Baja Explorer Caravan
A run down Baja’s northern stretch for rigs built to wander — Sprinters, overland trucks, and anyone whose van has seen more dirt than driveway. We stick to graded dirt and good pavement, nothing that’ll strand a stock van, but we get well off the tourist track: high-desert pine forests, tidal hot springs, and lonely bays on the Sea of Cortez where the road just runs out at the water. Days are for driving and exploring, nights are for camp chairs, cold drinks, and watching the Milky Way do its thing with no light pollution for a hundred miles. Bring recovery gear you probably won’t need, a full tank, and a co-pilot who doesn’t mind washboard. Everything on this trip sits within ~300 miles of the border, so it’s a long weekend, not a sabbatical.
- Valle de Guadalupe — Baja wine country to ease into it. Paved, easy, and a solid first-night basecamp before the dirt starts.
- Laguna Hanson (Parque Constitución de 1857) — granite boulders and pine forest at 5,000 ft, with a lake when the drought cooperates. Graded dirt off Highway 3 — the one stretch where you’ll actually use the build. Real dark skies up here.
- San Felipe — fuel, fish tacos, and the malecón. Last reliable resupply before things get quiet.
- Puertecitos — tidal hot springs that mix seawater and geothermal heat into pools you time around the tide. Camp on the beach.
- Bahía San Luis Gonzaga (Alfonsina’s / Rancho Grande) — the payoff. Remote bay, beachfront boondocking, and not much else. Highway 5 is paved through now, so a stock van makes it clean.