Los Angeles – Arrival
Distance: 0 mi / km
This evening you’ll meet your fellow riders at an orientation meeting at your Los Angeles hotel. Your tour guide will provide you with a thorough overview of what to expect in the days ahead as you prepare to set off down some of the greatest desert roads in North America.
Los Angeles – Ensenada
Distance: 200 mi / 320 km
After your welcome breakfast, pick up your bike from EagleRider and begin cruising south along the California coastline to the border at Tijuana, Mexico. Once across the border, about an hour’s riding will see you roll into the bustling port town of Ensenada, where a delicious gourmet dinner of locally caught fish lies in wait. Watching the sunset over the bay, it won’t take you long to realise you’re on the cusp of something special.
Ensenada – Catavina
Distance: 229 mi / 366 km
Leave the busy border towns behind and ride south down Mexico Highway 1. Soon Cirio trees and giant Cardon cacti begin to appear beside the road. Before you know it, you’ve entered the Vizcaino Desert, one of the most fascinating desert regions on the continent, filled with rugged hills, dense desert vegetation and strange boulder formations. You should arrive in Catavina just in time to catch the glorious desert sunset.
Catavina – San Ignacio
Distance: 236 mi / 378 km
Today you’ll cross the state line from Baja Norte into Baja Sur. You’ll notice a change in landscape as you ride over several 3,000-foot summits, past flat-topped volcanic cones and cactus-covered hills to San Ignacio, a true desert oasis with a pretty town square, a natural desert spring and orchards of date palms.
San Ignacio – Loreto
Distance: 170 mi / 272 km
Ahead of you this morning is the impressive Tres Virgenes, a massive complex of volcanos responsible for the lava flows you’ll see around you. You’ll then descend the Devil’s Grade, a testing seven miles of switchbacks that brings you to the warm blue waters of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California). Soon you’ll be riding along the shores of Bahia Concepcion, a breathtaking bay of aquamarine waters, white sandy beaches and volcanic islands, and one of the highlights of the peninsula’s east coast. From the base of the bay, it’s just a short ride south to Loreto, the oldest Spanish settlement along Mexico’s west coast. The town offers a picturesque central plaza, shopping and a selection of great restaurants.
Loreto – La Paz
Distance: 225 mi / 360 km
Continue south through the desert along Mexico Highway 1 to Ciudad Constitucion, where you’ll stop for lunch. From there, drop south and then east to La Paz, the capital of Baja California. Founded by Cortez in 1535, La Paz boasts a small historic centre and an attractive seafront esplanade full of shops, bars and excellent restaurants serving freshly caught seafood.
La Paz – Cabo San Lucas
Distance: 134 mi / 214 km
Staying close to the eastern shore of the Baja Peninsula, you’ll pass through the nature reserve Cerro de Venado en route to San Jose del Cabo, the first of the two resort towns that make up Los Cabos. Your end point today, though, is the second of the two, the livelier Cabo San Lucas, famous for its fun-loving beach scene and wild nightlife. On the way there you’ll also get a view of the natural rock arch and rock stacks at Land’s End, the southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Cabo San Lucas – Free day
Distance: 0 mi / km
You won’t be bored today in Cabo San Lucas, that’s for sure. There’s a charming colonial centre to explore, plenty of great restaurants and a number of scuba diving, fishing and snorkelling options. But if you’re only going to do one thing, make it whale watching. Thousands of grey whales arrive each winter to breed and calve in the warm shallow waters, meaning sightings from November through March are practically guaranteed. Choose a private or small-group tour for the best experience, as smaller crafts can quickly position you close to where the whales appear.
Cabo San Lucas – Los Barriles
Distance: 70 mi / 112 km
Enjoy a leisurely start today, then ride the coastal highway back to San Jose del Cabo for lunch and a look around the smart, historic city. You’ll also stop at the Tropic of Cancer Visitor Centre before ending the day at a beach resort in Los Barriles.
Los Barriles – Loreto
Distance: 283 mi / 453 km
Today is a far longer day in the saddle, following Highway 1 back through Ciudad Constitucion to Loreto. On the way you’ll get to test your cornering skills on some excellent twisting roads through the mountains of the Sierra del la Laguna, stopping along the way at the historic mining town of El Triunfo for one of the best cups of coffee in Baja.
Loreto – Guerrero Negro
Distance: 259 mi / 414 km
Continue north up Highway 1, stopping for a dip at one of the beautiful sandy coves that line Conception Bay. Lunch will be in the small village of Mulege, a traditional Mexican town at the mouth of a river. Once back on the road, you’ll ride via Santa Rosalia to San Ignacio where you’ll take an ice cream break in the town plaza. From San Ignacio, continue across the barren Vizcaino Desert to the hotel in Guerrero Negro, just south of the Baja Sur border. The area around Guerrero Negro is part of El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993. It encompasses bays, lagoons, vast expanses of the Sonoran Desert and the rugged Sierra Mountains. It’s also an important breeding site for grey whales.
Guerrero Negro – San Quintin
Distance: 253 mi / 405 km
The road north winds through a vast desert landscape full of unusual plants like the Dr Suess-looking Cirio tree. After a lunch stop in Catavina, wind your way through twisty backroads towards the Pacific coast and your beachfront hotel in San Quintin, where a beachside bonfire and cold beers await.
San Quintin – Ensenada
Distance: 131 mi / 210 km
Leave the beautiful beach of San Quintin behind and ride north to La Bufadora, home to a natural geyser where the ocean waves get forced through a crack in the cliffs. It’s also here that you’ll get to try a stuffed and barbecued giant clam – a Baja culinary classic. From La Bufadora, head north to Ensenada. The port city boasts a stunning setting and is famous for its shopping, sport fishing and fish tacos. It’s also home to Baja’s oldest bar, Hussong’s Cantina, where you can toast your last evening spent south of the border.
Ensenada – Los Angeles
Distance: 227 mi / 363 km
Leaving Ensenada, enjoy a scenic ride through the vineyards of Valle de Guadalupe to the Mexico/US border at Tecate. Once back in the US, you’ll ride some great motorcycle roads through the eastern San Diego countryside before enjoying lunch in San Diego itself. Then it’s back to Los Angeles to return your bike and reflect on the completion of a truly epic journey. End the day on a high at EagleRider’s legendary end-of-tour party.
Los Angeles – Tour ends
Distance: 0 mi / km
The tour with EagleRider officially ends this morning but let us know if you’d like us to arrange any additional nights for you in LA or elsewhere in California. A stay at a luxury hotel is a wonderful way to unwind after so many days in the saddle.
