Borrego Springs has long been an oasis for those seeking a quiet, contemplative atmosphere. Ironically, Borrego has also been the site of high drama, great laughs, and intense, action-filled adventures. A surprise to some, Borrego has been the filming location for some 20 productions. As early as 1928, with the making of “Beggars of Life”, starring Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks, Hollywood has been fascinated with Borrego as a backdrop. Productions like “Bugsy”, “The Desert Rats”, “The Desert Fox”, and “Scorpion Spring”, starring A-listers like Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Richard Burton, James Mason, Jessica Tandy, Ruben Blades and Matthew McConaughey, were filmed in the valley, exposing millions of moviegoers to the beauty of Borrego.

For example, the explosive desert color seen behind Matthew McConaughey and Alfred Molina in “Scorpion Spring”? That was Borrego. Or what about "Damnation Alley"—described as "the path of least resistance" between areas of intense radiation, and other perilous phenomena---traversed by George Peppard in his Air Force "Landmaster", a giant 12-wheeled armored personnel carrier capable of climbing 60-degree inclines? Yep! Borrego.

Remember Warren Beatty stopping his car on an open stretch of highway to get out and ponder the possibilities (presumably conjuring up the Flamingo Hotel) in “Bugsy”? Again. Borrego. And, is it possible that Robert Wise’s film, “The Andromeda Strain” whose main set, the Wildfire Laboratory, was supposed to be built deep underground in the Nevada desert was not in Nevada at all? You guessed it: Borrego.

Unknowingly, millions have visited the pristine deserts of Borrego and have conjured up their own fantasies about this stark, haunting landscape. In reality and on the silver screen, Borrego is the stuff of which dreams, or at least movies, are made!