
The first metal sculptures you will encounter are two Pecarry and their baby. A short distance from them is a pair of tortoises and a super cute mother camel feeding her baby.
Down the dirt road from the camel sculptures is a gigantic scorpion getting ready to trade blows with a huge grasshopper. These two sculptures are among our favorites. We love the mesh wings on the grasshopper. This is a good spot for astrophotography. We’ve spent some time here before capturing the stars. Did you know that Borrego Springs is a designated Dark Sky Community?
Many visitors miss this little gem. If you keep going past the scorpion and cricket, you’ll come to this neat little vineyard with grapevines and workers. We love all the intricate details that go into this area, from the bunches of grapes to the intertwined vines. It is really amazing!
Piggies & Kitties :33°17’04.5″N 116°22’26.2″W
Ground Sloths: 33°17’11.0″N 116°22’29.1″W
6 Tapirs: 33°17’04.8″N 116°22’21.7″W
After you are done with the vineyard, head back to Borrego Springs Rd. Just 0.16 miles down the road on the right is the home of a variety of metal sculptures; some of these are a kneeling camel, a mommy piggy with her litter, and more sabertooth cats. Not too far from these are the sculptures of a family of tapirs. They are smaller, so it is easy to miss them. Closer to the road are bigger sculptures of the giant sloths, one of them even giving a piggyback ride to a baby sloth!
If you keep going, you’ll find yourself at hands down the biggest and most epic sculpture of all Galleta Meadows! It is a colossal serpent. This serpent weaves in and out of the ground from one side of the Borrego Springs Road to the other, at a whopping 350 feet long. It took Ricardo almost 4 months to create everything from the scales on the creature’s head all the way to the rattle on his tail and another 3 months to put all of the pieces together in its new desert home. The project also cost a hefty $40,000 to complete. This is one of the few Galleta Meadows metal sculptures in Borrego Springs that you’ll have to park your car and walk over to. It is worth it, though!
You can access these sculptures from San Ysidro Drive, a short distance from the Serpent. If you stand at the head of the serpent, you can see these guys in the distance.
Bighorn Sheeps: 33°18’00.8″N 116°23’04.0″W
Elephants: 33°17’55.3″N 116°23’03.8″W
About 0.8 miles from the Serpent sculpture, there is a small dirt road on the right-hand side of Borrego Springs. At the beginning of this dirt road, there is a sign for Galleta Meadows estate and 2 elephant sculptures. Further down this dirt road, we found a whole herd of the Bighorn sheep. A mother is grazing on the cactus as her baby is lying next to her. There are two rams ready to fight each other. Besides these, there are other sheep, hanging out.
Jeep: (33°18’0.85″N 116°23’14.22″W).
Gold Miner: 33°18’04.4″N 116°23’21.1″W
Padre with his dog: 33°18’6.46″N 116°23’18.53″W
If you keep going past the serpent, just under a mile away on the left-hand side, you will find one of Dustin’s favorites. It is a full-scale 1946 Willy Jeep with a driver crawling over a boulder. For these next few Galleta Meadows metal sculptures, you have to park your car and walk to them. A short distance from the Jeep, at the dirt area, you can find the gold miner and the padre with his dog.
Last but not least, you can head back to the road and follow the curve. About 130 yards after the curve on the right, you will find a family of turtles and the Indian head statue.
Galleta Meadows is definitely our kind of art! We love the fact that it is a mix of a scavenger hunt and unique art installations. If you love weird art like this, check out the sculptures at Olancha Sculptures, Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, 10 things to do in Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain, or Slab City Adventure. For more things to do around Borrego Springs, we recommend The Slot, an easy yet super fun and unique hike in Anza Borrego. Wind Caves trail is another fun hike that will take you to some of the coolest wind caves. You can always finish the day watching the sunset from the best viewpoint in the park, Fonts Point.
Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to check out the related posts below for more inspiration on your upcoming adventures. While at it, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel! We’ll love you forever!
These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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3 Comments
Thanks for publishing this awesome article. I’m a long time reader but I’ve
never been compelled to leave a comment. I subscribed to
your blog and shared this on my Twitter. Thanks again for a
great article! https://www.citybrewtours.com/montreal/private-tours/company-outing/
Wonderful article and photos (especially the drone shots). I photographed a few of these several years ago, but I see that I missed some good ones. Will have to return!
Hopefully, you’ll get to come back soon!