Fill the tank before you leave the border. Top off any time you’re at half.
MEX-5 the whole way. Return on the same highway.
Every Baja traveler has a first trip, and for fifty years the smart first trip has been this one. San Felipe sits 125 miles south of the border at Calexico East — two lanes of desert, one mountain grade, one military checkpoint, and then the Sea of Cortez fills the windshield.
Members read the full route guide
The complete story, trip vitals verified by members who drove it, and the GPS file to take with you — every route in the library. $40 a year.
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Members get this for every route in the library — a growing library of Baja trips — plus the camping, fuel, and checkpoint notes that go with them. The file loads straight into Gaia GPS, OnX Offroad, or a Garmin. $40 a year.
OverlandersWhere the pavement gets interesting: south of Puertecitos the Gulf coast empties out, and the road delivers you to one of Baja's last great beach outposts.
AnglersIsland-studded bay on the Gulf side, and some of the most reliable yellowtail water on the peninsula.
Off-RoadersThe club's backyard Baja 1000 country — mountain dirt, pine forest, and the most famous ranch gate in off-road racing, run as a border-to-border loop.
Baja changes. Roads wash out, camps close, a Pemex that was there in March can be dry in November. Everything on this page came from members who actually drove it, on the date stamped at the top — but conditions on the ground are yours to verify.
The GPX track is a planning aid, not a navigation authority. Don’t follow a line on a screen into terrain you can’t see. Carry paper backup, tell someone your plan, and turn around when the road tells you to.
Mexican auto insurance is required by law and your U.S. policy doesn’t cover you. If something goes wrong without it, the situation gets much worse very fast. Get a quote before you cross.
