BajaNomad

Ensenada bypass to Highway 3?

John M - 2-25-2023 at 06:39 AM

Southbound on Highway 3 from Guadalupe Valley, a couple of miles before reaching Highway 1 is a fairly new road that is/was supposed to connect with the road to Ojos Negros, thus not having to go through Ensenada. Is it open?

John M

David K - 2-25-2023 at 07:29 AM

Good morning John.
Unless the rain made a landslide, it has been open for a bit and is included on the 2021 Benchmark Baja Road Atlas.
Libramento Ensenada is just over 20 kms. long and begins (on the north end) at Km. 101.5 on Hwy. 3 south of Tecate and meets the other Hwy. 3 near Km. 10, east of Ensenada (just past the Horsepower Ranch driveway):








[Edited on 2-25-2023 by David K]

OK

John M - 2-25-2023 at 07:49 AM

Thanks DK, I figured you'd know.

John

Don Jorge - 2-25-2023 at 08:54 AM

The road is a great bypass, our go to, get to Hwy 5 when traveling south of any point beyond Cataviña. The ingress and egress on both sides of this bypass are seamless.

Recent rains, now, perhaps have deposited rocks on the road but they will be cleaned up soon as the weather clears, hopefully.

Give the road a go next time. As a bonus there are also some very scenic chapparal oak canyonlands transitioning botanical zones west of Ojos Negros.

If you are from southern California this again reminds one that Baja still serves as a reminder to what was and thankfully still is in it's less developed state.

David K - 2-25-2023 at 09:00 AM

Very nice follow up, Don Jorge, thank you! :light:

Don Pisto - 2-25-2023 at 10:14 AM

be prepared its been reported on fb the 3 is in awful condition....

Don Jorge - 2-25-2023 at 10:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Don Pisto  
be prepared its been reported on fb the 3 is in awful condition....

I was just on that road 2 weeks ago.

It is not in awful condition. In fact it is in good condition.

Sure there are a few sections with baches, but bache dodging is both sport and art, and a part of Baja not likely to change soon, I hope.

Don Pisto - 2-25-2023 at 11:25 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Don Jorge  
Quote: Originally posted by Don Pisto  
be prepared its been reported on fb the 3 is in awful condition....

I was just on that road 2 weeks ago.

It is not in awful condition. In fact it is in good condition.

Sure there are a few sections with baches, but bache dodging is both sport and art, and a part of Baja not likely to change soon, I hope.


don't know just passing along what I read yesterday from our friend Udo.....

"Mex.3 between Ensenada and San Felipe is totally F*d up! 195 Km from one side to the other. About 10 Km. total of pot holes. 5 of them about 20 meters long and covering the road from side to side. Some lone potholes were like swimming pools as of 02-22-2023. Many cars hit them hard and ended up with front end and tire/wheel damage. Avoid it if at all possible!"

bajaric - 2-25-2023 at 01:01 PM

I saw that post on fb, it was in reference to the part of Hwy. 3 between Ojos Negros and San Matais. Typical old school baja highway; a few drops of rain turns it into a moonscape until they get around to repairing it.

The new bypass is west of Ojos Negros. Avoids crawling through downtown Ensenada when traveling from Hwy 3 west of Ojos Negros to Hwy 3 in Valle Guadalupe and Tecate. Have not tried it yet. Might be a good alternative when driving north from San Felipe to San Diego instead of crossing at Mexicali.

Don Pisto - 2-25-2023 at 01:26 PM

first time over that new road was a couple years ago SCORE used it as a staging area, think maybe the 400? anyway it was a cool opportunity to see the cars without all the downtown congestion.

surfhat - 2-25-2023 at 02:37 PM

Thanks for the future tip. My timing heading north through Ensenada last Tuesday could not have been worse.

Carnival. omg What a sheetstorm that was. The main road next to the ship terminal was closed off. Bumper to bumper everywhere for a couple of hours of constant asking the many authorities manning the multitude of road blocks about where to go to the north road out of town.

I was so burned out by the time I found the road north, I missed the El Sauzal road I wanted to take for the Valle de Guadaloupe.

The coming predicted weather made our decisions for us about staying to enjoy the world class cuisine and vino. I still had the rain and darkness on the way home.

I ended taking the northern road to Tecate through the maquiladora stretch for the first time.

Will I ever know better next time? You betcha. Avoid Carnival at all costs to your sanity. I was a zombie by the time I found my way out of that messed headed north.

This by pass road would have been manna from heaven. Thanks Nomad for the great by pass road, next time.