Looking for some more ideas to explore around San Felipe. Friday I went out to what I think was Canon Del Diablo based on some old maps in The Baja
Adventure book. I accessed from a newly paved road south of El Dorado Ranch off Hwy 5.
The entrance to this canyon was at 31°02'38.3"N 115°16'30.7"W
Beautiful photos!
There are more canyons to the south you can explore (El Cajon, Agua Caliente, El Berrendo, El Parral, and Matomí).
Let me know if you need directions, photos, etc.!
[Can you set your flickr upload size to 800 pixels maximum, so Doug won't have to resize them to fit the Nomad width limit?]
Beautiful photos!
There are more canyons to the south you can explore (El Cajon, Agua Caliente, El Berrendo, El Parral, and Matomí).
Let me know if you need directions, photos, etc.!
[Can you set your flickr upload size to 800 pixels maximum, so Doug won't have to resize them to fit the Nomad width limit?]
Resized the photos. Do you think that was Canon Del Diablo and there's still a waterfall there? Directions and photos would be much appreciated to the
other canyons.
Awesome job with the photos!
I am heading out the door for a family event, but will get you more data later... for now, here is a section of my new Road Guide from that area....
San Felipe (Km. 181) to Rancho Matomí via Valle Chico, 61 miles
The eastside canyons of the San Pedro Mártir mountain range offer excellent hiking and camping locations, most with flowing water, some with the
endemic Baja California blue palm trees, Indian petroglyphs, and even hot springs. Flash floods come in the summer and fall and can change or even
destroy roads. Off-Road racing is popular in Baja California and many roads get heavy use from race traffic. Arrows and ribbons mark the race course
routes. Do not disturb or remove these markers.
0.0 Miles: Highway 5 at Km. 181, north of San Felipe at the Colonia Morelia road. There are some kilometer posts are along this road.
4.3 (Km. 7+) El Dorado Ranch resident road (from Km. 178.5) junction. This was once known as the ‘Zoo Road’ as it began where a curio store sold
carved-wood animals on Highway 5, a ‘zoo’ of animals.
5.1 (Km. 8.5) Join the original Ensenada-San Felipe road (from or to Km. 189+).
12.5 Cattle guard.
12.8 (Km. 20.5+) Fork. Right (west) to Diablo Dry Lake (original road to Ensenada, signed ‘Colonia San Pedro Mártir’). Log continues, using the
left fork, south to Matomí.
19.5 (Km. 31.5) Fork. Right (west) to Rancho El Cajon. Continue going south taking the left fork for Valle Chico and Matomí.
Baja California’s highest peak, Picacho del Diablo can be seen throughout the region.
24.6 Junction. Continue straight/south. The road to the east from here is often used for racing going back to San Felipe.
25.9 Cattle guard.
26.0 (Km. 42) Road right (west) goes to Arco del Triunfo, a drug rehab center.
29.6 Cattle guard.
31.5 Crossroad. Ahead (west) for Rancho Algodón and the old road north along the base of the mountain. Turn left (south) for Agua Caliente, El
Berrendo, and Matomí.
36.4 (Km. 58.5) Abandoned farm on east side.
39.4 Enter abandoned farm town, shown on maps as Plan Nacional Agrario or Agua Caliente. Perhaps part of the Colonia Morelia vineyard project. An
active ranch is just ahead at a major fork in the road.
39.6 Major fork: South is the left fork, left side of ranch house for going to El Berrendo and Matomí. Continue below, at Mile 0.0.
For Agua Caliente Canyon, take the right fork (west) here, toward the mountains, keeping left at the next fork, just beyond.
0.1-0.6 miles drive on the former farm airstrip, since ditched as with many rural airstrips to prevent use by drug runners.
2.0 Enter Agua Caliente canyon.
2.2 Pass steel water tank.
2.4 Closed gate. Petroglyphs are high up the cliff on the south side of the canyon.
2.6 Road washed out here. A track to the left may be passable to extreme 4WD vehicles. Hot springs alongside of a cool mountain stream are located 3.2
miles further up the canyon, on the right side.
0.0 Miles At the major fork, 39.6 mi from San Felipe, reset your trip odometer to continue south.
1.7 Fence road to left (east), stay on the right fork.
5.4 Fork. Matomí left (east), El Berrendo and El Parral Canyon to right (south). Road to El Berrendo described:
0.2 Pass corral of Rancho Carricitos and a road to right to Carrizo Canyon.
1.5 Road west to El Berrendo blue palms, south to El Parral (7.4 miles). Turn west.
3.9 Fence and cable across canyon. Boulders just ahead would prevent driving much further than this point. Blue palms grow high on the mountain and in
the arroyo here. https://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajatravel/el_berre...
