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JZ
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What are the 5 best "Easy to Medium" Baja trails?
By easy/medium, I mean can be done with a good, stock 4x4 by a driver with a bit of off road experience. No real rock climbing. No road building.
Distance 30 to 60 miles, give or take.
If you don't have 5, just give us 1 or 2 of your favorites.
[Edited on 8-25-2019 by JZ]
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David K
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What is it you want to go to, do, see??
The entire peninsula is mostly easy dirt roads. The extreme ones (like Mission Santa María and Pole Line Road) we know so I would lump every other
dirt road in with "easy to medium". So, in 30-60 miles, what do you want to see?
How about the road from north of Colonet to Rancho El Coyote (good food, motel rooms, camping area, ~35 miles)?
L.A. Bay to Bahía Las Animas is another (~40 miles) or longer, to Punta San Francisquito?
I could go on and on looking at the map... so maybe tell us what you are seeking beside the kind of road and distance?
We know you hate San Felipe and the northern Gulf, so only south of Gonzaga Bay!
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JZ
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Good question. General question is what are your favorite day runs.
Criteria:
- the runs you like the most, think are the most beautiful, fun
- anywhere in Baja
- ~30-60 drive in the dirt (i.e. half day to a day run)
- a place to stay or camp at the end is nice to have, but can also take the hwy back to somewhere
- no services (food, gas, etc.) required, it's optional
Examples:
- San Evarsito to La Paz
- San Javier Mision to Comodu or San Isidro
- Constitution to Timbabichi/El Gato
- Bahia Blanco to Santa Rosalillita
[Edited on 8-25-2019 by JZ]
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David K
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Las Pintas, round trip from Km. 80.5, is about 55 miles. Great petroglyph and fossil grotto.
Mission Guadalupe is 40 miles from the highway/ Mulegé. Beautiful country. Featured in Episode 1 of Trail of Missions Recon video.
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mtgoat666
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Quote: Originally posted by JZ  | By easy/medium, I mean can be done with a good, stock 4x4 by a driver with a bit of off road experience. No real rock climbing. No road building.
Distance 30 to 60 miles, give or take.
If you don't have 5, just give us 1 or 2 of your favorites.
[Edited on 8-25-2019 by JZ] |
The best places in baja are inaccessible by motor vehicle...
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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JZ
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K |
Mission Guadalupe is 40 miles from the highway/ Mulegé. Beautiful country. Featured in Episode 1 of Trail of Missions Recon video.
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60 mile loop in the dirt, then 20 on the hwy back to Mulege. I haven't done it yet. Sounds like a great 1 day excursion.
[Edited on 8-25-2019 by JZ]
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TMW
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Easy means it's an access road to a worse road worth taking.
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TMW
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JZ the road you show going west of the mission in the GE image is messed up a couple of miles from the junction near Rancho Las Tunas. The rancher
said only horses can get thru but Nomad Desert Bull was chasing some motorcycle riders that got thru. They had to carry their bikes a couple of times
but made it. I hoping the road will someday be open again.
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David K
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Las Tunas is just off of this map... but is on the next one >>>
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shari
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you dont really need a 4X4, but the road into San Borja Mission from either BOLA or Nuevo Rosarito is a breathtaking scenic road through the cirio
cactus forest, some cool little canyons and a great place to camp in San Borja and trails around there too..hot springs, nice garden and a gigantic
mango tree plus the Mission!
Also the road into San Jose de Magdelena is sweet...lot of water for swimming in...and a great museum at the top of the village.
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defrag4
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the road outside Loreto from the San Javier mission to the Comondus over to La Purisma that traverses over the Sierra gigante range is pretty fun, not
too challenging right now, a few spots where 4x4 is handy, we shall if the rains change it next season
[Edited on 8-26-2019 by defrag4]
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advrider
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San Ignacio to scorpion bay is one I like and then onto La Purisma is a good two or three day run.
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BajaRun
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Buffalo Ranch Rd. Thru the Pine Forest.
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advrider
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More info, are you talking about Laguna Hansen?
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larryC
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The old road from BoLA to San Francisquito, it goes through La Bocana. You turn off of the graded road at about K35 (where there are 2 tires stood up)
south of Bola and go through a couple of ranchos and then at La Bocana you have to navigate a washed out portion and then on south to meet up with the
graded road to San Francisquito at about K80. Fun little out of the way loop.
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by larryC | | The old road from BoLA to San Francisquito, it goes through La Bocana. You turn off of the graded road at about K35 (where there are 2 tires stood up)
south of Bola and go through a couple of ranchos and then at La Bocana you have to navigate a washed out portion and then on south to meet up with the
graded road to San Francisquito at about K80. Fun little out of the way loop. |
As there were no kilometer markers, do set your trip odometer to zero when you leave the pavement in L.A. Bay town (tire shop/ Xitlali market).
Pass Las Flores jailhouse (see it off to the right) at Mile 9.7.
The old road going right, via La Bocana valley, is at Mile 22.1.
I would have to rate this road as 4WD only and very slow/ rough. You will pass by some of the largest cardón cactus in Baja along the way.
If you pass it, the Bahía las Animas road is about 4 miles further.
The old road rejoins the graded road at Mile 56.3 (on the new road). The old road is very difficult to spot, coming in from the right-rear. Only
motorcycle tracks on it. GPS: 28°26.057', -113°10.444'.
This old road was made famous in the 1967 Erle Stanley Gardner book, Off the Beaten Track in Baja. They opened/ repaired the old road in Feb. 1966. It
does not appear on any maps before then.
This 1989 AAA map has both the old and new roads shown:
Note that the ranch showed as "San Pedro" is actually La Bocana.
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4x4abc
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| Quote: Originally posted by larryC | | The old road from BoLA to San Francisquito, it goes through La Bocana. You turn off of the graded road at about K35 (where there are 2 tires stood up)
south of Bola and go through a couple of ranchos and then at La Bocana you have to navigate a washed out portion and then on south to meet up with the
graded road to San Francisquito at about K80. Fun little out of the way loop. |
definitely not easy or medium
easy for the experienced Baja buffs
everyone else has to be pretty brave to do this
the correct turn off is here:
28°42'35.38"N, 113°28'11.98"W
the one at km 35 used to have an old door as marker
easier, but less scenic
around 28°40'5.50"N, 113°27'30.54"W is the start of an old road leading into Arroyo San Pedro over Cuesta Santa Isabelita
28°36'27.04"N, 113°31'49.14"W
I have driven it in a very capable 4x4
MC will do better
By the way, the early road in Valle Las Flores is super cool
Attachment: 4x4 rural early road.kmz (3kB)
This file has been downloaded 205 times
Harald Pietschmann
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advrider
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Is this what used to be called the green door trail? If so the year before last on Motos was a workout, lots of rocks covered by deep sand, a 4x4
trail for sure.
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Mulege Canuck
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I drive half way from Mulege towards San Juanico. Nice swimming hole up there. Camp overnight and head back the next day. It is two trips really.
On the way up it is steep and your view is limited to the road in front of you. On the way back the views are incredible. I drive it with a camper
but it is a little sporty with it. Non issue with a taco.
Swimming Hole “Agua de Gringo “
26’ 40.654 N
112’ 20.873 W
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by advrider | | Is this what used to be called the green door trail? If so the year before last on Motos was a workout, lots of rocks covered by deep sand, a 4x4
trail for sure. |
Yes...
Kacey Smith has it in her GPS book.
Here is a photo of Paulina and Dern there... My Viva Baja sticker on it was placed in 2001.
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