Baja Road Trip 101
Road-tripping through Baja is deceptively simple. When you first look at a road map of Baja California it might not be obvious, but everyone follows roughly the same route. We’re here to help break this down and make it easy for you to plan your Baja road trip with a sample itinerary.
Baja Driving Route Basics:
Baja is approximately 1000 miles from the northern border to Cabo San Lucas. Surprisingly, it’s about the same length as the US state of California. Despite that, it takes much longer to drive due to road conditions and speed limits.
Highway 1 is the main highway from the California border to the southern tip. All other routes are considered minor and spur off of Highway 1. This main route starts in Tijuana/San Diego. It follows the Pacific Coast for the first 200 miles and then bounces back and forth between the east and west coast, going through every major city in Baja.
The only real exception to the Highway 1 rule is a new-ish highway in the top half of the northern Baja state (Baja California Norte). Highway 5 spends the first 200 or so miles following the gulf coast (Sea of Cortez side) before rejoining Highway 1.
Note that neither of these roads is particularly coastal. They follow the coast but are not scenic oceanside drives. You can’t see the water for most of the ride.
When you’re planning your very first Baja road trip, the easiest thing to do is to start planning stops along Highway 1. You can opt for Highway 5 for those first 200 miles, but in our experience Highway 5 is much less developed (read: barren) so bring plenty of gas.
The peninsula is split roughly in half. The top state is Baja California (sometimes with an added Norte). The bottom state is Baja California Sur. They’re hilariously in two different time zones.
The Loop
Once Highway 1 hits La Paz, you’re in what we’ve dubbed The Loop. Most of the places you’ve heard about in Baja are in this southern loop set within last 100 miles (about 1/10) of the Baja Peninsula.
Lots of folks come down and spend most of their time bopping around the loop. For surfers and kite-boarders, that means jumping back and forth, alternating chasing wind or waves. In our 10-weeks in Baja we spent 1.5 weeks getting down to the loop, 7 traveling within it, and the last 1.5 heading back up.
Baja Road Trip Itinerary
This itinerary is primarily for RVing and specifically for those who prefer to boondock like we do. If you’re not camping, there are hotels available at almost every stop mentioned along the way, but we focus in this itinerary on the camping stops.
We intend this as a starting point for those who have never done a Baja road trip and want a helpful guide. There are obviously many more places in Baja to explore.
Our Route
Below is a sample Baja road trip itinerary detailing everywhere we stayed, including prices where relevant. All prices represent pesos per night.
We opted to take Highway 5 for the first leg of our Baja trip and met up with Highway 1 about 200 miles south. On the way back, we took the Highway 1 route and liked it better because there was more going on. Our recommendation is to take Highway 1 down and Highway 5 back if you want a change of scenery. However, we do NOT recommend Tijuana as a border crossing point.
Highway 5
It’s helpful to stay near the border the night before crossing so you can get an early start on your passport/visa process. The first stop on this list is a boondocking spot near the border.
Night before: American Girl Mine Road (BLM), near Quibly, CA (Free)
Border crossing: Calexico East, Calexico, CA
Mexicali/Calexico
San Filipe, BC
Victor’s RV Park (400 mxn)
Halfway down Hwy 5, BC
Campo La Poma (300 mxn)
It’s useful to think about the first 200 miles as one leg. You choose either Highway 5 or Highway 1 for this first section and then the roads merge and you follow Highway 1 to The Loop.
After the Highway 1 Merge
This is where you pick up if you came down Highway 1.
Bahia de Los Angeles, BC
Playa La Gringa (100 mxn)
Guerrero Negro, BCS
Malarrimo RV Park (and hotel) (250 mxn)
Santa Rosalia, BCS
San Lucas Cove RV Park (235 mxn)
Just south of Loreto, BCS
Playa el Quemada (Free)
The Loop
The loop can be done in any order. You can bounce back and forth between spots.
North of La Paz, BCS
Playa el Tecolote (Free)
Todos Santos, BCS
Playa la Pastora (Free)
most recent info on this is that it’s closed
Santiago, BCS
El Chorro Hot Springs Campground (100 mxn per person)
Cabo Pulmo, BCS
Former RV park (Free)
La Fortuna, BCS
Arroyo on the East Cape (lots to choose from) (Free)
Highway 1 Return
We opted for the Highway 1 route for the last 200 miles in Baja. Note that on our way north we stopped at completely different spots than on our southbound trip. You can mix this up whichever way you’d like.
Loreto, BCS
Desert south of Loreto Airport (Free)
Bahia de Concepcion, BCS
Between Playa La Perla and El Requeson (100 mxn)
Mulege, BCS
Beach camping near Mulege Lighthouse (Free)
San Ignacio, BCS
Don Chon RV Park (150 mxn)
Santa Rosalillita, BC
Beach camping in town (Free)
El Rosario, BC
Beach camping (Free)
La Bufadora, near Ensenada, BC
El Mirador Campground (100 mxn)
Border Crossing: San Ysidro, Tijuana, BC
Again, we don’t recommend the San Ysidro TJ border crossing. It’s confusing and hectic and fully worth it to drive over to the Tecate crossing to avoid the mayhem and wait times.