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Jack Swords
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Naranjos Road, Baja Sur
Any current info on the Naranjos road between Ranch Nuevo and the airport? After the hurricane info...passable? Thanks.
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AKgringo
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Sorry I can't be of any help, I have no idea where that road is. I am always interested in finding scenic, challenging roads/trails to explore, so
maybe bumping this thread will bring in some info.
Where is that road, and is it a good drive?
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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David K
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Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  | Sorry I can't be of any help, I have no idea where that road is. I am always interested in finding scenic, challenging roads/trails to explore, so
maybe bumping this thread will bring in some info.
Where is that road, and is it a good drive? |
The road that crosses over the sierra from just north of the Los Cabos Airport/ San Jose del Cabo to just south of El Pescadero/ Todos Santos:
[Edited on 12-15-2014 by David K]
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AKgringo
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Thanks D.K.! That trail just moved to the top of my 'Where am I gonna go next' list when I get back down there this spring. Spring and fall are for
touring, winter is for skiing!
Now I also am asking, is it passable?
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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David K
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Motoged posted photos of it not long ago... stand by and I will find them. It was built as an engineering nightmare with every rain washing it out.
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K | | Motoged posted photos of it not long ago... stand by and I will find them. It was built as an engineering nightmare with every rain washing it out.
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Ged added this in my 2012 Trip Report thread:
| Quote: Originally posted by motoged | | Quote: | Originally posted by David K
| Quote: | Originally posted by motoged
David,
I think it is a great report 
And am glad you two are going further south than usual....
Drive the Rancho Naranja road from north of the San Jose del Cabo airport west to just south of Todos Santos....your Taco will thank you for it  
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Always wanted to do that road
Do you have photos? |
David,
Here are some pics of that road....starting from the highway north of the airport....looking west:
Some water...
Up top...
The Pacific...
Coming out on the west side from the mountains (heading west)...
One of the beer stops in Todos Santos...
And a place there where you HAVE to eat 
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Cappy
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I was riding up there a few weeks ago. Made it from Cerritos to the river. The river was probably 1 meter deep and flowing pretty good. I think that's
about 1/2way. I was by myself and didn't want to chance the crossing. Beside that roads are fine. Great greenery. Go enjoy
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AKgringo
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Please tell me that photos #4, #5 were taken FROM the road! I have driven some mean trails but that seems out of my league.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | | Please tell me that photos #4, #5 were taken FROM the road! I have driven some mean trails but that seems out of my league. |
Ged was showing some water falls from the road... It is designed to be passable by pickup truck, 4WD only in bad weather. Do you want to see where it
is described shortly after being built? (1980's?)
[Edited on 12-15-2014 by David K]
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AKgringo
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D.K., I didn't really think that was the trail, after all Motoged did say your Tacoma would love it. It is a rainy Monday and I felt like playing.
Where is that description?
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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David K
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The Naranjas Road
| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | D.K., I didn't really think that was the trail, after all Motoged did say your Tacoma would love it. It is a rainy Monday and I felt like playing.
Where is that description? |
Yes, the rain is coming (still dry in San Diego)...
From Walt Petersen's 1987 edition of The Baja Adventure Book...
 [/URL]
[Edited on 12-16-2014 by David K]
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Jack Swords
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Good info, but having done the road several other times, looking for current info since the last hurricane. Doing the area N of La Paz in a week or
so, then San Antonio de la Sierra, then hopefully the Naranjas road. The San Jacinto River is flowing well from Sierra de la Laguna across the
Naranjas road now. That is the location of a visita of La Paz that sheltered folks when the locals made life dangerous for missions in Todos Santos
and La Paz.
David, I believe you have my photos of the ruins....??
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4x4abc
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Naranjas is a challenging 2WD road - and a very easy 4WD highway. Beautiful scenery!
Harald Pietschmann
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Floatflyer
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My wife and I drove the Naranjas road in Jan of 2013 in our Ford Explorer. There had not been any significant erosion damage for quite sometime and I
stated that 2 whd was possible driving from east to west, IMO, it would be a real b-tch going west to east because of the need to go very slowly over
some areas that were uphill. For current conditions, I can't comment.
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=65198#pid7882...
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by Floatflyer | My wife and I drove the Naranjas road in Jan of 2013 in our Ford Explorer. There had not been any significant erosion damage for quite sometime and I
stated that 2 whd was possible driving from east to west, IMO, it would be a real b-tch going west to east because of the need to go very slowly over
some areas that were uphill. For current conditions, I can't comment.
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=65198#pid7882...
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Floatflyer
A week ago yesterday my wife, dog, and I decided to get away from the cloudy and windy East Cape for awhile. We decided to drive over the Sierra de
La Laguna Mountains. We got to the intersection of Mex 1 and the dirt road which is just north of the San Jose Prison turn off. There is a cloth
sign there that says "Presa La Palma". We headed west at about 10:30am on this wide and smoothly graded dirt road. You could easily drive a
passenger car on this western side of the mountain road. It seems this road is the access for the construction of a dam in the lower foothills.
Numerous groups of workers are installing re-enforced concrete linings to many vados to prevent runoff damage.
