Baja California Trip Resource

Wow amazing stuff here!! Have to check this out sometime

 

Here's the Baja 1000 Course Map embedded in Google Maps, and cleaned up.

 

Thanks Stuck Sucks... The Baja 1000 (originall called Mexican 1000, until 1973) is a huge event for Baja California, ran every year since 1967 (except for 1974)!

The latest work on my site to share more of what's in Baja, is the additions to the new Baja-Photos Interactive Map: https://vivabaja.com/explore/baja-photos-map/
With just a couple of exceptions, all photos from my camera and off of my trip albums at VivaBaja.com. I been going back from 2022 and adding photos that show locations, roads, signs, etc.

 

Heading home after supporting our team in a massive silt bed SE of Punta Blanca during the 2014 Baja 1000. Yep, there's silt in Baja.

 

Thanks for the view. I had planned to drive it in 2017, but the incident at Rancho La Miseria changed that plan!
I used the satellite view to draw in the road you show, and added '4WD' to it.

 

Hey @David K, we'll be spectating the Mil near Delicias, but will have some time to kill between the lead bikes and lead trucks. Do you know of any good places to explore in the area, something quick and easy? Obviously places like the sulphur mine or Llanos San Fermin or Matomi Wash will be off limits due to the race course. Thoughts, por favor?

 

Of course, unless the tide is super-high-tide, you can go to Shell Island (Km. 26)... If low tide, it is fun to see the variety of shells and sand dollars! The sulfur mine valley is over a mile long with many ruins and pits of yellow rock around. The rocks burn giving off poisonous gas, so no campfires there! LOL See it in this film from a 2001 tour I led (sulfur mine, Nuevo Mazatlan-'Agua de Chale', Shell Island, Matomí oasis), and my 12 year old son's question after igniting some sulfur deposits on the side of a concrete block wall, at the mine: https://vimeo.com/206406826/a08c7cb808

 

Spectating the Baja 1000 at RM 261.9.


Luke McMillin, lead truck and overall finisher, finishing in 16:37:45.704


Cameron Steele


Tim Herbst


Mikey Lawrence (yep there's money in tortillas)


Taking a lunch break between bikes and trucks

 

Looks like Shell Island... I do miss going there each year! Nice race pics! Where you near the sulfur mine? Ah, I just looked at your map... and you were indeed, just a mile or so south of it!

 

Shell Island has some SOFT sand. We went out there with highway tire pressure (due to laziness) which made things a little sketchy, but we made it back out OK. Lots of cool/colorful shells out there.

Yes, a couple miles south of the sulfur mine.

Spectacular race weather: low 70s, sunny, light breeze, HOT sun.

 

On our way back to the US, we took a short side trip to check out Cañon Los Llanos -- wanted to see how trashed it got from the recent hurricane (spoiler alert: it was). We started from the toll road and headed up-canyon toward Rumorosa.

Where we dropped into the canyon.


We stopped to walk ahead and survey the road.


We made it a few miles up canyon before we ran out of time (it was slow going). We decided to come back in a few weeks and give this canyon and dirt Rumorosa the time they deserve.

 

Should you bog down in sand: Go to low range, MTS, Crawl, and your Tacoma will crawl out! Otherwise, let the air out to 15 psi.

 

I am the Dirt Whisperer. The last off road team I worked with, my early years' job was finding our stuck race cars and get them moving again. During some races, they'd assigned me to a big silt bed just in case the race cars would bog down. I wasn't concerned about Shell Island sand (merely noting the soft variant).

 

My track in Baja

 

Thanks for that... Your canyon is directly below the highway grade, I see.
Roy ('The squarecircle' on Baja Nomad), wanted me to go with him to some old mine near the bottom of the grade. Do you know anything about a mine, with a shaft that goes way into the mountain in that area?

 

Have not heard of that mine, but would be very interested. I root thru mines north of the border -- I have a dozen good sources for my homework, but have nothing for Mexico. Do you have any good sources of mining/mineral resources for Baja?

In sat imagery, I see some foundations at the bottom of the switchbacks, and found a couple online sources which suggest some sort of prospect 100m up-canyon (they were talking about gold). I also see a hiking/game trail from the foundations to near where that prospect may be.

Ahhh ... for the next trip.

 

It is what makes Baja so much fun... an endless supply of adventure trips to explore or return to! So many (all?) are reached at the end of a dirt road, too!

I can name four books off the top of my head that cover mines or rock collecting... Let me post the covers:





This is the inside cover-page. Volume #51 of the Dawson Baja California Travels Book Set.

 

this is great, ready to start planning my next trip down

 

Amigos, I continue to add and update content at www.VivaBaja.com so that you have more choices of what to see and do on a Baja vacation. Baja was once known as 'the land that time forgot'! Time did catch up, paved some main roads, added more infrastructure, but Baja is still 1,000 miles from tip to top by road with countless unpaved side roads to some pretty amazing sites. Two of the recent additions are my Interactive maps.

One is to places I have written about in over 90 Baja Travel Adventure articles for Baja Bound (touch a location dot, get the link to the article, and for most, see one photo there: https://vivabaja.com/explore/baja-travel-map/

The second, newer map is of places I have photos of. Over 1,600 photos of Baja locations, mostly from my camera. Zoom in close, as some interesting sites have multiple dots/ photos: https://vivabaja.com/explore/baja-photos-map/

This, along with over 200 maps, 381 books, historic and recent photo albums, history of the missions, GPS waypoints, trip reports, links to other Baja sites, and more! Check it out, scroll down to see content (it is an old style web format, for now): www.vivabaja.com and visit my two Facebook groups, linked on the site, to learn, chat, or view more photos!

 

Not sure if I posted the news, but Baja Bound plans to introduce my Baja road guide this March (2023) at their second annual Baja Expo, in San Diego. I will post details as I learn more. My Tacoma in Baja... its happy place!