On the Matomí road, Mile 5.4 above:
8.1 Corner of fenced area, fence road to the left, stay on the right (southern) fork.
8.2 Fork, go left (east) on the well-used track. Right fork road south ends after one mile.
8.5 Junction. Fence line road across Valle Chico to Cañada el Parral (Azufre Wash) and a road through the mountains to Highway 5, via the sulfur mine
area
South of the Azufre Wash fence line road (Mile 8.5 above) the road to Matomí canyon is slow going for over 4 miles with numerous moguls or cross
grain terrain.
13.0 Cattle guard and a new fence.
16.2 Top of a steep grade down into Arroyo Matomí. 4WD required to return up this grade.
16.5 Bottom of the grade, Arroyo Matomí. The normally passable route to Highway 5 (27 miles) was blocked by large rocks, 2.8 miles to the east of
here in March 2017 to all but extreme off-road vehicles and motorcycles. Turn right (west) 5 miles for Rancho Matomí.
21.5 Rancho Matomí, unoccupied. A steep path just east of the house leads down to a waterfall fed pool. Blue palms upstream provide attractive
camping possibilities along the year-round running stream.
You were not at Canon Del Diablo. It is at 31-04.50x115-22.33 or using your datum (Hr-Min-Sec) it is 31-04-29.94x115-22-19.83.
If you do go there to explore be aware where you park and make sure you have marks that will lead you back. The last time I was there one of the guys
in the group missed the turn coming back to the parking area and went on out to the dry lake. A lot of people went searching until the military
brought him to the beer mans shack.
If navigating by sight with the mountain and visual appearances, one would likely drive up to Canyon Diablito. A common mistake in decades past,
before GPS and better maps/route info. Canyon Diablo is well to the north of Diablito.
Diablo TH = 31 04.46639, -115 21.92812
Attached are two small tracks with WPs. Not the same as David's write up, but will get you there the same. If you zoom in the Diablo hike is also
shown, but it is intermittent due to the high canyon walls. At least is shows the parking and the direction to walk. Mark you trail walk so you do not
get lost for your way.
three2 tango was at Dilabito Canyon TH is at 31 3.928, -115 21.582
Both trails are show on the attachments
Attachment: dilabito-diablo.gpx (196kB) This file has been downloaded 355 times
Attachment: dilabito-diablo.usr (24kB) This file has been downloaded 301 times
Not very close to Providencia.
That link is a joke the coordinates are the trail head for Diablo. "Elephant hill"?? Not a good descriptive label?
Yes, I have slept there going an coming to/from the summit. Dirty with typical MX trash if it has not blown away in the wind. It is a typical trail
head.
To get to the waterfall it is just an easy walk up the riverbed, 2-3 hours if you go slow. Most people take longer to take pics and study the canyon
walls.
Co-ordinates to Diablo Canyon trail-head starting at Jose's store/shack following the old "Zoo" road from El Dorado.
31 04.136-115 14.977---Jose's store
31 05.285-115 15.863---Half buried tire marking left turn for Ranch
31 04.796-115 17.168---Santa Clara Ranch-Owner, Senor Ignacio
31 04.434-115 20.776---Veer left for Diablo trail-head
31 04.461-115 21.922---Stop. You are now at trail-head
You will find two or three trails that should lead you gradually to the right and over to the short drop down an embankment which will put you onto
the creek bed. The fall is still there but depending on the rainfall its size will vary. Before you reach the falls, you will encounter several nice
swimming holes. Enjoy the hike up the creek.
The Road Guide is done (for now) and it is designed to be updated easily with future trips by me or whoever follows in my footsteps (Tacoma tracks)!
As for how it is produced and distributed, well that is up to Baja Bound Insurance, who sponsored my 7 research trips. It can be either printed or
viewed as an online guide. There is a single version Border to Cabo or 6 'mini-guides' that include my maps.
I have shared it with a few Nomads to help with editing and general feedback on how usable it is. So far, two thumbs up!
Is camping at/near the trailhead of Cañon del Diablo a reasonable thing to do?
I'd love to hike these canyons on the east side of the Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Mártir that are west of San Felipe, but haven't explored
this area before. Is camping generally acceptable in this area?
I lost a friend, Katherine Hammontre (aka Baja Kat), while she was hiking in del Diablo a few years ago -- the case has yet to be resolved.
Those of us who know some of the back-story do not necessarily suspect foul play. I cannot vouch for the safety of the area, although I have hiked
Diablo with no problems.
Update
All the land from the lakebed to the mountains is private property and access is now limited.
There are two ranches at the entrance from the lakebed. The second ranch has a locked gate. Sometimes it is open. In any event when you return from
camping or hiking 90+% of the time the gate will be locked and the ranch owner will demand 100 pesos per person to pass. To make it worse the ranch
closest to the lakebed will also demand 100 pesos per person to pass.
I suspect price is negotiable??
The whole deal is a big pain and delay to get home.
Otherwise the road is easy to follow and usually the sand is not too deep.
BTW, is easy to get lost between the canyon and the trail head. Memorize the faint trail or carry your hand held gps or smart phone to record you
track.
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
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cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
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