BajaNomad - Need Help with Northern Baja Loop?

Need Help with Northern Baja Loop?

surfdog - 1-2-2007 at 05:03 PM

I am planning a trip to Baja down the Sea of Cortez side to the BOLA then across to the Pacific side (Guerrero Negro) and back up to San Diego.

I haven't driven into Baja before but I have been doing a great deal of research. We will be entering through Mexicali then have stops along the way in San Felipe, BOLA, Guerrero Negro, San Quintin, Punta Banda, Ensenada, Rosarita and then home. It is more of an exploration trip than anything else. We want to do it once and scout out some areas before returning with our families in the future. My buddy and I are experienced off-roaders and have all the equipment. We will be traveling in a Toyota FJ Cruiser 4x4. We will have camping equipment but would rather stay in motels to save time setting up and tearing down.

We plan on making this loop in around 6-7 days in Feb 2007. I have a few questions:

1) How is the road between San Felipe and BOLA?

2) Is there a good route between BOLA and Guerrero Negro? If so how long will this drive take under normal conditions?

3) Are there any "not to be missed" spots along this loop where we should plan on spending some additional time? Are some of the stops mentioned not worth seeing?

4) Based on road conditions does this trip seem overly ambitious?

5) Can you suggest motels/restaurants along the way?

Thanks in advance,
surfdog

DENNIS - 1-2-2007 at 05:17 PM

Hi surfdog ---
Wait for DavidK to get here. He has all this info.

tripledigitken - 1-2-2007 at 05:24 PM

Surfdog,

1) No problem with 4 by 4
2) Yes- south to San Fransisquito from La Bay 6 hours+- best spot of entire trip IMHO
3) Yes Gonzage Bay between San Felipe and Highway 1, Alphosino's for Food and Lodging
4) Yes a little ambitious we did the same trip in March and wished we had a few more days.
5) San Felipe restaurants Rice and Beans (low priced), El Nido (moderate price)
G.N. Mallarimo (in town on left side )for food and lodging (scallops are incredible) and Marios for food (north of town) west side of highway.

You will have a ball believe me. We traveled in a 2005 Nissan Xterra 4 by 4, only used 4 by 4 when close to beach.

David K - 1-2-2007 at 05:36 PM

This question sounds really familiar... Maybe go over posts here on Nomad and find the thread where others are doing the same thing...

Check out the links below to help you plan any Baja adventure...

San Felipe to Puertecitos is newly paved all the way (with maybe a mile unfinished)... Puertecitos to Gonzaga Bay is rough, but not 4WD stuff... Gonzaga to Hwy 1 at Laguna Chapala is fine, a graded road... Visit with Coco along the way!! It is paved from Chapala to L.A. Bay.

Bahia de los Angeles (or L.A. Bay please, as I hate the sound of BOLA) to Guerrero Negro can be two choices if not the main paved roads...

1) South to Bahia de San Rafael and Punta San Francisquito, then west to Hwy. 1 via El Arco OR west and south via Guillermo Prieto with an interesting side trip to Mision Santa Gertrudis.

2) West and south, and west again via Mision San Borja with a side trip to Montevideo painted cliff... This really souldn't be missed.

See my Baja 1000 trip report on the Baja Nomad Baja Trip Reports Forum from last November... Lot's of photos along your route...

Motels: in El Rosario, Baja Cactus (next door to Pemex station). Read Nomad for ideas at other places.

FUEL WARNING: Top tanks at San Felipe... next fuel maybe at Gonzaga Bay Pemex (top off if they are open)... next at L.A. Bay Pemex... next at Guerrero Negro... then at Villa Jesus Maria. Also gas is sold from cans at the L.A. Bay junction on Hwy. 1 and at Cataviña. Next at El Rosario. Bring extra cans (empty going into Mexico, fill in San Felipe) if you don't have a second built in tank... You may need to have over 250 mile range for fuel.

San Felipe and El Rosario then north are 'for sure' fuel stops... all others can be iffy, so don't pass up any chance to top your tank in central Baja!

