BajaNomad

Coastal Rd from La Paz to Evaristo

landrover65 - 12-1-2009 at 11:36 PM

The last report was in Nov 2008. Does anyone have more current knowledge of the road? Also, the previous post indicates there is a small store in Evaristo - is this accurate.

Friends want to drive there for a week or so stay. They have a F250 4x4 with a large camper and pulling a 18 ft boat that is relatively heavy since it's doing double duty as a utility trailer.

Do you have the mileage from a reference point in La Paz to Evaristo?

Bob and jane - 12-2-2009 at 04:27 AM

The last two times we drove the coast road from El Centenario to Evaristo--March '07 and March '09--- the coast road has been quite torn up. Hurricane damamge in '07 had made parts of the road impassable and local detours were necessary. Last March several road races had really messed it up. We've been making almost annual trips up there for about 20 years. We used to haul a tent trailer with a Suburban (two kids, a dog, an inflatable boat, motor, coolers, and on and on). Back then crossing the 3 hills terrified me every time. Steep, narrow with scary drop-offs, and full of blind corners. Now we drive a short bed Ram Charger with a light pop-up camper and don't pull anything. Still enough to make me catch my breath here and there. sometimes the grader works on the road and if you catch it at the right time you might make it in that rig. Otherwise, the washboards (SERIOUS washboards) and the hill roads will make it almost impossible. The road in from Las Pocitas is actually much better (or was our last two trips). There is a very steep grade dropping down off the mesa into Evaristo. If the truck can gear down and keep the load behind you from pushing you, you might do okay. The loose rock can be slippery. I wouldn't try it. But then, I'm just the co-pilot. We usually camp away from town so I'm not sure about the store. There is, or used to be, an occassional restaurant at the north end of the bay. And trucks come and go daily so you could get supplies if you needed them, I'm sure. You might think about stopping short of the hills and camping on one of the beaches between San Juan de la Costa and Portuguese. Some of them are quite nice. Don't know about launching the boat. We don't have the inflatable anymore--we haul in sea kayaks. They launch just about anywhere and Bob has had a hoot catching fish from his.

Thanks

landrover65 - 12-2-2009 at 11:17 AM

Thanks for the quick reply. I've forwarded it on to my friends in Loreto.