We just finished our very first epic road trip: a 1,500-mile, three-day trek up the Baja Peninsula. We started all the way down at the southern tip of Mexico in Cabo San Lucas and drove all the way home to Scottsdale, Arizona. It took us two nights, one intense border crossing, and a whole lot of backseat negotiation to pull it off.
If you are planning to tackle this stunning, mountainous, and slightly unpredictable drive with your own four-legged co-pilots, you definitely need a strategy. As the resident dogs who survived 36 total hours in a Jeep, we wanted to share our experience—and what we learned along the way—to help keep your humans organized, your sanity intact, and your backseat comfortable.
Here are our top 5 humorous—yet deeply practical—tips for road-tripping the Baja.
1. The Backseat Battle (Watch for the Telltale Signs)
Weeks before the trip, we watched our humans enter what we call the “sorting and questioning” phase. They would hold up random items and ask, “Do I need this? Will I need that?” It was highly entertaining to watch, but we quickly realized our legroom was in serious danger. Standard suitcases started stacking up alongside a “what if we need a sweater” heavy-clothing bag, a pile of “maybe” shoes, and an entire portable office.
What we learned: Humans have an uncontrollable genetic tendency to overpack for the destination rather than the journey. If you are driving back to a major city, most of those “must-bring” items are already sitting at your house—and whatever isn’t can be delivered by Amazon the day you arrive. We learned that saving vehicle space for backseat comfort is way more important than to squeeze one more shoe between the backdoor and the headrest. When you’re spending 12 hours a day in a Jeep, prioritization is everything.
2. Don’t Let Your Kibble Go “Walkabout”
For those of us with slightly obsessive-compulsive tendencies, travel completely wrecks a routine. If you love a strict feeding schedule, toss it right out the window. When a 12-hour driving day starts at 6:00 AM and ends at 6:00 PM, breakfast happens at 5:00 AM and dinner shifts to 7:00 PM.
What we learned: Make sure your humans jam your travel bowls and non-slip floor pads somewhere accessible, even if it’s under the front seats. There is nothing more humiliating than trying to eat dinner on a slick hotel tile floor, only to chase your food across the room until most of it ends up stuck under a desk chair. That is way too much work after a long day on the road.
Miller’s Tip: If your dog is a midnight fidget when staying in new hotel rooms, make sure a “Whizzee” or favorite “stuffy” is packed in the overnight bag so everyone gets some sleep.
3. Keep It Chill at the Military Checkpoints
Let’s not sugarcoat it: pulling up to military security checks on the Baja can be intimidating. You are staring at expressionless, armed men in camouflage uniforms and dark aviator glasses who mostly speak Spanish. If you have a protective “guard the car” instinct or a habit of barking at random people, you have to find your inner Zen.
To get from Cabo (MX) to the Yuma (US) border, we took Highway 1 (MX-1) to Highway 5 (MX-5). It’s a fully paved, beautiful drive that cuts east at Lázaro Cárdenas/Chapala to run along the Gulf of California. Here is exactly where we had to stop on our route:
- San Ignacio Checkpoint (MX-1): A permanent military stop where the officers looked over our Jeep and peeked into the trunk.
- Guerrero Negro State Line Checkpoint (MX-1): The major border between Baja California Sur and Baja California. Our humans kept their passports easily accessible for the immigration check, and we paid a small tire sanitization fee.
- Puertecitos / Gonzaga Bay Area (MX-5): We hit a few roving, temporary military checkpoints along this stretch, but they were just quick, straightforward visual inspections.
- San Felipe Checkpoint (MX-5): Run by military or federal police who gave us a quick 60-second glance and waved us right through.
- El Chinero / MX-3 Junction Checkpoint (MX-5): A well-established post north of San Felipe where we were asked to stop. They started with a brief question about where we came from and where we were going. Then…it happened.
The Great Paper Towel Incident: At that fifth checkpoint—about 300 miles before the US border—we were asked to open the hatch of the Jeep. Typically, that wouldn’t be a problem, but on this trip, Mom had decided she absolutely had to “mule” 22 rolls of Mexican paper towels, stuffing them into every open crevice and lining the entire back hatch. In her defense, she insists there is no other product out there quite like them. Lucky for us, it wasn’t until this final stretch that anyone actually asked to see inside. The moment the hatch popped, paper towels exploded onto the ground. Mom had to scramble quickly (and very shamefully) to retrieve the runaway rolls and cram them back into their travel spots. Thankfully, the officer just shook his head, cracked a small smile, and waved us through.
What we learned: Leave the paper towels at home.
4. Never Cross an International Border on a Sunday
If there is one absolute rule of Baja travel, it is this: Never cross from Mexico into the US on a Sunday.
Sunday is the single busiest day of the week at the border crossing. It is flooded with car traffic, foot traffic, transport trucks, peddlers, and candy merchants. Thousands of people are commuting back into the US after spending a wonderful weekend with family and friends. Think of it like sitting in a three-hour Friday afternoon gridlock trying to leave a major city, except much worse.
What we learned: It took our humans 5 hours to move a single mile. They were getting incredibly “squirrely” in the front seats. Luckily, we slept through the entire 5 hours without a single bathroom emergency. So, unless you want to test the absolute limits of your patience, schedule your border crossing for a weekday.
5. Never Miss an Opportunity to Do Your Business
The drive up the Baja coast is a beautiful mix of dramatic desert lands, mountain ranges, and eerie ghost towns filled with half-started homes and dried-up gas stations. Because of how remote it is, you have to plan your stops around two major factors: fuel and the sunset.
What we learned: A roadside stop on the Baja is strictly all business. It is not the time for a leisurely walkabout, no matter how amazing the desert smells are. Do your pee, do your poop, get a quick drink of water, grab your reward cookie, and get right back in the Jeep. The mountains don’t always offer a safe place to pull over, meaning an unplanned bathroom break could result in a stressful two-hour hold.
Most importantly, never drive after dark. Once the sun sets in the desert, the open road belongs to the transport trucks, local wildlife, and stray animals. Plan your mileage so you are safely parked at your hotel or destination before twilight.
At the End of the Day…
Our biggest takeaway was to enjoy the journey just as much as the destination. Life is short, and the Baja is a massive, beautiful world. We loved surfing with the window open, letting the warm Pacific air blow our ears back, and taking in all the new scents. Just keep your head cool, your packing light, and leave the extra paper towels at home.
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