You continue up this nice road for approximately 9 miles and here you will see another cloth sign "Presa La Palma" with an arrow pointing to the
right. The road takes a 90 degree turn and appears to head downward towards the dam site which I could only see some dirt work a mile or so away. We
continued to straight and went over a small hump and started downward on a more "normal" Mexican one lane + dirt back road. At this point I was still
saying a decent driver in a passenger car would be fine. I had talked to a guy who had recently taken his motorcyle over this road and he issued a
few cautions. I took a shovel and a big pry bar with me in our Explorer just in case.
We continued down this road with no problems until about 16.4 miles into the trip. Here we encountered the first signs of road damage, still not a
problem
Next we started encontering run off caused ruts that were going down hill for 30-40 feet, maybe 12-15" deep and I needed to slow way down to get thru
them. I did not need 4 wd but used low range to help brake as I went thru them. NOW I would recommend that a high clearance vehicle would be a good
idea. If you goofed up you could get hi centered. Coming out of some of these ruts you needed to go up rough little grades and 4 wd makes this
easier at a slower speed. Without 4wd you would have to accelerate up these and get bounced around a bit, your choice.
These conditions continue on and off for the next 4.5 miles roughly, 20.9 miles from the Mex 1 intersection.
The next semi challenge is when you reach Rancho El Aguaje. Here you "t-bone" into a dirt road and have the choice of going left or right. There is
a sign that names the ranch. I was told to go right or you will wander around for hours, I don't know, I went right! By this time you are on
basically flat terrain.
From here it is just a matter of following a fairly nice dirt road, and now, passenger car friendly. You have to make an educated guess on a couple
of forks but really it isn't very hard to pick the main road. You hit Mex 19 right across the street from Rancho Nuevo, a development south of
Cerritios and Todos Santos.
Total distance 32.9 miles and for us 2:45 min. We only stopped for a pee stop or two and a taking some pictures. I did not drive fast nor did I
drive slow. I would say I drove at a comfortable and safe speed. The 2 spots I would think about if I had a longer wheel based vehicle was in going
around a couple large 2'x4' boulders that had rolled onto the road. I was a little careful not to scrape the side of my car. We are not thrill
seekers! Both my wife and I agree that this trip had no life threatening experiences but a bit of caution is needed. IF one was to travel from west
to east a serious 4wd vehicle would be needed to uphill thru the rough spots. I would not go that direction. Overall, the east half of the trip was
very easy for anybody and had the prettiest scenery. The west side is definitely more challenging and 4wd would be best. If you were a very
experienced off road driver and had a high clearance vehicle you probably be ok.
I had looked at the route on Google Earth before the trip and had a general idea of where I was going. I wrote down some GPS #s at some
intersections and that was ok, pretty much a double check I was going in the right direction but not a mandatory need.
So, we probably won't do this every year, for us it is like the coast road from La Ribera to San Jose, fine every other year or so. The eastern part
of the drive would be a nice picnic trip, no stress. Hope this helps out. FF |
Wonderful to hear... thanks!
(I hope I fixed some of your photo links... there was some double http:// in a few)
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by Jack Swords | Good info, but having done the road several other times, looking for current info since the last hurricane. Doing the area N of La Paz in a week or
so, then San Antonio de la Sierra, then hopefully the Naranjas road. The San Jacinto River is flowing well from Sierra de la Laguna across the
Naranjas road now. That is the location of a visita of La Paz that sheltered folks when the locals made life dangerous for missions in Todos Santos
and La Paz.
David, I believe you have my photos of the ruins....?? |
Yes, on page 9 of your history photo web pages: http://www.vivabaja.com/swords/page9.html
Visita at San Jacinto, B.C.S.
Jack Swords and Edward Vernon were following the directions of author Tomas Robertson,
seeking the Jesuit chapel at San Jacinto. According to Robertson's book 'Baja California and its Missions'
c1978 La Siesta Press on page 48, they would find it between Todos Santos and Cabo San Lucas.
N 23°14.57', W 110°04.62' (NAD27)
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4x4abc
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I drove the Los Naranjos road on Sunday
it is in bad shape, but they are in the process of fixing it
at the moment it is a rough and slow drive
easy stretches alternating with badly washed out sections
very few tire tracks - mainly MC and quads
couldn't find any access to the San Jacinto ruins
Harald Pietschmann
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motoged
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My pics were taken in 2008.....the more recent pics above show some of the "improvements" (wider, some cement). First time I rode it by moto was
1994......some "ruts" could have swallowed a VW bug 
Love the road and area....the pics DK put up of mine were all taken while on the road....the water was near the east side of the pass where there
are homes ....maybe the rancho they are referring to.....
As Harald said, a beautiful area to see and worth the drive.
Don't believe everything you think....
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elskel
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I'd like to drive it in a couple of weeks. What were you driving and was there still quite a bit of water up there?
Thanks, bk
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4x4abc
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it was bone dry up there
some of the washouts will not be passable by a full size truck (too wide)
I was driving a G500
track width 60"
barely made it in terms of width 2 times
starting at the airport side will be easier
Harald Pietschmann
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