BajaNomad

HWY 5 from the border?

dharveyk - 3-3-2019 at 09:58 AM

I know there's some info already listed about the road... but wondering from anybody who's been that way recently if it's better to cross to 1 or head down 5? We're going down to La Ventana area. Thanks

David K - 3-3-2019 at 10:08 AM

I was on the 1 a couple weeks ago for about 260 miles south from Tijuana, in the rain. There are huge potholes in the area of south Ensenada and Maneadero to be careful of.

The one big road construction project is the long grade south of Santo Tomás to widen and straighten the highway. It is a controlled one-way detour through the construction zone and not a problem, but there may be a wait for your turn to proceed... 15 minutes is common but longer has been reported.

Hwy. 5 is a breeze if you are in an SUV with San Felipe the only town to pass through. About 9 miles of highway north of Puertecitos is being replaced and is an unpaved detour. South of Puertecitos, there are a few bridges that were destroyed last October but they have graded detours around them, plus the last 20 miles to Hwy. 1 is a detour or construction zone.

So, you can do the mostly paved Hwy. 1 and deal with lots of city and farm town traffic plus a couple of mountains or take the mostly straight, desert highway, with great views of the Cortez and islands, almost no traffic, but have about 30 unpaved miles.

mtgoat666 - 3-3-2019 at 10:13 AM

Quote: Originally posted by dharveyk  
I know there's some info already listed about the road... but wondering from anybody who's been that way recently if it's better to cross to 1 or head down 5? We're going down to La Ventana area. Thanks


Deends on where you start from.
If starting from San Diego, faster to take 1.

If you are a nervous Nellie and want to avoid traffic, then take the 5, but it will take you longer and you have to drive 20+ miles of unpaved road


[Edited on 3-3-2019 by mtgoat666]

TLBaja79 - 3-13-2019 at 01:33 PM

Drove Hwy 5 last week. Beautiful north of San Felipe.

South of San Felipe was pretty rough, lots of potholes, rough road, areas of road eroded out from rains, bridges collapsed, etc... But I don't mind that, I'd still drive that way again, rather than Hwy 1. Almost zero traffic, I don't think we saw a truck the entire day!