Las Cruces

Brief Description

This is a moderate 13-kilometer (8.1-mile) trail that takes approximately 4 to 5 hours to hike. Starting from Los Pisos, this trail takes you from 500 meters (1640 feet) to sea level and ends at the exclusive Rancho Las Cruces Resort. Please contact them directly for availability, prices and reservations at their seaside resort.

Detailed Description

Starting at Los Pisos, this trail leads north and down to the mouth of an arroyo (dry river bed) named Las Cruces. The trail offers vast views of the Gulf of California and of Espiritu Santo Island. As the trail descends it passes rock gardens of massive granite boulders that have been eroded over time by weather and other natural forces. The contrasts of desert, sea and sky create a dramatic, handsome landscape.

Near the start of the trail, the path intersects with the Long Trail, which traverses the mountains over to the La Paz side. For now, we leave that adventure for another day and instead continue north towards Las Cruces.

A bit farther on, we meet up with Los Pescaditos trail, a short one-kilometer (0.6-mile) detour that takes us back in time to a location that was once inhabited by the nomadic hunter-gatherers, the Guaycura people. One of the first reports of this site was sent in 1895 to the Natural History Museum in Paris, France during a survey of the area.

At about a third of the way, we come to yet another intersection. Heading north takes us to the Palo Verde spring whereas heading west continues on to Trasudores, our next location.

Trasudores is located at about the half-way mark and is the site of an old campsite that was used by cattle ranchers and for transporting goods by mule to La Paz when the sea was too rough to go by boat. History books tell us that this property was once owned by Gastón Vivés, the French-Mexican founder of the oyster farm on Espirito Santo, one of the world's first commercial operations to farm cultured saltwater pearls in the late 1800s to early 1900s. 

Finally, we arrive at La Junta where the arroyos of Las Cruces and Trasudores merge. Tenacious hikers may continue along the sandy arroyo though usually arrangements are made ahead of time to have a vehicle waiting near La Junta. In either case, the excursion ends at the Rancho Las Cruces Resort.