singler3360
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Mexicali to San Ignacio starting March 14
It’s been 20+ years since the wife and I drove down to Mulage. We are adventurous and accept the normal tensions expectied with land travel in Baja.
However we want no part of the more recent cartel/gang activities that seem to be ringing in a new level of violence lately. How concerned should we
be for traveling in one car pulling a popup trailer with sea kayaks?
We have reservations at Cañon Guadalupe hot springs the night of March 14, then plan to see the whales at San Ignacio Lagoon before settling on one
of the beaches south of Mulage. Anyone have a similar itinerary and want to caravan?
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KasloKid
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Normal rules still apply... off the road before dark and watch for large potholes .... keep your speed down.
Have you been to the hot springs before? I don't think a car, let alone pulling a trailer will get through the sandy parts (maybe a 4-wheel drive
unit would be OK....)
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David K
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Yes, I question the ability of a 'car' pulling a trailer to get into the camping part of the canyon. Lots of steep pitches and big rocks to drive
around in the final 3 miles. A piece of cake before that. It has been a few years since we were there, however.
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singler3360
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Thanks for the responses. Kally at GCO suggested we take the road rather than the dry lake bed but didn’t mention issues with the main road in. We
are pulling a 15’ Aliner with a Tacoma 4x4.
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David K
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Quote: Originally posted by singler3360  | | Thanks for the responses. Kally at GCO suggested we take the road rather than the dry lake bed but didn’t mention issues with the main road in. We
are pulling a 15’ Aliner with a Tacoma 4x4. |
Oh, then not a "car"... The Tacoma 4x4 is the #1 (mid-size) truck of choice here with Baja Nomads! These people got me convinced to get my first
Tacoma 4x4 Off Road TRD back in 2000!
The 15' trailer will need to stay 2 miles away. Or, detach it and inspect the last 2 miles. Maybe they blasted the boulders away in the last 10 years?
The dry lake road (Km 24) is preferred unless it is wet!!!  
The graded road (Km 28) is 30 miles of washboard, and pulling a trailer you won't be getting up to 50 mph to smooth things out. Just deflate the tires
to 20-25 psi. The roads are accessed from the eastbound side of the divided highway, so if westbound, you need to make a U-Turn at the first opening
west of the access roads. A lady collects money like a toll on holidays to use the dry lake road... says the kilometer before the lakebed is her
land... lol. See one of our last times camping at Guadalupe Canyon: http://vivabaja.com/108/
Here was our last time, Halloween 2008: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=35050
My area map:
My directions from 2008, they may be unchanged:
Here are some driving details:
San Diego to Guadalupe Canyon takes about 3 hours... use Hwy. 94 east from I-805, or I-15, or Hwy. 52 & 125.
Tecate to Guadalupe Canyon is 100 miles... Using the toll highway, two tolls are collected: El Hongo $4.10 US, La Rumorosa $1.25 US.
The canyon is reached via a graded road (well signed 'Cañon de Guadalupe) or 2.6 miles beyond via the dry lake bed (well signed 'Laguna Salada').
When dry, the lake bed is the preferred route, allowing for speeds of 50-60 mph.
Both routes are about the same distance, 34 miles. The dry lake bed route has 25 miles of lakebed, then the route turns off the lakebed and joins with
the graded road in a mile. The last 8 miles climbs towards the canyon and they begin with almost 6 miles of wide graded roadbed. However, the final 2
miles is suitable only for SUVs, trucks, or very slow, careful driving over the large rocks!
Returning to Tecate (via the lakebed road) will require a 2 mile detour east on the toll highway to a signed turnback to go west.
[Edited on 3-14-2018 by David K]
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singler3360
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Trip report: this place is amazing and well worth the effort to get there. We aired down and took the road in. Pulling our 15’ Aliner Ranger 12
with off-road package did not guarantee every bolt and screw wasn’t shaken loose but the larger tires, higher clearance and beefier axle were
necessary. The last 2 miles brought us to a crawl but there were no boulders that couldn’t be negotiated. Kally was right that a minimum of 8” of
clearance was all that was needed, although I did stick the truck in 4WD for the last 100’ of stream crossing followed by steep hairpin turns.
Amazing drive in for sure.
On the way out we took Juan’s advice and drove the 26 miles on the dry creek bed. Piece of cake! Definitely the way to go in next time.
The campsites with dedicated hot pools are superb.
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: Originally posted by singler3360 | Trip report: this place is amazing and well worth the effort to get there. We aired down and took the road in. Pulling our 15’ Aliner Ranger 12
with off-road package did not guarantee every bolt and screw wasn’t shaken loose but the larger tires, higher clearance and beefier axle were
necessary. The last 2 miles brought us to a crawl but there were no boulders that couldn’t be negotiated. Kally was right that a minimum of 8” of
clearance was all that was needed, although I did stick the truck in 4WD for the last 100’ of stream crossing followed by steep hairpin turns.
Amazing drive in for sure.
On the way out we took Juan’s advice and drove the 26 miles on the dry creek bed. Piece of cake! Definitely the way to go in next time.
The campsites with dedicated hot pools are superb. |
P.s. shouldn’t an “off road package” survive off road w/o bolts shaking loose?
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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KasloKid
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A new dirt bike shouldn't lose bolts, but I've lost a few in Baja ....
Only after losing my kick start lever did I started using blue Loctite...
Did I mention it was new?
[Edited on 3-16-2018 by KasloKid]
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