Three Hikes

Baja has many opportunities for hiking – the challenge sometimes is finding them. If you have limited time, go with a guide (link); most tourist hotels can find one for you. This is a good plan for extended hikes because hiking trails can be confused with cattle trails. If you want to do it yourself, you can find trails on maps and blog posts and by word-of-mouth.

This post highlights three recent hikes. Hike #1 – Sol de Mayo – appears on low-resolution maps of the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve. The maps can’t be used for navigation. We learned about hike #2 – Arroyo Palmillas – on the Baja Pony Express (link), an English-language website with news, information and announcements for the gringo community. We learned about hike #3 – Sendero sin Nombre – by word of mouth.

Sol de Mayo

Located near the town of Santiago (KM 85 on the Transpeninsular Highway) on the east side of the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve, Cañon de la Zorra (Fox Canyon) is best known for its waterfall (cascada). Rancho Ecológico Sol de Mayo and has an entry fee of USD $6. Hike upstream from the waterfall (elevation about 275 m) and you'll find pools and wetlands and a beautiful canyon.

Entrance to Rancho Ecológico Sol de Mayo

Drive into Santiago, take the first right and go to the end where the paved street becomes dirt. Follow the dirt road uphill for a little over a kilometer. You'll pass a road to San Dionisio on the right. At the top of the hill, you'll see a sign for Sol de Mayo and take the road to the left. Follow the signs for Sol de Mayo for about 14 km (9 mi).  

Palo blanco (Lysiloma candida) forest

Park inside the gate and follow the trail down through a palo blanco forest to the bottom to reach the waterfall. It's a popular swimming hole in the summer.

Waterfall in the granite rocks that underlie most of the Baja peninsula

The trail up the canyon splits off to the right before you reach the bottom. We hiked 5-6 miles round trip, but you can go farther.

Fan palm (Brahea brandegeei) oasis

Arroyo Palmillas

The hike heads up an arroyo to a small slot canyon; there’s no trail. The arroyo passes under Puente Palmillas (Palmillas Bridge) at KM 95 on the Transpeninsular Highway. Drive under the bridge and head upstream. Less than 1 km up the arroyo is a fence; park there and walk upstream about 30 minutes to the slot canyon. 

Entrance to the slot canyon

You can continue up the arroyo to a small, pour-off (dry waterfall) where a trail marked with a rock cairn heads up the north side and ends beneath high-tension power lines. 

Supposedly there’s a trail along the canyon rim that returns to the arroyo near the start of the hike. We found a trail used my mountain bikers, but it did not return to the arroyo. 

Side canyon

We tried to descend a couple small side canyons, but were turned back by impenetrable vegetation. We never did find the return loop and retraced our route through the slot canyon.

Zalate (Ficus brandegeei) with surface roots growing down the canyon wall

Sendero sin Nombre

We learned about the trail that doesn't have a name from a local gringo. It begins at KM 7 on the road from Los Barriles to El Cardonal and heads inland along an alluvial ridge between two large arroyos. 

Arroyo San Bartolo

There’s a pullout on the left where a short, steep, 4-wheel-drive trail leads to a parking spot above the paved road. Look back over your shoulder and follow an old 4-wheel-drive road uphill. A chain is stretched across the road between two poles about 50 m from the start.

Palo blanco forest

The lower portion of the trail is used by mountain bikers. The 4-wheel-drive road eventually turns into a single track and ends on a narrow ridge with views of the mountains and Sea of Cortez. Round trip is about 5 miles.

Bursera spp. forest

Raptors roost on the white-washed tips of the arms of this old cardón