BajaNomad - San Juanico North Road

San Juanico North Road

TMW - 7-22-2017 at 11:29 AM

Since many have asked about the north road to San Juanico I've put together some Google Earth images and will add some GPS way points. The paved road out of San Ignacio is 25+ miles and ends at the mud flats. From there it is a graded road past the trash dump to the Y for El Datil. From the Y into El Datil the road crosses what is known as the salt flats. It is very important that you stay on the most traveled road. STAY OUT OF THE MUD AND WATER. From El Datil you again will be on the salt flats then on a sand road before it turns into a graded road. It dead ends at the graded road that is referred to as the high road. This graded road runs south to San Juanico.

The high road use to be the main road years ago but silt beds and rain have taken it toll over the years. Martin Sr the owner of Rancho El Cuarenta told me a couple of years ago that north of his place the road was wiped out. There is a cut across road that runs from Rancho El Cuarenta to Los Batequis. There are some soft sand spots on it so a 4x4 is highly recommended.

If you use the north road by way of Rancho El Cuarenta Martin or a member of his family will give you a piece of paper asking for donations.
Batteries especially AA and AAA are always welcome there.

Sign is at 26-53.420x113-07.100
Trash dump is at 26-48.254x113-06.843
The Y for El Datil is 26-46.232x113-04.645

There are two turn offs to Los Batequis the second one is at
26-36.624x113-00.420

El Datil is a pretty simple fishing village, If needed they have gas out of barrels

After leaving El Datil the road goes from salt flats to sand. You'll pass a ranch on your left, it may be abandoned I don't recall. After the ranch turn right and cross an arroyo. To your right is a mountain of white volcanic ash. The road turns into a graded road and dead ends at the graded road to San Juanico, go right.

Right turn after the ranch is 26-26.630x112-44.810
T junction to San Juanico is 26-26.000x112-39.370

[Edited on 7-22-2017 by TMW]

David K - 7-22-2017 at 11:49 AM

Thank you Tom.
Is high tide around new or full moon phases always going to flood the road or is that just a rare high tide issue?

TMW - 7-22-2017 at 01:35 PM

I've never had an issue of the road flooding while driving thru there. That said I can't say if it is a regular problem or not. I've seen water to the sides. I would keep an eye on my rear view mirror and if you see mud being kicked up stop and back up. If necessary take the high road by way of El Cuarenta. There are several lines going thru there and I always take the one most used.

As a side note SCORE in 2010 and NORRA this year used a road coming off the San Ignacio paved road that goes to El Patrocino and and around coming into the back side of El Cuarenta.

mcnut - 7-23-2017 at 09:09 AM

Excellent, best directions and info for those routes even though many have tried.

Bruce

AKgringo - 7-23-2017 at 09:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by TMW

I've never had an issue of the road flooding while driving thru there.

As a side note SCORE in 2010 and NORRA this year used a road coming off the San Ignacio paved road that goes to El Patrocino and and around coming into the back side of El Cuarenta.

TMW, as I posted in a reply to another post, I encountered flooding on the lower road in 2014.

My first time through San Juanico was traveling north on my return trip in 2013. I missed the turn off to El Datil, and thought I was on the high road. It became clear after a while that the ranch road I was on was not going to return to the coast, but I had plenty of fuel and kept on driving.

I wound up intersecting the road you mentioned, somewhere south of Tres Palmas. There was a road crew there, and I showed them my AAA map and they pointed out where I was, and told me there was no road where I just came from!

The ranch road was narrow and rugged, but I really didn't need 4x4. I also tried the old road headed toward the salt flats from Tres Palmas, but it was alternately washed out, or overgrown to the point of being impassable.

I opened, then closed behind me, a couple of livestock gates, but there were no signs posted of any kind.

TheEL - 7-23-2017 at 10:25 AM

Silly question probably, but Im having trouble figuring out how to map the coordinates given. Can anyone shine a light as to how to properly input them into google maps?

AKgringo - 7-23-2017 at 10:41 AM

Quote: Originally posted by TheEL

Silly question probably, but Im having trouble figuring out how to map the coordinates given. Can anyone shine a light as to how to properly input them into google maps?

