Why this ride
On the way it passes El Vizcaíno, Laguna Ojo de Liebre and back through El Vizcaíno. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Laguna San Ignacio and Laguna Ojo de Liebre
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 374 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 27
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
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. Laguna San Ignacio
San Ignacio lagoon lies on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, about seventy kilometres by dirt road from the town of San Ignacio, and it is famous for a rare event: the grey whales that come here every winter to give birth sometimes approach small boats and let people touch them. The behaviour began in the 1970s and is still a mystery, but whales and calves come alongside, roll and look up, which has moved many a hardened traveller to tears.
Read the complete Laguna San Ignacio write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Laguna San Ignacio is where the day begins. Next is El Vizcaíno.
2. El Vizcaíno
Baja California is a long, thin peninsula, and El Vizcaino is where it gets properly wide. The biosphere reserve covers a huge, dry belt of the central peninsula, from the Pacific lagoons on one side to the Sierra de San Francisco on the other, and it is named after Sebastian Vizcaino, the Spanish captain who sailed these coasts in 1602. Scattered over the desert are the strange plants that make Baja famous, the towering cardon cactus, the squat elephant tree, and the cirio or boojum, a tall tapering spike that looks like an upside-down carrot with a few frizzy branches. After a rare rain the ground is briefly green.
Read the complete El Vizcaíno write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
El Vizcaíno comes up about 95 km into the recorded legs. Next is Laguna Ojo de Liebre.
3. Laguna Ojo de Liebre
Ojo de Liebre, which means hare's eye, is a huge shallow lagoon on the Pacific side of Baja California, and every winter it receives the largest gathering of grey whales on earth. The animals travel about ten thousand kilometres from the Bering and Chukchi seas, one of the longest migrations of any mammal, to give birth in warm, sheltered water. Calves are born between January and March, and in the lagoon, mothers teach them to swim and surface.
Read the complete Laguna Ojo de Liebre write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 187 km into the recorded legs you reach Laguna Ojo de Liebre. Next is back through El Vizcaíno.
4. back through El Vizcaíno
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete El Vizcaíno write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through El Vizcaíno, late in the day. Next is Laguna San Ignacio.
5. Laguna San Ignacio
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Laguna San Ignacio write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Laguna San Ignacio. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Laguna San Ignacio to El Vizcaíno
Laguna San Ignacio → El Vizcaíno is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
El Vizcaíno to Laguna Ojo de Liebre
El Vizcaíno → Laguna Ojo de Liebre is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Laguna Ojo de Liebre to back through El Vizcaíno
Laguna Ojo de Liebre → back through El Vizcaíno is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through El Vizcaíno to Laguna San Ignacio
back through El Vizcaíno → Laguna San Ignacio is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.