Trip Itinerary

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December 7, 2023, meet and greet in El Cajon, CA at the Marriott Hotel.

 

Day 1 - Meetup time is 6 am in the hotel lobby before boarding the awaiting vans that will take us to the Tecate border crossing where we will meet the Off the Grid Crew and get paired up with your Can Am X3's. Once we do an overall UTV orientation and drivers meeting, we'll cross the US/Mexico border as a group.

 

Once we cross the border, we will have a short highway drive to the trailhead. We will space out for dust and proceed south through the mountains of Sierra Juarez, also known as the pine forest of Baja. The beautiful mountain ranges and dense forests will make it hard to believe that you're in Baja. The trails are fast and wide, allowing for some fast corner drifting turns as we make our way down south toward Ojos Negros for Tacos and Tequila. After lunch, we'll refuel and take yet another fast trail to the west. This trail is commonly used in the Baja 1000 races, also known as "Blue Gate." It's short and fast, but you'll love every mile of it. As we come to the highway, we'll regather as a group and drive into the hotel at "Horse Power Ranch" for the night. We anticipate arriving at the hotel early afternoon.

 

Day 2 - We'll start our day with a scenic road drive on Hwy 3 back over to Ojos Negros, then up in the mountains east. There will be more beautiful pine forests and amazing roads that will allow you to drift through every turn. As we climb in elevation, we will get above the tree line and reach some wide-open meadows before turning south on a section of the Baja 1000 race course. This high-speed trail will allow us to make up some time, as long as everyone can keep it together. There will definitely be a few check-ups (stopping on the trail and letting the group catch up) along the way. This trail that leads from the northeast down to "Independencia" (a small town on Hwy 3) will give you the true Baja feel. The landscapes, fast trails, and occasional whoop sections... This is what we came for. Our next destination after passing Independencia will be Valle LA Trinidad (a small town on Hwy 3) for "F&T" aka Fuel and Tacos (some of the best Tacos in Baja). With full bellies, we'll keep pushing on toward the top of the mountain to "Mike's Sky Ranch." Mike's is about 26 miles from Valle LA Trinidad and has mountainous windy road driving. Although it's somewhat white-knuckle driving, the trails are extremely fun and fast.

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Day 3 - Leaving Mikes Sky Ranch Day 3 - Leaving Mike's Sky Ranch after a hearty breakfast, we descended down the windy mountainside we navigated the night before, back down to Valle LA Trinidad for a splash of gas. We'll be heading to the orphanage today to meet and present the orphans of Baja with gifts for Christmas. We'll meet back up with the chase trucks that will have all the precious cargo for the kids. Just a few miles down the road, we will convoy into the orphanage and spend a few hours with the kids. We'll be offering slow-paced rides and letting the kids explore the Can-Am UTV's before presenting them with the gifts for the Christmas season. Once our mission is completed, we'll keep pushing on toward the Cortez. Riding the roadside trails along Hwy 3 toward El Borrego, where we will enter into the dry flat desert and the sometimes dry lakebed of Laguna Diablo. Depending on the time of year and how much moisture is in the dry lakebed, we will either take the high road and play it safe or cut right through the lakebed and hope for the best. As we start cutting over to the east toward San Felipe, the terrain will once again change to deep sandy washes before entering San Felipe for the evening. The hotel for the night is the El Cortez in San Felipe on the beachfront. Drinks, dinner, and the sunset over the Cortez - this is Baja.

 

Day 4 - Starting back up north... Leaving San Felipe, we'll head back up north through the sand washes and over to the dry lakebed Laguna Diablo on a fast-paced trail back up to San Matias. We will stop once again in Valle LA Trinidad for some "F&T" aka Fuel and Tacos. As we head north toward Ojos Negros, we'll divert to the west on some more technical trails toward Tres Hermanos. These trails will start at a slower pace but will eventually smooth out to some rolling hills and extremely fun drifting routes. We'll end up back at Ojos Negros for more fuel before driving back to Horse Power Ranch in the mountains of Ensenada. Day 4 is long and extremely fun. If everything goes to plan, we'll be at the hotel around 6 pm for dinner and drinks.

 

Day 5 - Our last ride... Day 5 is our exit day. We will have covered close to 600 miles already, and we still have a few to go. Our exit strategy is to enjoy these amazing trails but always keep pushing north toward the border to make good time. If time permits, we'll take the north route toward Laguna Hanson all the way up to Hwy 2 and over the border back to the USA. All the trails are amazing, and there is never an overwhelming section, even for novice drivers. On this trip, we will average about 600 miles over the 4 days of driving. The terrain will differ day to day, and you'll get to experience the best of what Baja has to offer. Off the GRID Expeditions will have their full support team in place to make sure your adventure goes as planned.

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Trip Includes -  

- Guided trails from the border every step of the way

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-The entire course has been pre run and mapped so that you will be able to view the trail on your Lowrance GPS unit. See GPS Usage page (click here)

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-  Hotel accommodations for all nights

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-  Breakfast and dinners, all nights

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-  Unsurpassed trail support. With our mechanics on the trail your mechanical problem is a thing of the past.

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-  A lead UTV will guide the group. The lead UTV will radio back any potential  hazards that you may encounter along the way.

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-  A sweep support UTV, that hold parts and tools for almost any trail breakdowns, will ensure that everyone gets to their destination. 

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- On the trail Mechanics that will handle any issues that might pop up. These mechanics, or “Baja Ninjas” as we call them, are truly amazing to have along.

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-  Parts: Please remember there are several different models and manufactures of UTV’s all requiring different parts. Off the Grid does carrie some parts but not all. We recommend you bring any spare parts necessary for your UTV. These parts will be carried on the chase trucks. We do recommend you carry spare belts, rear axels, and communally used parts for your manufacture of UTV. 

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-  The Chase trucks hold a multitude of tools, welders, parts, wheels and tires as well as emergency fuel and medical  equipment baring any insentient along the way.

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Requirements - (Click Here)

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FAQ - (Click Here)

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