Not me! I just confessed to getting lost with a Garmin and a paper map, It was like being a second lieutenant again!

TMW - 7-23-2017 at 12:57 PM

On Google Earth where the cursor is located the coordinates are shown at the bottom right along with the image date, the land elevation and the eye altitude. To change the coordination datum click on tools in the upper left then click options. A menu bar will open allowing you to select various options. I usually use degrees, decimal minutes which is what most GPS devices use. If you use a spot device it sends the signal as decimal degrees.

mtgoat666 - 7-23-2017 at 03:55 PM

Quote: Originally posted by TheEL

Silly question probably, but Im having trouble figuring out how to map the coordinates given. Can anyone shine a light as to how to properly input them into google maps?

The OP is sharing snapshots of what is in google earth. Perhaps the OP will share the raw data as a kml file, the standard output from google earth :light:

mtgoat666 - 7-24-2017 at 10:20 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

How do you post a KML/KMZ file here?

put the file on Google Drive (or similar) in a "public" folder, and then provide the link here in message body.

mtgoat666 - 7-24-2017 at 01:37 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666

Quote: Originally posted by David K

How do you post a KML/KMZ file here?

put the file on Google Drive (or similar) in a "public" folder, and then provide the link here in message body.

Can you provide the steps, and show what Google Drive or a Public Folder is?
Thanks! Tom asked me for help on this, but I have not done that before.

Google drive works like Dropbox.
Get a google account (you already got one if you have a gmail account) - it's free.
Download google drive app to your computer, phone, tablet, etc.
On your PC or MacBook, google drive creates a folder on your hard drive. Whatever you drag/drop into that folder gets replicated in the cloud and all your shared devices. You can set each sub folder with it's own permisssions. It's intuitive, little need to read instructions, and if you need those they are out there on the web.

You should also get google docs and use googles spreadsheet and word processors. Pretty slick, and free too.

Try google photos too. Pretty good saharing spot, and unlimited storage if you follow the resizing rules.

While you are at it, get google plus.

David K - 7-24-2017 at 10:59 PM

OK, thank you, Mr. Goat... Nice of you to help.

I do have two Google email accounts, and they are my least favorite to use... One is for book sales. I will try this with my other Google email account and see if I can replicate your steps.

I have grandpa duty this week, so it may take me a while longer than my typical muy rápido response time.

[Edited on 7-26-2017 by David K]

TMW - 7-25-2017 at 08:54 AM

There you go David spoiling her.

mtgoat666 - 7-25-2017 at 10:04 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666

OK, I have Google Drive.
I downloaded the app to sync with my PC...

When I go to the email from TW with the KMZ files, I can either download them or send them to One Drive... there is no option to send it to Google Drive... ?

In Documents, same story, a list of places I can send it, like Drop Box but nothing for Google Drive.

[Edited on 7-25-2017 by David K]

Dude, you grandpas should ask for computer assistance from your younger family members :lol:

if you are on a PC and Google Drive is running, you probably have an icon for it in the control bar at bottom (or side) of your desktop screen. click it, should give you an option to view google drive on your local hard drive or the web.

life with files is simplest when you can drag-drop in windows explorer :light:

[Edited on 7-25-2017 by mtgoat666]

David K - 7-25-2017 at 10:13 AM

OK, well I thought I was asking (you or other Nomads) by posting here.

Mexitron - 7-25-2017 at 10:17 AM

Nice report TMW, thanks!

Ateo - 7-25-2017 at 10:37 AM

I'll be on this road soon.......................

TMW - 7-25-2017 at 12:28 PM

Ateo let us know the north road conditions. I was last on it in April. Next time I'm down there I plan to take the high road by way of El Cuarenta, either going or coming. The last time I did the high road was 2013.

David K - 7-25-2017 at 12:44 PM

Sorry, Tom, I couldn't progress beyond the Google Drive set up to share your KMZ files. Maybe MtGoat666 will help you more?

I will be on that road on my next trip as well. I will have a GPS track (hopefully) to show it here.

Ateo - 7-25-2017 at 02:00 PM

Tom, I will give you a report when I get service.

