Baja - Valley of the Cirios

This track starts from Mex 1, 10 miles north of Catavina at the San Jose del Faro turnoff. Then heads through the very scenic desert valley and hits the west coast at San Jose del Faro, continues down the coast past spectacular bays and world class point breaks though Bahia Blanca and onto Santa Rosalillita.

There is a little bit of everything from decent road, sandy and rocky jeep two track, silt beds, and a final stretch of wide graded but rough road into Rosalillita.

Its doable on an big adventure bike but be prepared for a few sections of very hard work on such a machine.

I did part of that section in May on my HP2. When I got to Rancho las Palomas, I headed back to Hwy 1 just below the Chapala turn off because I wasn't sure I had enough day light. The couple at Las Palomas were pretty funny. The trail out to hwy1 was awesome, it ran through a sand wash for several miles after the silt beds, then climbed through a canyon to a spring/oasis. The trail got better past the oasis and there was a very impressive house on the north side of the trail about 5 -7 miles from the Hwy - a little too nice for the area..... I'll have to do the rest of that route next time.

Yeah i did that section to Mex 1 south of the chapala turnoff as well (not on this track though) That ride is amazing going through the silt, the sand, then the oasis then up the rocky hillclimbs, just awesome. Probably one of my favorite sections in all of northern Baja.

If you had not turned northeast toward Mex 1 and kept going SE, its just a little bit more two track then turns into about a 20 mile stretch of boring fast graded road to Rosalillita. Actually, it probably would have taken you less time to get to Rosalillita than it did to get to Mex 1 near Chapala, so you really didnt miss much and did way more fun riding by going up to Chapala.

Good to know. It was a great mix of terrain. I was with a KLR 650 and the one time I let him take a section first, he had some trouble on a steep, rock strewn climb and I had to park my HP or run him over. I'm, sure you know the section.

Ah yes, thats it! As you know, your pic doesnt really show how steep that part actually is. Last year we had a guy that kept dropping his bike on that exact rocky hill climb, I think it was one of the last steep sections before you hit the rocky flat trail that takes you onto Mex 1. I was on my S model DRZ which is a bit of a pig too, but it handled it just fine. I really want to try that on my 990, but I might need to do it with someone else to help me pick up the bike a few times.

I must say, I think that short roughly 30 mile section you are talking about will take you though just about everything Baja has to offer, and its an extremely beautiful ride and one of my favorites, except for maybe the Green Door ride.

Attached is the track.

I'm in as time permits. My HP is apart until I get my tank from Markus.... I have buddy in LA, Steve Soto, owns a 990 too. He would probably do a weekender. Jump on your 990 and head to Tucson. I am guiding a small group through Copper Canyon Nov 8. GSers mostly. If we are small enough, I may take them from Batopilas to Cerocahui and west to Alamos. Return route is very open. We will cross at Auga Prieta and take a 50 mile dirt route to Huachinera, then on to Bamori our first night, Creel via Bashaceachi night 2, Batopilas night 3, then we will see how everyone is doing. Mike

crashmaster - thanks for posting those tracks.

Attached is another including a more northern section from Quayaquil to Punta Canoas.
This is one of my favorite areas of Baja. Desolate, beautiful, endless...

We rode the BBCH route east-to-west a couple years ago on 950's. Good stuff! Good stuff! The bushy sandwash out to the coast was tough to follow. I know there is a shortcut from near to San Antonio to ~8miles north of BoLA Junction on Mex1. Haven't taken it yet, but you can see it clearly on googleEarth.

-M

Excellent, I'll add it to my collection. I thought of doing the route that way but we had some guys pretty short on fuel even for the 125 mile section that follows the main route from the San Jose del Faro turnoff to Rosalillita. Now that I have a Safari tank on my 450 I have the range.

Like you said, that west coast area is so far my favorite area in all of northern Baja, remote, desolate, and stunning scenery. I can tell you tales of the empty point surf I have seen there..........well, I better not. Its fairly time consuming and committing to get in there with a truck so theres never more than a handful of surfers at any of the breaks. I better shut up about that now.

What is the difficulty of that section from Punta Canoas to San Jose del Faro? LBMaps does show a trail there but I have not ridden it. I have had my truck in that area on a surf trip years ago and remember that I didnt want to take my truck though and it might even have been a little burly on a bike as well. We were getting slim on diesel, food, and water, and I had already gone though my two spare tires from sidewall blowouts so didnt want to risk it.

Wow, kudos to you for doing the BBCH track on a 950!! Between the deep silt beds, sand wash, and rocky hill climbs (west to east) I would have never made it on my 990, it would have been reduced to a pile of bolts by the oasis (if I even made it that far), and I would have been just beat to all hell.

Maybe one of these days if I ever figure out how to ride that beast without killing myself.......

Nothing terrible. A few sand washes and silt beds.
A long section along the coast had been graded and then never used. There were several spots that would have been impassable if it had not been graded.


The mud flats near San Jose del Faro were phenominally slippery and sticky.


We were using LBMaps Nav as well
As usual, there were lots more routes than what the GPS showed. We just stuck with the one that followed thru.

Funny you say that. At the time I remember thinking there was no way I could go west-to-east up the eroded climbs. A couple more years experience on the bike and now I am confident I could make it without too much trouble.

-M

Wouldn't mind a few twin handicapped riders to do the West and more after the new year. I am waiting on my 7 liter aux tank for my HP2, then I should be good for 200-230 miles. No whiners, snivelers or serious conversations - Heading to the Copper Canyon on the 12 GS Saturday. We are going to go from Batopilas to El Fuerte, then work our way north on a series of dirt and pavement sections I know to the US border at Naco. Looks like we will have warm weather - dry I hope.

Hasta Pronto.

This Thread brought back memories of last February, when we went thru. Allthough our route was a little more east and then down the San Jose Arroyo. Then we had to twist hard down the coast, thru Borja and into Bahia De LA. Hit the slab in the dark, staring at the lunar eclipe. A steller ending to a very fine day.

Going down next week and definatly doing that route again. Allthough i am going to try and shorten it by heading East from Playa El Marron to La Bachata (mex1) and then east thru the Palo chino arroyo.

Anybody got intel on the Palo Chino route? Looks good on google. Also, I know there is gas in Santa Rosalillita, but didn't really want to go that far south and then backtrack to Bachata. Any other gas along the proposed route?

Uno mas question: Anyone know of a route down the coast south of Punta San Carlos to hook up with Punta Canoas?

Cheers

Here's the route I was talking about in the previous thread below. The file in the previous thread is San Ignacio to San Jaunico via Cry Baby Canyon.

Two great tracks for the price of one.

D

How was the route thru Cerrito Blanco down to San Jose Del Faro? Mostly down in a canyon? I've thought about going that way next time i'm down there.

How 'bout your coastal route south from Santa Rosalillita out to Mex1? Lots of sand or well defined?

Any pictures?

-M

These pics are from that shortcut out to the Chapala Turnoff. I rode that area along the Pacific in '05, and it's still one of my favorite places in Baja...

Heres a shot of the route thru Cerrito Blanco, Gaspipe's pics above are a good representation. The route south of Santa Rosililita was on the beach for a bit, then it must have been quite typical baja, cause it doesn't stand out in my mind. My beer "low level light" was on by then too which doesn't help .

I guess there is no route south of San Carlos? anybody?

D

here it

****Can't make the ADV-Trip this weekend, but I could do an XR ride easily. The KTM's been in the shop for about a month and the day it gets out-you can count on me blazing down to San Ignacio, for sure...I've been down there via the SCORE route on the XR about six times and twice on the 990...

CC, I was wondering about that route south of San Carlos as well. Never been to San Carlos on a bike, just in my truck on a surf trip. From what I remember, it really looked like the "end of the trail" so to speak but then again I was in surf mode and not dirt bike mode.

When I get down there to surf this winter I'll do a little exploration in the truck and ask some of the locals. One thing is for sure, if there is a way though, its certain to be pretty burly.

I vaguely recall a ride report where some guys on 450's did it. It was full on gnarly iirc. They carried back packs only, carried some extra gas, had slimed tubes due to all the cactus,and had a helluva time. I've been wanting to truck my 520 down to San Carlos and work on that route now for a couple of years. Dustjunkie and I just need to synch our schedules. Ohhh - and I need to fix my 520.

Thanks Guys, I guess i'll just give it the shoulder check on the way by next week. We are unsuported to La Paz - so we don't have alot of time to explore.

Speaking of routes to explore, those two mining roads north of Catavina that head east into the mountains. The area looks spectacular on Google earth. Possible route to Sea of Cortez????

Last year saw moto tracks up the El Ronoso Arroyo when we went by. If we got gas I might sniff up there a bit.

D