Support Picacho State Recreation Area

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Winterhaven, CA
Support Picacho State Recreation Area

Like this page to show support in keeping Picacho from closing, as well as learn all the ways you can help. (The park is on one leg of the Pacific Flyway.)

100 years ago Picacho was a gold mining town with 100 citizens. Today the site is a State Park, popular with boaters, hikers, anglers and campers. The park offers diverse scenery, including beavertail cactus, wild burros, bighorn sheep and thousands of migratory waterfowl. Eight miles of the lower Colorado River are the recreation area's eastern border. As in any desert country, travelers on this

road should carry extra water and other essential supplies. All motor vehicles are required to stay on the authorized routes of travel in the recreation area. In case of trouble it is best to keep calm and remain near your vehicle and in the shade until help arrives. Location-Directions
Take the 24-mile (mostly unpaved) road north from Winterhaven near the Mexican border. The road to Picacho from Winterhaven is paved only for the first 6 of 24 miles. The last 18 miles is over a dirt road that is passable for cars and vehicles with trailers and motorhomes. At times during the summer thunderstorms are likely to cause flash flooding in the washes, temporarily making short sections of the road impassable.

10/28/2025

Updates on the park.

Imperial County completed repairing Picacho Rd. and the park is open with some areas not accessible. under Current Restrictions: Lower Dock was washed out in recent rain events and is not useable. Also please note the current restrictions noted on the park's website under "Facility Closures".

Thank you to California State Parks, the Ocotillo Wells District and Imperial County for their hard work in getting Picacho SRA re-opened and for their ongoing efforts to restore the remainder of the park.

10/02/2025

Current restrictions.

The 18 mile dirt entrance road, Picacho Road, was closed by the County of Imperial due to significant erosion on 9/30/25, essentially closing the main park entrance. Lower Dock was washed out in recent rain events and is not useable.

04/29/2025

Here is a local event. F4P is not sponsoring, however we thought maybe it would be of interest to some. Good luck.

02/28/2024

Greetings friends,
If you haven't heard, we are getting ready for our Spring volunteer weekend coming this March 16-17. If you are interested in joining us and the park staff to help keep our park beautiful, sign up by emailing [email protected]. Camping during the event is provided at the group camp and lunch is on us Saturday and Sunday after improvement activities.

02/24/2024

Hello everyone,

We are at the Yuma BBQ & Brew Festival today, if you are out and about, stop by the Friends 4 Picacho booth.

12/30/2023

Hello Friends,
We want to thank you for a successful 2023, It has been a great year out at Picacho. We had two very successful volunteer work weekends (one in March and one in November). With the help of many volunteers, both new and returning to help keep our park beautiful.
Some of the projects we completed include a new park entrance sign to welcome campers to our park, we built a recycling storage unit to help in the recycling process we use to bring in revenue for our park, we replaced ramada that was lost to a fire, and of course, trimming and brush removal throughout the campground, sites and roads to keep the park beautiful. THANK YOU! volunteers for your support and dedication.
We look forward to a new year and new events to keep working and beautifying our awesome park.
If you can and would like to support Friends 4 Picacho in what we do and make a year-end tax-deductible donation, please visit our donation webpage at https://www.friends4picacho.org/donate.html or you can send check to:

Friends 4 Picacho
P.O. Box 50372
San Diego, CA 92165

Friends 4 Picacho is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax ID #46-1210724.

The Friends 4 Picacho team thanks you again for all your help in 2023 and wishes you all a new year in 2024 full of success, joy and new adventures.

All the best,

Lorie, Felipe, Steph, Shelli, Paula and Kevin.

11/07/2023

I can see Picacho from here!

Final preparations for the volunteer event are happening. If you are planning to join us and haven't registered, email fcuevas@friends4picacho.

Do you have a favorite road trip or even a Picacho specific tune you love? Share it in the comments. Do we rock? are we classic? funky? Jazzy? country? grassy? or a little bit of everything....

10/31/2023

Hi all,

Don't forget, only 12 days left before our volunteer work weekend event this November 11 & 12. to help us plan, let us know how many fun volunteers will be in your party. We're looking forward to a good time at the end of Picacho road. See you there.

email [email protected] to sign up.

10/10/2023

Hello Friends,

Ever wonder how we keep our park beautiful? It all starts with morning snacks followed by a little work, mix in an awesome setting, add in some great folks and top it off with some provided mid-day grub. Oh, and a free campsite to lay down and relax under the stars of course.

Our first volunteer event of the season is this November 11-12. Save the date and come join us. Sign up by emailing [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you and thank you for your support.

02/14/2023

Greetings Friends,

As we all know, Mother Nature has wreaked havoc on all of California recently. We think she has taken a break on Picacho so F4P has planned a work event for February 25th and 26th. Picacho road has been repaired and has never been in better shape.
The extreme damage to parts of the park will determine what projects we will be undertaking. We will assist the staff wherever they need us. This is truly the time for all of us to give back to Picacho. Let’s show our appreciation and show up in record numbers.
There will be free camping for volunteers in the group camp both Friday and Saturday nights. Morning coffee and snacks will be available before each work morning. F4P will also serve lunch after the workdays on Saturday and Sunday.

Please email Felipe to sign up to volunteer at:
[email protected] If you are not able to volunteer but would still like to help, donations are always appreciated.
Any questions concerning accessibility in the wake of any future flash flooding, please email Felipe ahead of heading out to Picacho for the work weekend.

We look forward to seeing everyone together again,

Felipe Cuevas
Lorie Long
Shelly Dickinson
Paula Kracha
Kevin Kracha
Stephanie Buggert

11/30/2022

November 29. The following information is an update from Park Ranger Amber.

"As of Sunday, November 27th… Picacho Rd is completely graded and back to normal. There are 2 sandy spots but they're easily passable with 4WD or able to be somewhat driven around. We had a lot of trucks and trailers make it in this weekend no problem, even with 2WD.

Also, we are still waiting for the final permit to be able to start the dock repair0 at PSRA. Therefore, the Lower Dock area remains closed until further notice."

This is certainly good news as our season gets underway. Time to go camping!!!!!!!

11/18/2022

Update for Picacho Road: November 18,2022

Good News!!!! Picacho Road has been repaired up to and including the Princess Rock area. Still waiting on the Road Commission to finish the last 4 miles into Picacho SRA which is very sandy. Hoping they finish today with the remainder. We will post again when that happens.

Address

Picacho Road
Winterhaven, CA
92283

Website

http://www.friends4picacho.org/

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Our Story

100 years ago Picacho was a gold mining town with over 2500 citizens. Today the site is a State Park, popular with boaters, hikers, anglers and campers. The park offers diverse scenery, including beavertail cactus, wild burros, bighorn sheep and thousands of migratory waterfowl. (The park is on one leg of the Pacific Flyway.) Eight miles of the lower Colorado River are the recreation area's eastern border. As in any desert country, travelers on this road should carry extra water and other essential supplies. All motor vehicles are required to stay on the authorized routes of travel in the recreation area. In case of trouble it is best to keep calm and remain near your vehicle and in the shade until help arrives. Location-Directions Take the 24-mile (mostly unpaved) road north from Winterhaven near the Mexican border. The road to Picacho from Winterhaven is paved only for the first 6 of 24 miles. The last 18 miles is over a dirt road that is passable for cars and vehicles with trailers and motorhomes. At times during the summer thunderstorms are likely to cause flash flooding in the washes, temporarily making short sections of the road impassable.