A look back to June 2003: Baja 500 and down Mano to Guadalupe Canyon

Details from June 2003 trip

Guadalupe Canyon from Hwy. 3, going down the mountain

Last June, after watching the Baja 500 race with my son, https://vivabaja.com/p500/ we continued east to drop off the Sierra Juarez to the desert below, then turned north to camp at Guadalupe Canyon Hot Springs.

The road is shown in the AAA Baja map and Baja Almanac topo map book 2003 Baja Almanac You may follow along with either, but the Almanac offers superior details, although not totally accurate.

My GPS waypoints are at map datum setting NAD27 Mexico (same as the Almanac).

On the AAA map, note the following ranchos: Agua Blanca (just east of Hwy. 3, opposite the road to El Alamo); Los Pinos; Cerro Prieto; El Mano; and the 'Locked Gate' (it's not).

We followed the race course (not on maps) from Hwy. 3 to a point just north of Agua Blanca and made camp near a cross road, where the race course turned left/east. Our camp near this crossroad was at 31°42.24', -115°54.75' elev. 4,005'.

After the race, we followed the course from that 'left turn' and went up CAÑADA LAS CODORNICES 5.2 miles (map 8, R-1, Baja Almanac) to...

A junction near ARROYO EL TULE at 31°45.20', -115°51.52' elev. 4,663' (Almanac page 6, R-6, bottom edge) The race course turned right (south) here, we continued ahead.

The main traveled road eventually curves eastward through the forest (not shown in Almanac).

Road again turns north at 31°47.89', -115°49.25', elev. 5,009'. We just followed the road with visual signs having the most traffic, going the general direction we sought, and it took us the right way.

Soon the road turned to the east, and we arrived at the big RANCHO LOS PINOS (shown on AAA map, but not the Almanac) at 31°48.77', -115°46.26', elev. 5,086'. The peak CERRO PRIETO is just north of the ranch. Drive right through ranch property, going east.

Road curves north passing the north side of RANCHO CERRO PRIETO (31°49.23', -115°45.34') then turns east (not shown in Almanac continuing east).

Great view looking north along the east side of Sierra Juarez, down CANON EL PALMAR 31°49.12', -115°43.01'.

Road climbs a ridge and then drops into the upper end of CANON EL MANO for a long, steep down grade. Painted arrows (graffiti) on boulders from SCORE indicates this was a race course, in the past.

RANCHO EL MANO is seen down in the canyon near some palms, driveway at 31°48.56', -115°40.39' near canyon floor.

The road will climb out of El Mano canyon, over the north ridge. Some concrete was dumped for improved traction on a steep pitch. The 'Locked Gate' on the AAA map is a steel cable gate and was not locked or even closed.

The road descends the remaining slopes of the Sierra Juarez and is quite rough heading for the desert floor.

Once at the bottom, the road heads east to a junction with a faint road that continues south along the foot of the sierra, at 31°49.81', -115°33.89', elev. 1,271' Turn north, following the arroyo.

COHABUZO JUNCTION 31°55.74', -115°36.22', elev. 860'. This point is not named on the map, but is the name used by off road racers (Located to the east of the airplane symbol in the Almanac, and east of Cerro Cohabuzo in the AAA map). Here is a large level area where pit teams can service their racers. A poor road and race route goes east to the Laguna Salada basin, joins a good road to Ejido Saldana, and reaches Highway 5 (midway between Mexicali and San Felipe).

From Cohabuzo Junction north to Guadalupe Canyon's access is a fast graded road. Cohabuzo to Guadalupe is 29 miles.

Our Baja 500 camp (near Agua Blanca) to Cohabuzo was 36 miles, but don't be in a hurry... this is a great short cut in miles, but not in driving time! Have a great Baja adventure!






[Edited on 3-28-2025 by David K]

Quote: Originally posted by advrider

Did this route last month in two jeeps with small trailers. Not for the faint of heart or ill-prepared. Took us 2.5 day from the hot springs to make it to Hwy 3. The sand in the washes was very deep and the road gone in several sections. The climb out past the ranches is very bad shape now, most dirt has been washed from the rock and is close to the Rubicon trail in sections(I've run it about 40 times). In one spot on the steep climb the bank has slid into the road, a shelf road on the side of a 100 plus foot drop. Two hops and my right front tire was hanging off of the edge. Some creative winching saved us, but this trail is no walk in the park now, many washouts that drop into bottomless crevasses. It was fun, but this is very remote with little chance of rescue, go prepared. The large rock steps and exposed boulders would not be much fun on a moto unless it was a small two stroke in my opinion, gas might be an issue too.

Quote: Originally posted by PaulW

2.5 days is very long. Should have been one long day IMO. Detail where the slowest part of the trip was. Last drive for your route exposed Arroyo Enmedio with its deep soft sand. My trip over Mano was filled with issues. Found how to bypass (100foot drop) where the shelf road was washed out. My last trip required driving thru the Los Pinos compound thru two closed gated and a second ranch, but his gates were not closed. Not good. Did you bypass those two ranches using the over the mountain to the north? === = Quote: Originally posted by advrider   Did this route last month in two jeeps with small trailers. Not for the faint of heart or ill-prepared. Took us 2.5 day from the hot springs to make it to Hwy 3. The sand in the washes was very deep and the road gone in several sections. The climb out past the ranches is very bad shape now, most dirt has been washed from the rock and is close to the Rubicon trail in sections(I've run it about 40 times). In one spot on the steep climb the bank has slid into the road, a shelf road on the side of a 100 plus foot drop. Two hops and my right front tire was hanging off of the edge. Some creative winching saved us, but this trail is no walk in the park now, many washouts that drop into bottomless crevasses. It was fun, but this is very remote with little chance of rescue, go prepared. The large rock steps and exposed boulders would not be much fun on a moto unless it was a small two stroke in my opinion, gas might be an issue too.

GPS edits

Quote: Originally posted by advrider

We didn't do super long days as were enjoying the drive even with the challenging terrain. We stopped well before dark and made dinner each night. You could probably do it in a long day and a half, but I think you would still be on trial in the dark. I would not want to climb out past the two ranches in the dark. Not pulling a trailer would be faster as well. As Ken pointed out, there is very little room for error once you start making the climb out of the canyon. I'll pull out my map and try to add more details to this post.

Quote: Originally posted by advrider

We retired a few years ago so this was our first month long, no hard-set return date Baja trip. Really enjoyed not having to be in a rush and just stay where we felt comfortable and move on when we wanted. We did whale watching with Shari with amazing results. We had six whales approach our boat and hangout for over an hour. When we moved off because another boat moved in, they followed us. Crazy cool, I'll work on some pictures of that and the rest of the trip. Hard to find time right now as we are headed to Utah to ride bikes, then back to Utah in a month with the RZR. Then about a month to rest and we are off to Alaska on our Adventure bikes for a month or so. Trying to get the most out of retirement...

Alaska bound?

Quote: Originally posted by advrider

Hard to find time right now as we are headed to Utah to ride bikes, then back to Utah in a month with the RZR. Then about a month to rest and we are off to Alaska on our Adventure bikes for a month or so. Trying to get the most out of retirement...

Quote: Originally posted by advrider

Yes, hijack away. I went one time 20 years ago fishing from AK to Homer in a rented motorhome. Amazing place, this trip will be all moto, probably little to no fishing. Depending on weather, part camping and part hotels. I'll take any advice anyone has. We talked about taking the ferry back to Washington, but at 2k for five days with a room we might just ride it all. On one hand I think the ferry sounds fun and will give a cool perspective, but not sure at this point.