WELCOME TO VIVA BAJA; a place to view, discover, or plan your Baja California adventures!

Baja California is the land of boulders, boojum trees, beautiful beaches, and historic missions.

Here you can find travel details, such as maps, photos, links, Baja California history, books about the peninsula, videos, and more >>>

SEE WHAT’s NEW at VivaBaja.com

ENJOY THE MAY 2025 TRIP ALBUM

SEE  the new, online ‘Baja Bound Road Guide’.

READ about Baja California in my Travel Adventure articles

INDEX: FIND it fast in the Viva Baja Index

MAPS! The Viva Baja Map collection is here

PHOTOS: Baja Trip Albums and More

MISSIONS & VISITAS, a quick look + facts

BOOK COVERS! The Viva Baja Book collection is here

New & classic used BOOKS to buy (at OldMissions.com)! 

Click to DISCOVER WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, and HOW TO GET THERE:

    1) Discover LOCATIONS (Travel Articles, Maps, Books, Road Logs)

    2) Discover HISTORY (Missions, El Camino Real, Painted Caves, etc.)

    3) Discover DRIVING (Border Crossing, Road Maps, Kilometer Marker, GPS)

    4) Discover PHOTOGRAPHS from past and present photographers. These include (100) Baja California Travel & Camping Photo Albums, from 1965 to 2025!

    5) See & Hear VIVA BAJA MEDIA 2014-2022, when I appear on TV shows, Videos, Documentary Film, Podcasts, plus at age 16, my Super-8 recording of the 1973 Baja 1000!

   6) Viva Baja Page 2: LINKS to MORE VivaBaja and other Baja California Sites  (Baja Travel Sites; Baja Locations; Tide Charts; Home Pages; Book Authors; Contributed Photos)

   7) Need help finding something? Try out the new Viva Baja Index(under construction)

Baja California History is amazing! This is where California began and was the only place called California, prior to 1769 when the name was modified.

“My book covers the years 1533 to 1855 with the discovery of California and Spain’s attempts to colonize the peninsula, eventually using missions. Each mission is detailed and photographed. The padres are all named, with the mission they served and the years of service. I also talk about the ‘lost missions’ and explain what and where they were.” David Kier
Land of Missions
Learn about the discovery, and Spanish missions, of Baja California. 
In addition to the 25 Spanish missions, two more were founded after Mexican independence, near San Miguel.

Dario Higuera of the film, La Recua, and I on June 8, 2024 for a private viewing of the film. https://larecua.com/la-recua-the-mule-pack-train-movie/ Hear the film’s producer, Trudi Angell on a Slow Baja podcast .

No photo description available.
On my last visit with Harry Crosby (in 2019), I presented him with my book and am showing him one of his photos on El Camino Real that is in it.

To order Baja California Land of Missions (and other books): https://oldmissions.com/

This website was created in the year 2000. For 2022 and beyond, it has been revised to better help you plan trips and discover more Baja California adventures! More content is always being added. Look for more changes in the near future. Until then, just scroll down to see and read about the fascinating peninsula that is full of history and adventure. Several links lead to much more plus hundreds, no thousands of photos give you a look at some of the peninsula’s endless attractions.

A tutorial with maps: Learn why California becomes ‘Baja California,’ then into the nickname ‘Baja’

 

El Coyote Bay in the larger Bahía Concepción, photographed because of its beauty for many decades.

Baja California is a thousand miles of fun! Beware, you may catch ‘Baja Fever’! To help you find something on VivaBaja, I am building an index to find content here, and on other sites.

The 1972 Edition of Mike McMahan’s wall map was also featured on the back cover of his 1973 and 1983 books.  See the all color 1967 edition.

Let’s talk about Baja California: Join our Facebook discussion groups to share your travels, ask for advice, or make requests for this page.

a) Viva Baja Facebook Group (travel, camping, off-roading, exploring)

b) Baja California Land of Missions Group (mission sites, old mines, cave art, travel before 1973)

c) Email David: info@vivabaja.com

First time driving to Baja California, Mexico?

Advice for border crossing and driving 

Baja Bound Road Guide Research Trip Reports (2016-2018 trip reports on Internet forums, followed by photo albums with details)

Click here for quick quotes and get Baja Bound!:

The Baja California Travel Club: https://www.discoverbaja.com/

One of the many great Dave Deal Baja cartoons. This was a bumper sticker from the mid-1970s sold by Arnold Senterfitt, author of Airports of Baja California. Deal’s art was the inspiration and source for the Pixar film, Cars.

See it now, a new Baja California Road Guide:

https://vivabaja.com/baja-bound-road-guide/

             

Click to see: the new guide for 2025 

Click to HEAR & SEE ‘BAJA PEOPLE’ on Slow Baja podcasts 

Slow Baja

          Zoom in close to see BAJA CALIFORNIA MAPS (1685-2021) over 200!

“Let me draw you a map!” A cartoon of David Kier, guiding folks to the missions. Created by Jerry Meloche in Bernie Swaim’s 2004 book, ‘Bouncing Around Baja’.

                   David Kier Baja Biography: how he connected with Baja California                           

Boojum trees (Cirios) are endemic to Baja California’s central desert and a small area across the gulf. These two appear to be dancing along the road south of Calamajué. 

 

Mission Santa María, March 30, 2022.

     >>>>>> NEED HELP FINDING SOMETHING? : VivaBaja Index

Vivabaja

Please allow me to help you find fun and adventure in Baja California as I have for TV shows and documentary films! Email: info@vivabaja.com
2014 CBS Sports Network, Trail of Missions https://youtu.be/gio1kxBoPoc
2019 Travel Channel, America Unearthed with Scott Wolter https://youtu.be/p7qPoqHSPXE
2019 Trail of Mission Recon (a 5-part YouTube series) https://youtu.be/FGbWpNvP-kI
2020 Feature Film, The Devil’s Road https://fb.watch/l4HdBf_6JO/
2021 Amazon Prime TV, Mysteries of the Southwest, The Last Mission https://youtu.be/cJHyNaQ-Uw4

                          EMAIL your Questions or Comments to DAVID: info@vivabaja.com

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Join our active Facebook group to see and share Baja California travel and news chat:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/vivabaja