Salton Sea Headquarters Campground and Visitor Center

We traveled along the Salton Sea in 2021 and stayed at New Camp  which is a part of the Headquarters area of the park. This time we chose the Headquarters Campground for the convenience of a full hookup site to dump our waste water and fill our fresh water. The campground is along the east side of a large picnic area parking lot with fourteen sites lined up in a row. The campground appears to get little use so the lack of privacy due to the closeness of the sites is slight. The host site was the only occupied site when we visited.  

The visitor center is at the south end of the lot. It's small with a few exhibits about the sea that are a little out of date. The water now in the Salton Sea is the result of a cut made in the bank of the Colorado River in 1905 when irrigation canals were being dug. Water flowed into the valley for two years before the breach was repaired. The beautiful fresh water lake became of a vacation paradise for a short period but soon increased salinity of the water, algae blooms, fish die offs and agricultural pollution left most of the small communities ghost towns. The large parking lot at the Headquarters is evidence of how popular boating, fishing and swimming was in the 1950s and 60s. 

None of the campsites are designated as accessible but most can be used. The visitor center is accessible. The trails to the lake are sandy and not accessible. Headquarters   33.50533, -115.91479