We will be using hwy 5 northbound in about 10 days, pulling a trailer.
last year we got off on a poorly marked construction road and made it through, but it was a tight squeeze, about 4 miles south of Gonzaga bay.
i know the road keeps changing due to ongoing construction, but are there any suggestions, like "bear right at all road forks" or anything like that.
thanks
David K - 3-15-2019 at 06:13 AM
The pavement has ended 12-13 miles south of Gonzaga gas station since late 2014. This past year, work has almost vanished on the new section under
construction. They have paved much of the distance across the Laguna Chapala valley. So, there are less than 20 dirt miles now. Once you reach the new
roadbed a few miles north of Coco's Corner, you can stay on the new road and not detour off to the older road.
The big issue are the dirt detours around the several bridges that washed out during the flash floods of Oct. 1, 2018. They are between Punta Bufeo
and Puertecitos as you drive north.
There are several posts on these, with photos, in the Road Conditions forum here.
Edit... forget to add that there are nearly 10 miles of detour just north of Puertecitos where they are adding bridges or culverts to replace the many
steep dips going across Arroyo Matomi. The Oct. 1 storm messed up the work that was already in progress here. My Trip #8 report has photos of this
zone.
[Edited on 3-22-2019 by David K]AZ7000 - 3-22-2019 at 02:40 PM
Small MH with a 12' enclosed. 1:20 from Gonzaga to Puertecitos, another hour for the 20 miles just north of town under construction. The paved road
from there to KM 20 was another hour and as bad or worse then the construction zone. Its Baja!norte - 3-22-2019 at 07:30 PM
I would try and get something current from one of the facebook sites (or elsewhere) and not go by old info posted here. There have been lots of
reports the roads is crumbling badly (lots of pot hoes) between San Felipe and the Puertecitos road construction. Additionally there have been recent
rains that have caused the road around Coco's corner to horrible.Whale-ista - 3-22-2019 at 09:33 PM
This is a good visual summary of the Hwy 5 drive, from Loreto-Mexicali (time lapse)- from March 20
That was fun!
Shows that everyone is now getting on the pavement in Chapala Valley (1 mile east of Hwy. 1 jcn.) so the giant dirt pile that was there last August to
keep people off has been moved. Shows using the old road via Coco's Corner but once on the new road at Las Arrastras, staying on it.
Great!coronamike - 3-23-2019 at 10:48 AM
That was a great video. From Loreto to Mulege in 3.5 minutes is the equivalent of 1,450 mph !!!! Twice the speed of sound. Impressive.