[Edited on 1-3-2007 by David K]

Barry A. - 1-2-2007 at 05:42 PM

San Felipe to BOLA can be done in one day, but it won't be any fun. Stop for the night at San Luis Gonzaga bay, as suggested, between San Felipe and BOLA.

Highway from Mexicali to San Felipe is excellent, and will take you about 2 hours, maybe 2 1/2 hours (125 miles).

In an FJ you will have no problems, but much of the road between Puerto Citos and BOLA is dirt, and the suggested road between BOLA and Guerrero Negro is also dirt. This "dirt road" part of your trip will be the definite Highlight of the entire trip, IMHO.

Plan to spend most of your time between Puerto Citos and Guerrero Negro------like 4 days at least, with motel stops at Bahia San Luis Gonzaga, BOLA, camp out at San Francisquito (or stay in the cabanas there), and night 4 in Guerrero Negro motel, is what I suggest.

Dennis is right-----David K will probably give you many details, and you should pay attention to what he says.

Prepare to have the "time of your lives", and give us a report when you return stateside. Sounds like a neat introductory trip to Baja California, and believe me you will just be scratching the surface, and will be hooked forever. :yes:

Barry

[Edited on 1-3-2007 by Barry A.]

abreojos - 1-2-2007 at 05:53 PM

First trip down in 76' we filled up a VW Bug with food, beer and water. No maps or plans and it was probably the best trip I ever did down here. We ate all the food & drank all the beer and then some, but ended up taking back most of the water. If I ever do it again the only thing I would change is drink more water!

David K - 1-2-2007 at 06:48 PM

Abreojos makes a good point...

Many of us went to Baja a 'first time' without loads of 'insider information' and had such a great time we kept going back!

So, don't try and stick to a ridgid schedule... It's okay to know what's out there, but leave the day's destinations open so you won't feel rushed to get somewhere... Learn 'mañana', and 'Mexican time', you will have a wonderful time!

surfdog - 1-4-2007 at 11:39 AM

Thanks Nomads,

You are all awesome!

A few last pieces of info:

1) For newbies to Baja it would be great to have drive times between destinations due to unknown road conditions. If you could supply some it would be great?

Tijuana - San Quintin XXhrs
San Quintin - GN XXhrs
GN - BOLA (fastest track, looks like N on 1 to BOLA Jct) XXhrs
GN - BOLA (more fun way via SF route) XXhrs
BOLA - Gonzaga XXhrs
Gonzaga - San Felipe XXhrs
San Feilpe - Mexicali XXhrs

2) Please feel free to make suggestions as to our plan. I appreciate the comments on "'mañana', and 'Mexican time'", we do want to relax and have some fun (not just drive) but we also want to see both the Pacific side and the Sea of Cortez. Our goal is to make the most of our time while getting a good feel for Baja. Any suggestions on destinations to stop for extended time and even some to skip would be appreciated. We do have a fixed amount of time, 6 days round trip, got to get back to work.

I will definetly post the results of our trip!

Thanks again for all your help!!!
surfdog

David K

Baja Bernie - 1-4-2007 at 12:18 PM

Your last post was probably the best advise you have every given and the Baja Gods know you have given tons of good advise in the past.

"So, don't try and stick to a ridgid schedule... It's okay to know what's out there, but leave the day's destinations open so you won't feel rushed to get somewhere... Learn 'mañana', and 'Mexican time', you will have a wonderful time!"

I labelled David the "Baja Connection" and he certainly IS!

David K - 1-4-2007 at 12:37 PM

Thanks Bernie!!

Drive times are tough because everyone has their own speed!

Here are my estimated times for your legs:

TJ-SQ = 4.5 hrs.

SQ-GN = 5.0 hrs.

GN-BdLA = 3.0 hrs. (via pvd. hwys.)

