Salton Sea State Recreation Area

Salton Sea State Recreation Area stretches along the northeastern shoreline of the Salton Sea, offering one of the most accessible places to experience this extraordinary desert landscape. Once envisioned as a center for boating, fishing, and waterfront recreation, the park now serves as a quieter destination for birdwatching, photography, camping, and exploring the environmental history of California’s largest lake.

The shoreline reveals the Salton Sea as it exists today: beautiful, fragile, and constantly changing. Migrating birds gather along the water, freight trains pass through the desert corridor, and the Santa Rosa Mountains rise across the sea. The combination of open water, exposed shoreline, distant mountains, and enormous skies makes the recreation area especially compelling during the cooler months and around sunrise or sunset.

Visitors can begin at the park’s interpretive Visitor Center, where exhibits help explain the accidental formation of the modern Salton Sea, its mid-century resort era, and the ecological challenges now shaping its future. Conditions and available facilities can change, so visitors should check current California State Parks information before traveling and avoid contact with the water whenever health advisories are in effect.

Related Salton Sea resources

• Chocolate Mountains — explore the desert range east of the sea, with original photos and access guidance
• Explore Bombay Beach — art, community and shoreline photographs
• Explore the Salton Sea Visual Guide
• Read the Complete History of the Salton Sea
• Plan a Salton Sea Bird-Watching Trip
• Explore the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club
• Visit the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge