If you plan to drive down the peninsula, use Ensenada as a springboard. From here it is 357 miles to Guerrero Negro at the boundary of the state of Baja California, an easy 2 day (or grueling 1 day) drive. You'll probably be tempted by several attractive detours along the way. Twelve miles below Ensenada is the check point of Maneadero for validation of tourist cards the first place you'll use them in northern Baja.
Scenery along this stretch of Baja varies widely: Pacific coastal views, green farming valleys, and towering peaks. The high desert is alive with tall tapering cirio, grooved cardons, graceful ocotillo, and tortured elephant trees.
From the sea to the mountains
Long visualized by most travelers as a vast, cactusstudded wasteland between border towns and distant fishing resorts, Baja contains some startling surprises for travelers. It is only a few hours drive from the border to some virtually unexplored vacation retreats in the Sierra San Pedro Martir where peaks rise to their highest on the peninsula in Baja's first national park.
The easiest way to reach these mountains is via Highway 1, turning off at San Telmo (84 miles south of Ensenada). From here a graded road passable to standard cars in good weather leads into the
foothills to two ranches offering guest facilities. Beyond, you'll need a four wheel drive vehicle for the steep, ever climbing road that terminates deep in the mountains at the Mexican observatory. From this spot you are rewarded with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the gulf to the east. Directly below are the barren plains of the San Felipe Desert; looking southeast, you'll see the precipitous, double peaked El Picacho del Diablo (10,156 feet) highest point in Baja.
Though the pinon and ponderosa country is ideal for camping, you must take your own food, water, and supplies; the park has no developed areas. For this reason you may prefer to make one of the following foothill ranches your home base for exploration. Reservations are advisable; both have dirt landing strips for pilots flying their own private planes.
Meling Ranch, one of Baja's oldest cattle ranches, still looks much as it might have at the turn of the century with the exception of modern guest accommodations that include a family style dining room and stream fed swimming pool. Horses and guides are available for pack trips.
Mike's Sky Ranch (also accessible from the road between Ensenada and San Felipe) is a more sophisticated resort, offering four whcel drivc vehicles instead of horses for high country trips. Campers will find developed sites along the San Rafael River below the ranch.
San Quintin beach of 11,000 virgins
Cabrillo named this bay in 1542. History doesn't add much about his obviously warm reception, but the name lends a colorful note to the area. A popular tourist destination despite the frequent coastal fogs, San Quintin attracts visitors who come to fish, observe waterfowl, or enjoy the wide sweep of sandy beaches and rocky tidepools. Bird watchers stop here because the marshes are a major resting area along the Pacific Flyway. You'll see reminders near the Old Mill Motel and in the weathered cemetery of an English attempt at colonization in the late 1800s.
The high desert
Before the new highway was built, El Rosario (south of San Quintin) was the jumping off spot into the rugged heart of Baja. Now the paved road cuts sharply east into the southern edge of the Sierra San Miguel where you'll catch your first glimpse Of cirios and cardon cactus.
Turn off to El Progreso to view the impressive ruins of Mission San Fernando, the only mission in Baja founded by Father Serra. Hike a little farther up the canyon to see a grove of native Mexican blue palms.
For desert lovers, the following 104 miles can be the most fascinating part of their trip. The high desert is best glimpsed after winter rains when the desolate land blooms with kaleidoscopic color. Santa Ines (Catavina) is right in the midst of the most spectacular part of the desert. There you'll find an El Presidente and a parador. Or stay at rustic Rancho Santa Ines once a pit stop for the Baja Mil Road Race which offers food and dormitory style accommodations.
Bahia de los Angeles on the Sea of Cortez
From the parador at Punta Prieta, a 42 mile paved road leads across the narrowest part of the peninsula to Bahia de los Angeles on the Gulf of California.
This incredibly beautiful bay is usually the first goal of people who pilot their own boats and aircraft down the gulf side of the peninsula or across the gulf by way of the stepping stone islands of "The Midriff." Some visitors make the bay their objective by car or camper, either by choice or from lack of time to venture farther. Traffic on the road is light at present, but growing steadily, causing a littering problem at this once pristine spot.
The channel is protected by the mountainous 45mile length of Guardian Angel Island only a quarter of the way across the bay, and is filled with fish. There are yellowtail, cabrilla, and grouper yearround, with billfish and dorado as well during the summer and early fall. Large schools of porpoise and whales move through the channel within sight of land. Once a productive turtle fishing region, the channel has been badly depleted due to overharvesting. Shrimp boats spend some nights here anchored only 100 yards from the soft, sandy beach.
Guerrero Negro salt and whales
On the 28th Parallel (dividing the old state of Baja California from the new state of Baja California Sur) sits Guerrero Negro, a rather bleak spot on the Pacific mainly concerned with salt production in the ponds boruering Scammon's Lagoon. You can't miss it because as you approach from the north you'll see two massive fins sticking up into the sky Monumento Azteca, a seven story high abstract study in steel that is the focal point of the stadium where President Echeverria dedicated the highway. Across the street are an El Presidente and a parador.
From November through February hundreds of California gray whales head for Scammon's Lagoon to breed and train their young. Right after them come the tourists. For whale watching, follow signs that take you to the best viewing spots; carry binoculars, and go early in the morning.