BdLA-Gonzaga = 3.0 hrs. (incl. visit with Coco)

Gonzaga-SF = 4.0+ hrs. (1/2 drive is dirt, mostly very rough)

David K - 1-4-2007 at 12:50 PM

Check out how I showed Elizabeth both sides of Baja in just 3 days for her first (introdutory) trip: http://vivabaja.com/105 That was two years ago, New Years... You will get some site seeing examples of your route... We went to Baja Cactus Motel in El Rosario first night, then to L.A. Bay with stops at San Fernando mission and petroglyphs and Cataviña painted cave along the way.
A day at L.A. Bay (turtle station, La Gringa, fish tacos, you can see the museum too).

The third day we went north via Gonzaga Bay with stops at Montevideo painted cliff, Coco's Corner, Alfonsina's, Puertecitos and home!

I recommend you go to Mision San Borja between L.A. Bay and Guerrero Negro with god dirt roads for a short cut to Hwy. 1 at Rosarito (south of Punta Prieta). The Montevideo site is 7 miles off the San Borja road, 2 miles south of the L.A. Bay highway... GO!!!

oxxo - 1-4-2007 at 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Drive times are tough because everyone has their own speed!

Here are my estimated times for your legs:

David, what do you figure as a travel time from GN to SF taking the dirt road turnoff at Chapala? I'm trying to figure out if it is faster to the border from GN to Tecate via Ensenada or GN to Mexicali via SF. It takes me 2 hours to get from SF to Mexicali.

By the way, I just got back yesterday from doing the GN to Tecate route and I find your travel times to be consistent with ours to within about 15 to 30 minutes over the entire route.

doradodan - 1-4-2007 at 04:01 PM

i know its common sense. but if you have 2 spares and lower the pressure on your tires between puertocitos and gonzaga, you would probably have peace of mind and a more comfortable ride.

larry - 1-4-2007 at 05:20 PM

Surfdog

I just did a similar trip for the second time---all good places to see, but in my opinion, you need more time than 6-7 days. If you do it that fast, your whole time will be spent driving through places.

surfdog - 1-5-2007 at 10:28 AM

Thanks for all the great advice. We are going to rethink some of the destinations and probably cut out few (save them for the next trip).

We want to keep the driving to a few hours every morning, getting to the destination around noon and enjoying it for the remainder of the day. If we find someplace we can't pull ourselves away from we may extend our stay there and rearrange the remainder ot the trip.

We're pretty open!

Thanks.

David K - 1-5-2007 at 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by oxxo

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Drive times are tough because everyone has their own speed!

Here are my estimated times for your legs:

Hola oxxo,
GN to SF about 7 hours... but remember Chapala to Puertecitos is dirt and 40 miles from Gonzaga north is really rough until it's regraded...

Minnow - 1-5-2007 at 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Thanks Bernie!!

Drive times are tough because everyone has their own speed!

Here are my estimated times for your legs:

TJ-SQ = 4.5 hrs.

SQ-GN = 5.0 hrs.

GN-BdLA = 3.0 hrs. (via pvd. hwys.)

BdLA-Gonzaga = 3.0 hrs. (incl. visit with Coco)

Gonzaga-SF = 4.0+ hrs. (1/2 drive is dirt, mostly very rough)

David I have done the Gonzaga to SF leg several times in just under 2 hours. :lol:

Definately not in the advisory book. Thats over a 50 mile and hour average. :bounce:

Barry A. - 1-5-2007 at 01:44 PM

San Felipe to Gonzaga takes me 6+ hours---------those folks that are on a "tear" are the ones that crack my windshield with the rocks they throw up, and are NEVER Mexican. :mad:

David K - 1-5-2007 at 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Barry A.
San Felipe to Gonzaga takes me 6+ hours---------those folks that are on a "tear" are the ones that crack my windshield with the rocks they throw up, and are NEVER Mexican. :mad:

San Felipe to Puertecitos is now all repaved 55 miles in 1.5 hours, or less.

Puertecitos to Gonzaga is rough 50 miles total, 40 really rough miles anyway... 25 mph average is a bit high at the moment (2 hours)... so allow 3, just in case.

Gonzaga to Chapala is pretty okay, 36 miles... 1.5 hr. + extra time for Coco visit.