Why this ride
From Tijuana it runs 1487 km to Guerrero Negro; allow about 20 h 23 of riding. It goes by way of Ensenada and Catavina. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Baja California Highway 1: Tijuana to Guerrero Negro
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1487 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 20 h 23
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Tijuana
It is a sprawling, energetic place, built across hills and canyons, with a reputation that does not match its character. It has an excellent food scene, a lively craft beer culture and a large community of artists.
Read the complete Tijuana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tijuana is where the day begins. Next is Ensenada.
2. Ensenada
Ensenada is where most riders meet Baja for the first time properly, a port of nearly three hundred thousand people on the Bahía de Todos Santos, about an hour and a half south of the Tijuana border crossing. The bay got its name from the explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno, who sailed in early in the seventeenth century and named it for All Saints. Today the town is a working harbour first, with fish markets, shipyards and a busy cruise terminal, and a tourist town second, with a famous old cantina and plenty of seafood on the waterfront.
Read the complete Ensenada write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ensenada comes up about 211 km into the recorded legs. Next is Catavina.
3. Cataviña
Cataviña is a landscape from another planet, and it happens to have a road through it. Cirio trees, known in English as boojum, rise like upside-down carrots up to ten metres tall, with a few spiny branches at the top, and the cardón cactus, the world's tallest, stands in forests of its own. The whole area is protected as the Valle de los Cirios reserve.
Read the complete Catavina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 966 km into the recorded legs you reach Catavina. Next is Guerrero Negro.
4. Guerrero Negro
Guerrero Negro is a town built on salt and whales, in that order. Clocks change here too, with Baja California Sur an hour ahead. Beyond the town, the lagoon of Ojo de Liebre stretches out in a flat, glittering sheet.
Read the complete Guerrero Negro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Guerrero Negro closes the day.
Leg by leg
Tijuana to Ensenada
Tijuana → Ensenada is 211 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ensenada to Catavina
Ensenada → Catavina is 755 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cataviña to Guerrero Negro
Cataviña → Guerrero Negro is 521 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.