Butterfield Ranch Resort & Spa

If you want to stay in the area go to Aqua Caliente. My wife told Douglas we were leaving a day early because the mattress in cabin #12 is rock hard. He says he has the same one and had to put a foam topper on it. One would think that would warrant the same thing for paying guests:(we had to put the sofa mattress on top of ours to make it half way bearable. Only 1 out of 3 pools were open and that one was freezing! The playground looks post apocalyptic.
They advertise free wi fi, but it’s only if you hang out in front of the store.

Douglas is such a sweet and friendly guy. He gave me a hand drawn trail map to find the Indian kitchen, Rock House and an amazing abandoned gold mine. The kids all loved that hike. I’ve often stayed at Agua Caliente, just down the road — but the weather at Butterfield makes it a much better base camp. Agua Caliente is crowded, loud and the rangers are sometimes unfriendly. Bring carrots for Donkeyodey, and the two horses, they will love you! My son’s bike didn’t suffer any blowouts — but a friend of mine also had problems with burs — so leave the bikes at home. After a day of hiking, the cold pool is refreshing. If you want a warm pool, take a short drive to Agua Caliente and enjoy their mineral pools.

One star is for the donkey, who is very friendly and loves the attention. One is for the guy running the store; he was very pleasant, helpful and friendly. One star is for the wi-​fi, which is scarce in this area. (No cell service.)
I’ll have to stop there, though. I went there to go swimming, and only one of the 3 pools was open. The pool seemed very clean and well maintained, but the water was very cold and I could only stay in it for 1 minute. There was a jacuzzi, which was warm, but it was completely filled by a large family with about 8 screaming kids. I could do nothing but put my feet in it, because of this one family occupying the entire tub.
The rest rooms seemed old and lacked maintenance. A group of campers were playing loud music, which gave the area a ghetto feel. I gave up and drove down to Agua Caliente down the road to go swimming, which was very crowded but at least they have the room and maintenance.
But this place is worth stopping at to pet the donkey!

This was a pretty fun camping trip. We stayed in Tents and the owner was super friendly and even addressed us by name. On a customer friendliness level they get a 5. I’m giving it a 3 overall on quality. The place is pretty run down. Red & Black Ant hills everywhere throughout the campground. Playground is old. The pool & hot tub are in decent condition. Bathrooms are fairly reasonable all things considered. Shower pressure not that great. Small Thorns everywhere as well. Both of our kids tires were popped because of them and we saw 2 other campers with flat tires. Best advice don’t bring bikes. This area of the desert sits in a bit of a valley so there are frequent moderate to strong wind breezes. If it weren’t for the thorns and ants everything else would be tolerable. It is after all camping. There are hiking trails nearby and a reasonably priced general store for necessities I.e. ice, mini Coleman propane tanks, beer etc.

Tent camping $ 20 a night with use of pool and spa. Grounds have use of laundry if needed with quarters. Also can ask to use the gas BBQs at the pool areas.
Staff that runs campground exceeds most businesses examples of good customer service. They stopped once in our campsite to make sure everything was ok. They turned on a spa to heat up water thats not used often rather than tell me use the one thats all ready heated up just so I could use spa that was not near the YMCA campers (I wanted to hear no kids). We werent able to get water to come out of our campsite and they were there within 15 minutes to let us know it was an issue with the well. Really good customer service and they will have me as a camper for many years.

Camped at Butterfield a few weeks ago. Fantastic experience, it’s a huge site and there’s loads of room. Toilets and store on-​site means you’re never too far from civilization but equally you won’t notice it’s there if you don’t need it. Doug who runs the place couldn’t have been more helpful. Tried some other sites in the Anza-​Borrego area and this won hands-​down. Looking forward to going back!

My writing partner and I stayed in a Rustic Cabin (horse shed/​tool shed with bunk beds) for three weeks in December.
Doug, the caretaker, was more than accommodating. Hell of a nice guy. Helped us out with whatever we needed.
The weather was cold and windy. We were allowed to bring a space heater along with a 100′ extension cord, which reached across the way to an RV spot. If you’re going to do that, buy a good quality, low gauge cord.
There’s not much out there in the desert, which was perfect for writing. It was 45 minutes into town– either Julian or Borrego Springs.
You’ll find some hiking trails, a pool, clean bathrooms, a little store and visitor lounge, and very slow wi-​fi. AT&T mobile & data works, but neither for Verizon.

A nice quiet place to enjoy the surrounding area.
I was in an RV, with full hookups and loved the convenience.
I didn’t get much time to walk the ranch and see all the sites and sights, but what I did see was great. We were able to park two 36′ motorhomes with 20′ trailers no problem!
Park people were great, as well as my (camping) neighbors.
We’ll be back for sure!