This route takes us to Rancho San Gregorio, Cueva La Palma, Cueva El Borrego, plus Cueva Pintada (Gardener Cave), Cueva de las Flechas, and more in Santa Teresa canyon. A total of 12 to 16 archaeological sites may be visited on the Painted Caves of Baja route. The 9 day tour may allow us time to visit all of the area's sites authorized by Mexico's Department of History and Anthropology.

Highlights - World Heritage sites of prime Mural Rock Art. Cultural and Natural History taught by local guides as you travel the spectacular desert outback. Ranch visits. Plus a glimpse into the lifestyle of locals, and their Baja trail rhythms.

See Trudi’s trip Journal and Photos from November 2006, and contact us to receive a copy of the dvd Corazon Vaquero - a documentary on the lifestyle of Baja's ranch history and culture.

Please remember to arrive a day or two prior to and after the listed trip dates for travel from Loreto to San Ignacio... about 4 hours of driving time, and 2 hours to the trail head from town.

In pre-trip communications we will let you know a time and place the night before the riding starts where the group will gather for a quick orientation meeting.

Day 1 - After breakfast on your own in town, we’ll check in at the San Ignacio cultural center office, and then head to the Sierra San Francisco. It’s about a two hour drive up to the small mountain village; the jumping-off point for the best of Baja’s rock art sites. Today we meet our local guides, mules and pack-burros and head down the trail for a great adventure.

Days 2 - 9 - We'll ride a favorite route through the mountains to visit over a dozen caves and historic sites. Traveling along rugged trails, through cactus garden canyons and palm oases we’ll stop at local ranches to learn about the Old California lifestyles still being lived in the desert outback. At one ranch hides are tanned and made into saddles and other useful ranching works of art. On top of a spreading mesa, families raise goats for cheese making. And nestled deep in Santa Teresa canyon we’ll camp next to a ranch garden full of citrus and vegetables for the remote family’s daily use.

We'll send you a list of ideas for you to bring your own trail lunches... And we serve you great breakfasts and dinners, fresh with local flavor. When possible we may arrange for a meal with one of the families. Home-made tortillas, cheese enchiladas, stews, beans, fresh garden vegetables, regional sweets and mesquite-roasted coffee or a local herbal tea might be on the menu. On the final day’s ride we end up back at our vehicles in the village of San Francisco de la Sierra – having traveled a loop route to visit the best of Baja’s mural art and local craftspeople.

The afternoon or evening of the final day you can overnight in a small hostal in the village of San Francisco de la Sierra, or return 2 hours back to San Ignacio to a hotel.

Buen Viaje and we’ll hope to see you again in Baja!