TMW - 7-25-2017 at 08:19 PM

Thanks Ateo.

David the GE and GPX files are traced from GE. When you get to the salt flats just follow the best lines. As I said before stay out of the mud and water. At the last Baja 1000 going that way the SCORE GPS route had them driving into mud and Billy Robertson, Tony Tellier and others got stuck there, long time to get out.

David K - 7-26-2017 at 07:33 AM

Quote: Originally posted by TMW

Thanks Ateo.

David the GE and GPX files are traced from GE. When you get to the salt flats just follow the best lines. As I said before stay out of the mud and water. At the last Baja 1000 going that way the SCORE GPS route had them driving into mud and Billy Robertson, Tony Tellier and others got stuck there, long time to get out.

I am not worried, thanks to your good directions. I thought you asked me how to post those links here and that is what I was trying to do, but without a kid (or goat) to guide me to the next step, I was stymied. Look for my inReach tracking signal to begin at San Ignacio, next week.

TMW - 7-26-2017 at 07:44 AM

Have a good trip DK. Following you is very interesting and your pictures are great.

David K - 7-26-2017 at 07:49 AM

Thanks, Tom,
It is going to be the toughest, I think... At least I won't be cold as I was the evenings of my first two trips this year (New Years and February).

Sweetwater - 7-26-2017 at 02:37 PM

Returning to the On Topic discussion, I'm curious about the option of driving east out of Datil. I've taken the low road that continues along the shore line and wonder how much san/silt lies on the eastern route?

Edit: That is by far the best and most informative post on this route that I've seen or read on multiple forums. Thanks.

[Edited on 7-26-2017 by Sweetwater]

Tomas Tierra - 7-26-2017 at 03:37 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

I will be on that road on my next trip.

Finally pulling the trigger on the North road eh?? Spooky out there, be careful :lol:

Beagle - 7-26-2017 at 04:51 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Sweetwater

Returning to the On Topic discussion, I'm curious about the option of driving east out of Datil. I've taken the low road that continues along the shore line and wonder how much san/silt lies on the eastern route?

Edit: That is by far the best and most informative post on this route that I've seen or read on multiple forums. Thanks.

[Edited on 7-26-2017 by Sweetwater]

I could be wrong but they both just meet up a few KM down the road by looking at the map. Or I don't understand the question.

We took it a few weeks back. Taking a left once in town (Datil), you then pass a Vintage silver Spartan trailer that says "Laundry" on one side of it and go down a ways and veer right again. We had mostly hard pack-salt. Had to stay on the eastern most edges to stay out of the wet though. Since then I've heard it's gotten swamped over so I have no idea if that's the way to do right now.

People in San Ignacio will know the most up to date situation.

chippy - 7-26-2017 at 06:13 PM

Really its not that scary. :rolleyes:

[Edited on 7-27-2017 by chippy]

[Edited on 7-27-2017 by chippy]

David K - 7-26-2017 at 06:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Tomas Tierra

Quote: Originally posted by David K

I will be on that road on my next trip.

Finally pulling the trigger on the North road eh?? Spooky out there, be careful :lol:

Yep, as I have never had a reason to go to Scorpion Bay before, north, south or east roads. I was in La Purísima last Feb., so I pretty well got the east road covered. Naturally, going over the mountain to/ from Mulegé is still in need for my curiosity!

TMW - 7-26-2017 at 08:21 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Sweetwater

I'm not sure what you mean by a road east of El Datil. There is a road 5 miles north of El Datil that goes east thru Los Batequis over to El Cuarenta. Before El Cuarenta it connects with the high road going north, which use to be the main road.

Back in 1992 a friend and I pre-ran the area getting ready for the SCORE Baja 1000 race and here is a map I drew. Note not to scale. SCORE used a road about 8-10 miles after the curve. I don't see that road on Google Earth today.

[Edited on 7-27-2017 by TMW]

Tomas Tierra - 7-27-2017 at 03:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by Tomas Tierra

Quote: Originally posted by David K

I will be on that road on my next trip.

Finally pulling the trigger on the North road eh?? Spooky out there, be careful :lol:

North and east roads are well worth the effort.

