No matter if you have been to Baja a thousand times or looking for a place to head for your first run down the peninsula, knowing where to go or secret spots always make the trip better. BF Goodrich [1] got together with Baja legends like Cameron Steele, Curt LeDuc, Sal Fish, Bill Nichols, Jimmy Sones, Johnny Campbell, and Frank DeAngelo to create a list of the top 50 spots to check out in Baja.
In the first episode, they head to Santa Rosalía, the sand dunes outside of Guerrero Negro, La Lobera, and the steps outside of La Paz. As the list is being finalized they start with some areas that did not receive as many votes.
50: Santa Rosalía
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As Cameron Steele explains in the video, most teams use this as a fuel stop for their chase trucks and do not take the chance to see what Santa Rosalía has to offer. The town is based around the copper mines and has the Eiffel Church, a church designed by the person who made the Eiffel Tower. The church was actually brought from Paris, France in 1889.
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No off-road trails here, but plenty of interesting history can be seen.
Everything that the town needed to survive was boated in from France. From the food to the steel beams everything came by ship from France. When they discovered that the air from the smelters was not good to breathe they built a smokestack to one of the nearby hills. Santa Rosalía is one of the few black sand beaches, other than Hawaii, due to the black sand tailings from mining.
49: Guerrero Negro
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This part of Baja is less of an off-road destination as it is a location to see the true beauty of Baja. At the state line for Baja and Baja Sur is the untouched sand dunes of Guerrero Negro.
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No off-roading here, just beautiful scenery and breath taking views.
Viewing this location by helicopter will give you the best view of this breath taking location. It is one area in Baja that should be left the way it is and a place that will allow future generations to see its beauty.
48: La Lobera
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Also known as the seal hole, La Lobera, since it is easier to describe. It is a giant hole in the ground where from the observation area you can look down on seal colony inside. Besides the hole, the area also boasts amazing coast line.
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The seal hole, gives visitors a birds eye view into a seal colony.
La Lobera is right along Highway 1 and about four miles off to the west just north of El Rosario. In addition to the seal hole, there is a clam and abalone hatchery where they are repopulating the ocean with them.
47: La Paz
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The last location in this episode was a section that few people, unless you are an off-road racer, never see. The steps outside of La Paz are a very traditional part of the Baja 1000 as racers head down the steps.
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No matter which way you look at the steps, they are something to be taken seriously.
On the way to the steps are some massive Volkswagen sized rollers that do not have any rhythm. After some switchbacks, the steps range in size from five inches to two feet tall. This is a bitter sweet moment during a race as you can start to see the lights of La Paz during the end of the race, but know that it is one brutal part of the course.
Stay tuned for the next episodes and the 50 best spots in Baja!