Seeley: Parks, Sports, and Anza History

In Seeley, park and sports activities sit alongside historical connections to the Anza expedition when planning a trip. These themes differ in their relationship to time. Training and games follow current weekly schedules; the expeditions can be compared using historical dates. This distinction makes it easier to choose a travel date without treating a park visit, a sporting event, and an interest in history as the same kind of occasion.

Parks and Sports

John Robert Bates Memorial Park is in Seeley and can be reached via Interstate 8, Drew Road, and Park Street. You can fish at Sunbeam Lake Park; the park also has a trail. Fishing and using the trail are different recreational activities that you can plan according to your interests. If either of these offerings is important to your visit, check the current condition of the park facilities in advance.

Sunbeam Lake Park is home to the Sunbeam Little League, which plays games there on most weekday evenings. Imperial Valley BMX trains in the park on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The difference matters when choosing a date: BMX training has a specific time slot, while games take place on most weekday evenings. This does not mean that a game is scheduled on every single weekday. If you would like to coordinate your trip with either of these offerings, confirm the training and game schedules locally in advance.

Yuha Well and the Anza Expeditions

Yuha Well is associated with two different expeditions. On March 8, 1774, the Anza Exploring Expedition used the site. From December 11 to 15, 1775, the three divisions of the Anza colonizing expedition used it as the first good water source beyond the Colorado River. The March date belongs to the Anza Exploring Expedition; the December period belongs to the Anza colonizing expedition. Despite the shared name, these are separate historical events. The later episode spans five days and also describes the site's role as a water source for the three divisions. The two uses of Yuha Well were about one year and nine months apart.

The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail offers a downloadable audio guide for the section through the Yuha Desert. This provides a second way to explore the Anza theme alongside the dated events at Yuha Well: the historical information concerns specific expedition dates and the importance of a water source, while the audio guide focuses on a named trail section. This lets you choose between learning about the expeditions chronologically and using an audio guide focused on the section through the Yuha Desert.

Discover more destinations: Niland, Calexico, Imperial, El Centro, Heber, Calipatria, Holtville, Westmorland

Back to the main travel overview: Imperial.