On the North, Pull off in Datil and buy some gas and a beer at the store and hang out. That little village has some great people! And a very unique vibe. One of the last places where the kids will still rush the truck screaming for stickers

TT

Tomas Tierra - 7-27-2017 at 03:48 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Sweetwater

Agreed on the quality of info here.

The road east out of Datil is actually NW of Datil by about 5 miles. It's where the abandoned block house is with all the telephone poles.. You go east towards the Mesa from there. You can see the el Quarenta "cut" in the Mesa with white bluffs. You go through the cut to get to el Quarenta ranch

TT

Ateo - 7-31-2017 at 06:57 AM

I just did the exact route TMW laid out above. We had no issues. You definitely want to have 4x4 on this route because there are miles of sand before you hit the cardon forest. Having said that I did it in years past in a 4x2 Tundra and didn't get stuck. The road from San Ignacio is paved about 30 miles and in great shape. Make the turns Tom motioned and hang a right at the dump and head out to Datil. You will
pass many sections where you can see signs of prior people getting stuck. (Sticks, debris, whatever you can find to try and gain traction and get unstuck). We passed out stickers in Datil and found the salt flats pretty wet. Wetter than I've seen in the last few years. Maybe from recent high tides or rain. Stay to the left on the flats and hug the mini dunes. All roads lead to the same place. Once connected back to the main north road I was averaging about 50mph. The washboard wasn't that bad. Average for that stretch. Have fun. It took us about 3.5 hours. Scored some waves too!

David K - 7-31-2017 at 09:08 AM

Good to hear from you Jon!
It was an extra high tide this past week with the moon in charge. This week it is a quarter moon, so lower tides.

David K - 8-3-2017 at 05:52 PM

Camped south of El Datil in some beautiful sand dunes, last night (Wed).

Paving south of San Ignacio runs 30 miles, 5 miles from the lagoon shore and about 10 miles from Kuyima complex. There is quite a town just east to drive through to rejoin the bypass road that brached before the lagoon.

The road on south to El Datil began as bad washboard after the Y (sign says Salina, go right fork), past the dump TW referenced. That bad washboard was only for a short ways but got me to deflate my tires.

The salt flats were dry where the road was aling the east edge, until the southernmost section south of El Datil and that was because after hugging the edge I finally cut across, as traffic had before. Not bad mud, but I used 4WD briefly.

The road from the salina up to the high road junction was graded, not fast and some rock sections. Thank you TW for the notes.

The graded road high road south to Cadeje and San Juanico was good and fast.

Paved road from San Juanico to Las Barrancas was good. New river crossing work ongoing.

Las Barrancas to La Purísima/Insurgentes highway junction had pot holes. The Purisima/Insurgentes highway only had a few bad miles. Most of it was brand new, wide highway.

I will have more details in my TRIP #6 report.

San Ignacio to San Juanico, August 2017

David K - 8-6-2017 at 12:32 PM

A road log... posting this from La Paz off my notes for your interest. I may make corrections or other edits when I am back home.

0.0 miles Mission San Ignacio, plaza.
0.6 Km.0 sign for hwy south, unpaved here.
0.7 Pavement begins...
8.4 Rancho San Juaquin
12.6 San Zacarias
18.8 El Patrocinio road jcn.
30.1 End of pavement
34.8 Fork, bypass left, San José de Garcia sign. Log continues to La Laguna, right fork.
36.1 Pancho's road to right.
36.2 Along lagoon shore.
38.8 Fork, right branch for Kuyima.
40.2 Intersection: Antonio's to right, Kuyima complex, straight 0.4 mi., La Laguna village and road south, turn left.

Reset odometer at Intersection.

0.7 La Laguna village
2.7 Junction with graded bypass road from mile 34.6 (above).
6.6 Fork, sign "Salina" for right branch. Ahead is the high road via San José de Garcia. Log continues on right branch via El Datil. Reset odometer to 0.0
0 0 Salina road fork.
14.7 white building and dozens of tall poles used for osprey nests. A former desalinization project??
22.2 El Datil, fishing village.
31.9 Sand dunes access road right. Salt flat driving soon ends as road heads inland.
35.1 Ranch
35.4 Road bends to the right, crosses arroyo.
41.7 Junction with high road. Turn right/south.
46.7 Arroyo San Raymundo/Rancho La Ballena.
52.8 Cadeje, a small village.
61.0 Paved Highway at entrance to San Juanico 'Scorpion Bay'.

