Last Updated on: 8th October 2023, 04:38 pm
A small town of under 4,000 residents in the southern part of the Baja Peninsula, Mulegé is about as remote as it gets in Mexico. But while experiencing the town can be challenging in a number of ways, its stunning scenery will stick with you for a long time. In this Mulegé guide, we’ll be covering things to do in the town center, along the coast and deep in the desert.
For details on reaching Mulegé, where to stay and other useful travel tips, be sure to check the end of the article.
Around Central Mulegé
As a town of just around 4,000 inhabitants, central Mulegé is as sleepy as you’d expect. Nevertheless, with the town being within twelve hour’s driving distance of the US border, just about every third car has a US license plate!
As with just about all Mexican towns, Mulegé is centered around a main plaza, surrounding which are a couple of decent restaurants. But in regards to attractions, central Mulegé only has one of note: the Museo Comunitario de Mulegé.
Located atop a hill in the northeast part of the center, the Museo Comunitario de Mulegé is situated in what used to be the local prison.
Given Mulegé’s remote location and the arid lands surrounding it, an escaped prisoner was unlikely to survive very long on the run.
As such, local officials saw no need to lock them up. They were even free to raise a family – but only during the daylight hours. At night, prisoners were expected to return here to sleep.
Past the ticket gate, you’ll find some rooms with basic info about the town along with some old photographs.
In recent Mexican history, Mulegé is the place where Mexican soldiers were able to repel American troops in the American War of Intervention of 1847, thus saving the Baja Peninsula from occupation. And some relics here date to that time.
As is often the case in Mexico, the museum’s architecture is just as interesting (if not more so) than the museum itself.
In addition to the central rooms, visitors are free to check out the outer corridors where you’ll even find items displayed in the former prison cells.
The fact that seemingly random junk is prominently displayed here reveals what a remote place Mulegé has long been, as these items once must’ve been highly prized. Or perhaps some of the rooms are just being used as storage? It’s honestly hard to tell!
Back near the entrance, you’ll also find a room dedicated to the nearby ancient cave painting, one of the area’s main attractions.
The cave paintings of San Borjitas are the most famous of the Baja Peninsula, while the paintings of La Trinidad are closer to town and therefore an easier (and cheaper) day trip.
When it comes to viewing any of the paintings, it doesn’t matter whether or not you have your own vehicle, as they can only visited in the company of an INAH-licensed guide. Arranging a tour can be quite complicated and potentially expensive – a topic we’ll cover in a separate guide.
For what it’s worth, the husband of one of the women working at this museum is one such official guide, though I ultimately went with another local guide named Salvador.
Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé
Located to the west of, but within easy walking distance of central Mulegé, is the town’s most important historical structure: the Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé.
Like many towns and cities across the Baja Peninsula, there were no permanent settlements here until the Jesuits established a mission.
There were, however, plenty of native inhabitants, though they lived nomadic lifestyles – just as their ancestors had done for centuries.
The Jesuits felt that first introducing the indigenous populations of Baja to agriculture and a sedentary lifestyle was vital to educating and converting them.
But first, the Jesuits themselves needed to establish permanent settlements of their own, which is why they took the trouble to construct these long-lasting stone missions.
In this case, the Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé was built of volcanic stone, and construction was completed in 1766 after a dozen years of work.
Interestingly, the area had first been scouted out by missionaries decades prior at the beginning of the 18th century.
This mission would ultimately be abandoned in 1828, but it remains well preserved due to its beauty and historical importance. You can step inside the church if you happen to find it open, though there isn’t much else to do at the mission itself.
The structure, however, just happens to be right by Mulegé’s most stunning vantage point, and just behind the mission, you’ll find a staircase and viewing platform
From the overlook, one can get a clear view of the Río Mulegé and the dense palm trees that line either side of it. Looking off into the distance, meanwhile, you can see the region’s rolling desert hills and some interesting flat-topped mountains.
While I’m not exactly sure where to rent gear, I saw numerous people kayaking in the river throughout my stay.
Eastern Mulegé
The Río Mulegé flows from the center of town all the way out to the Sea of Cortez. Unlike La Paz or Loreto, Mulegé wasn’t built right along the coast, though it’s not terribly far away.
My accommodation happened to be near the coast and I enjoyed the scenic (albeit long and hot) walk along the Río Mulegé to and from the center of town. The town’s malecón is actually situated along the river rather than along the coast.
As you get closer to the sea, you’ll be able to spot a lighthouse atop a cone-shaped hill in the distance. While it looks like a miniature version of Mazatlán’s iconic lighthouse – one which can be hiked up to – this one is off-limits to the public.
