BajaNomad

Day trip to Mision San Borja and Mision Santa Gertrudis

cupcake - 4-30-2024 at 02:16 PM

29 April 2024. Out and back from hotel base at Guerrero Negro. Trip made with Angel from San Borja. Angel, who was in Guerrero for the night, picked me up at 7am and we traveled to El Nuevo Rosarito in his car. At Rosarito we switched to an ATV for the trip to San Borja, which took about one hour. At this time, I believe the road to San Borja would not be advisable in a low clearanc two wheel drive car (such as a Honda Accord). From San Borja we returned to Rosarito in Angel´s two wheel drive, positraction high clearance truck. On the way, we realized there was plenty of time to make a trip out to Mision Santa Gertrudis, so we did that in Angel´s truck, arriving at the mision at about 5pm. The road out to Santa Gertrudis is, in my opinion, also not advisable at this time with a normal low clearance two wheel drive car. Maybe a driver with more off road experience could manage it, but I would not want to take the risk, not as a driver or a passenger.

Both misions are beautiful and well worth the time and expense, in my opinion. If a person can only see one and must choose, I would suggest San Borja, as it is a larger structure, with more to see. The country is equally beautiful at both sites, though the Boojum Trees are possibly more prolific in the San Borja area.

[Edited on 4-30-2024 by cupcake]

David K - 4-30-2024 at 02:39 PM

Thank you for the trip report to the 15th & 16th California missions.
You had an excellent guide, as Angel grew up at San Borja and was a hard worker!

Do you have photographs to share?
Always nice to see the latest from our beloved land.
For newbies, sharing photos can be a challenge on Nomad. See this first post in this thread: https://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=65085 and if you can't get it figured out, I am happy to post them here for you. Just email the photos to me.

cupcake - 4-30-2024 at 02:48 PM

I dont have a camera or any device with which to take photos. If this changes in the future, I will try to post some photos of my travels.

Angel is a very nice man, with impressive energy. He has done an amazing work of restoration and maintenence at the Mision San Borja.

I recognized my good fortune in being with Angel, which is why I suggested Santa Gertrudis in the afternoon. Angel had other plans the following day and I wanted to go with him while I could. His driving and managing of logistics inspires confidence.

[Edited on 4-30-2024 by cupcake]

AKgringo - 4-30-2024 at 04:28 PM

I was at Santa Gertrudis myself this past weekend by mistake. I thought I was on a road that crosses over to Piedra Blanca, but I took a wrong turn.

I agree with your assessment of the road. I was driving an Isuzu Trooper with decent tires and clearance, and did not need 4x4, but the limited slip rear differential was the reason I got through some of many soft spots.

I need to write a report on the main road that connects to Bahia De Los Angeles, it was also pretty rough, and soft for miles!

I also didn't take any pictures.

[Edited on 4-30-2024 by AKgringo]

David K - 5-1-2024 at 08:43 AM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
I was at Santa Gertrudis myself this past weekend by mistake. I thought I was on a road that crosses over to Piedra Blanca, but I took a wrong turn.

I agree with your assessment of the road. I was driving an Isuzu Trooper with decent tires and clearance, and did not need 4x4, but the limited slip rear differential was the reason I got through some of many soft spots.

I need to write a report on the main road that connects to Bahia De Los Angeles, it was also pretty rough, and soft for miles!

I also didn't take any pictures.

[Edited on 4-30-2024 by AKgringo]


The beauty of the Avenza-Benchmark Baja Atlas App is that is works off satellites and shows your location as you move around Baja... No getting lost or taking a wrong road (for very long)! It is just $19.99 and quite useful! Will save your tracks, too.
https://store.avenza.com/products/baja-california-atlas-land...

Luddites are hard to convert!

AKgringo - 5-1-2024 at 09:04 AM

I suppose I will have to upgrade my equipment and tech skills if I am going to continue back roading alone with my dog. My Garmin GPS unit is next to useless in Baja!

I made two unintentional side trips on the way north, adding about 75 miles of back-tracking to an already long drive.

PaulW - 5-1-2024 at 09:47 AM

At least a modern phone opens up many apps to follow. For off-road use you have to be picky. For regular highways and city direction Google maps and Apple maps and others would suffice. If you have a modern car the navigation feature will deal with the non off-road tracks.