5 driving hours from San Ignacio, 107.5 miles.
My apologies if there are math or spelling errors. I am posting on my phone with Internet popping in and out, here in La Paz area.

Some editing made 2:42 pacific time.

[Edited on 8-6-2017 by David K]

David K - 8-15-2017 at 10:51 AM

I made mileage notes on my glove box (torn) AAA map. If the numbers are hard to read or unclear from where to where, then here is the run down of the written in numbers:

San Ignacio Plaza-El Patrocinio road: 19.0 miles
El Patrocinio road-End of Pavement: 11.4 miles
End of Pavement-Village Bypass (signed San Jose de Garcia): 4.6 miles
Bypass fork (right branch)-La Laguna Village: 6.2 miles
La Laguna Village-Salina Road/High Road Fork: 5.9 miles
Fork to ex-Desalinization Plant/ Osprey Poles: 15.2 miles
Osprey Poles0-El Datil: 7.6 miles
El Datil-Ranch near road fork: 13.3 miles
Ranch-Junction with High Road: 6.8 miles
Junction-La Ballena: 5.1 miles
La Ballena-Cadeje: 6.3 miles
Cadeje-San Juanico: 8.5 miles
San Juanico-Las Barrancas: 30.2 miles

NOTE: I may have some editing yet to do, but believe the numbers are correct. Use them for general interest, I make no guarantee you will have the same readings.

TMW - 8-15-2017 at 12:24 PM

Good job David, thanks.

David K - 8-15-2017 at 12:40 PM

Quote: Originally posted by TMW

Good job David, thanks.

Thank you, Tom, for your notes that were helpful to not stress about the Salina route.

I am downloading photos and now looking at my inReach track to see what all my side trips look like from space vs. now having been on the ground!

I will have a more detailed map of the Salina Road as it actually was driven, 2 weeks ago. I hope I have the energy to produce all the maps from the tracker and my notes!!! LOL

Conditions

supertrooper808 - 9-2-2017 at 02:09 PM

Hey Guys. I'll be driving down around September 22nd to Scorpion bay to surf. Taking my Lifted 2004 tundra. Just saw this and it has me thinking the north road might get worked. Thoughts?

Friday-Lidia.jpg - 79kB

woody with a view - 9-2-2017 at 02:25 PM

If you have to ask......

David K - 9-2-2017 at 02:29 PM

Rain and high tide mean the high road or come around from the south on the pavement... but the highway will need to be fixed.

Do see my thread in this forum for the revised road log and maps from San Ignacio south to San Juanico. They replace the ones I added to this thread.

[Edited on 9-2-2017 by David K]

TMW - 9-2-2017 at 03:09 PM

Quote: Originally posted by supertrooper808

Hey Guys. I'll be driving down around September 22nd to Scorpion bay to surf. Taking my Lifted 2004 tundra. Just saw this and it has me thinking the north road might get worked. Thoughts?

If the salt flats to El Datil are too wet to drive on then the high road by way of El Cuarenta may be better. Martin at El Cuarenta told me a couple of years ago the road north of his place was badly damaged. If so you could follow the google earth image below. You can follow David K's direction to get there and use the GPS readings from the image for the turn east. There are some soft sand spots so I would recommend a 4x4. EC 26-39.72x112-53.96 is Rancho El Cuarenta, lower right.

[Edited on 9-2-2017 by TMW]

high tide

sd_jody - 9-27-2017 at 12:00 AM

Hello,
Heading down to Scorp Bay on Oct 7 and it look like there will be a very high tide. So, i should avoid the salt flats, correct?
Would anyone like to caravan?

Thanks so much for all your info!!!!

sd_jody - 9-27-2017 at 12:06 AM

Hello, where would the moon dust be located?
thanks!