This is an awesome route for both motorcycles and side by sides with plenty of options for easy and hard routes. The 7 day adventure starts in Tecate and makes a large loop around Northern Baja. There will be options to ride on the beach and through the mountains and through many cactus forests. On day 4 there is an option to take a break or to add an optional full day's ride.
Each day's ride ends at a new motel. There will be a luggage van carrying our gear so you can travel light and enjoy the ride.
Saturday Tecate: Hacienda Santa Veronica
Sunday Rancho El Coyote Meling
Monday Old Mill Hotel
Tuesday Hotel Mision Catavina
Wednesday Hotel Mision Catavina (Loop Ride)
Thursday Alfonsinas
Friday Mike's Sky Rancho
Saturday Riders go home
About the Routes
Riding for 7 days can be hard and long for even the best riders. I have worked hard to create daily options so that if a rider is fatigued or simply needs a break there are route options. Each day there are Easy, Main, and Hard options. There is also the possibility of following the luggage van. In this way I am able to design routes that work well for riders on a range of bikes from small dual sport bikes to Side by Sides and with varying levels of difficulty. All riders do not take the same routes. Riders choose their own partners and will group with others wanting similar experiences.
Self Guided Trail
This ride is designed to be a self guided adventure. Riders install a custom GPS microSD Card into their Garmin GPS unit. The routes are then displayed as the rider travels along. Navigation is made easy. Riders can choose to follow along at times or can choose among hard and easy options. Or riders can simply choose to ride off the routes and return to them later. For many, this allows them to just experience the trail without the burden of getting lost.
Do this ride yourself: Purchase Rider Packet and GPS microSD Card for this ride
Note: A Full Rider Packet consists of printed ride descriptions and paper ride maps and a custom GPS microSD card for your Garmin GPS unit.
7 Days of Baja del Norte (Scroll Down Menu)
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Notes: I suggest you plan and order early. Normally I ship within a week. But sometimes I run out and it can take me several weeks to get new cards and maps. And sometimes I am out riding and building new adventures so that can be hard too.
Ride Details
I know many of you also enjoy dreaming about the ride and making plans, so here is the detail
View the ride maps
OK since many of you like to study more detail about the ride, below are the ride maps.
I put these ride maps on the web page because I know a few of you love looking at the ride detail and dreaming about the ride. At first glance these maps do not look so impressive, but they are way cool. If you start zooming in, you can see the ride in incredible detail. I have spent a ton of hours sorting through the details of the ride for each day, so for those of you that enjoy this sort of thing, well enjoy!
Legend:
The Blue lines are MAIN routes
The Red lines are Harder routes
The Green lines are Easy options
The Black lines are the out and back viewpoints
FAQ's
Q: What bike will I (gpsKevin) be taking on this ride?
A: I will ride my Yamaha YXZ1000
Q: What bikes are good for this ride?
A: Side by sides and dual sport and small adventure bikes can work well. The routes have options suited for both types of bikes.
Not recommended are big heavy adventure bikes unless you are an excellent rider and good in sand.
Q: What gas distance range should my bike have?
A: I would suggest that on some days you carry enough fuel to make 200 miles due to the fact that sometimes the route can have issues and it is good to have a little margin.
Q: Do I need a Passport?
A: Yes, we will be crossing the US and Mexican borders; both countries require passports.
Q: What are motel room arrangements?
A: Rooms are double occupancy, meaning each rider shares a two bed room with another rider.
Q: How does the ride navigation work?
This is a self-led GPS ride; all riding is on your own. You are responsible for your own riding. You will be given a GPS map file and instructions on how to use your Garmin GPS unit. People will hook up in small groups of less than 6 riders and tend to ride together. You are not encouraged to ride alone. You are responsible for your own riding and yourself.
(see my ride Navigation Video)
Q: How do I make the GPS stuff so easy?
I develop very high quality ride maps custom for our ride. They come from much of what I and others have ridden. I take the best from all my rides and make new ones.
(See my Custom Ride Maps Video)
Q; What do I do if I don't have a Garmin GPS?
A: Buy one, you need it. We will show you how to use it. You can get a great one for under $200 bucks.
(See gpsKevin's gps recommendations)
Q: Is the riding really on my own?
A: Yes, but everyone hooks up and rides with a friend, or a new friend or me.
Q: Will I do this ride again next year?
A: No, sorry, I hardly ever repeat rides as I love to develop and discover new places and rides each season. And I have a long dream list of rides now. So this is likely the only time for this ride. Remember: Every time we say no to a ride that is one less ride in life
Q: Do I need insurance?
A: Yes, you must carry proof of medical insurance and liability insurance for yourself/motorcycle.
Q: Would this be a good ride for new riders?
A: No, this ride is for intermediate and experienced riders only. The riding has easy route choices and tough route options. Each evening we will study the following day's choices. You will find lots of supportive people at the ride.
Are you right for this ride?
When something goes wrong on a ride, would your riding friends say that you are more likely to need help or more likely to give help? You should be in the more likely to offer help camp. This ride is filled with riders that are more likely to give help, so most of the time the riders never need help. Additionally there is all the normal stuff: come prepared to maintain your bike, fix your bike on the trail, repair flat tires, deal with bad weather and rain and make a joke or two.
Documents required
Valid passport
Original registrations for all vehicles you are taking across the border including trailers
US auto insurance
MX auto insurance
MX tourist card CLICK HERE for more information