So aside from the beaches, the eastern part of town doesn’t have a whole lot of landmarks other than an interesting abandoned hacienda in the Loma Azul district. At the time of my visit, there were no fences or barrier blocking curious visitors from exploring.
As we’ll cover below, the most beautiful beaches in the region are those near the Bahía Concepción, about a thirty-minute drive south. In fact, that area is arguably one of the most stunning bays in all of Mexico.
There are some beaches much closer to town, however, though they seem to lack official names.
As I was based in the Loma Azul neighborhood, I stuck with the beach closest to my accommodation, accessible via a fifteen-minute walk down a remote desert trail. It was close to a small peninsula labeled as Punta Prieta.
While not quite as pretty as the beaches I’d visited around La Paz, it’s pretty cool to hang out at a beach like this with zero evidence of human infrastructure.
You can also hike up to the little peninsula itself to check out the views of the other side.
While swimming is possible here, the water is very rocky and you have to walk pretty far out before finding a comfortable spot. The water also contains a lot of seaweed.
While I didn’t experience any issues, I was always on the lookout for jellyfish or other creatures. Such a remote area certainly wouldn’t be an ideal place to get injured.
Also be aware that perhaps due to the small size of Mulegé, some locals come to secluded beaches like this one to escape prying eyes. Yet they don’t always check carefully to make sure they’re really alone.
During one of my visits to Punta Prieta, I had a very awkward encounter with a certain pair of locals who hadn’t noticed that I’d been hanging out down by the water!
Hiking The Cerros de Mulegé
Also within eastern Mulegé is one of the only proper hiking trails that’s easily accessible from town. You can find this particular hike on the AllTrails app, where it’s named ‘Cerros de Mulegé,’ or the ‘Hills of Mulegé.’
But before attempting this hike, there are a few key things you should know.
The route as marked on AllTrails is a loop trail that should take you 3-4 hours in total. While I usually prefer loop trails over out-and-back hikes, I would actually recommend cutting this one in half.
A majority of the hike has you walking through a desert wash with hardly any impressive views. On top of that, the trail in the desert can be very hard to follow at times.
As such, I’d recommend only doing the eastern half of the loop which takes you along the coast before heading back again.
As mentioned, I was staying in the Loma Azul neighborhood, and it was a fairly easy walk from my accommodation to the eastern part of the trail. While I’d end up doing the entire loop, I started with the coastal portion by following it counterclockwise.
I didn’t spot a single other person throughout the entire hike, but trail markers – both in painted and stone form – suggest that this is a fairly well-known hiking route.
But even with the existence of some trail markers along the coast, you will definitely need an offline version of the map if you’re going to do the whole loop. Before long, you’ll lose signal and the hike only gets more confusing.
The views along the coast were stunning, and in the distance, I could see Punta Prieta, mentioned above in this Mulegé guide.
During the hike, I wondered if it would’ve been possible to start the hike from there by walking continually along the coast. While I didn’t end up trying it myself, doing it that way might be worth a shot.
The trail largely has you walking above the water, but there are some parts where you can walk down and get up close to the beach.
As with Punta Prieta, it’s pretty special to experience such a beautiful coastline that remains completely void of development.
As mentioned, once the trail starts taking you further inland, I’d recommend just heading back the way you came. If you are going to complete the loop, the trail from this point on is quite confusing, and with a few small exceptions, void of impressive views.
And while not terribly difficult, there are a few steep downhill portions for which you’ll really want to watch your step. If you were to fall and injure yourself while alone, it could be days before anyone finds you out here.
Another reason to avoid doing the whole loop is that once the wash becomes wide and flat enough to function as a dirt road, you’ll eventually encounter a fence. There was no way to walk around it as far as I could tell, and I had to carefully squeeze through a gap in the barbed wire.
I still don’t know if it’s meant to block cars, hikers, cows, or all of the above. In any case, there didn’t seem to be any property near it worth protecting and I have no clue why it’s there.
More Around Mulegé
While the above guide to Mulegé features the hikes and beaches accessible from the town center, about thirty minutes south of town is the Bahía Concepción, which has more scenic versions of both.
You can learn about scenic hikes around the bay by checking the Hey Mulegé! website, along with AllTrails.
Bahía Concepción is also home to what many consider to be Mexico’s most stunning beaches, such as Playa La Escondida, Playa La Perla, Playa Santispac and more.
Unfortunately, as I was traveling without a car and no public transport exists to Bahía Concepción, I was unable to visit it myself. I did, at least, enjoy amazing views of the bay during my bus ride over from Loreto.
As mentioned above, another top thing to do in Mulegé is visit the ancient cave paintings in the general region. But these can only be visited via tour (whether or not you have a car) which you typically have to arrange on the ground.
The largest and most famous paintings in all of Baja are those of San Borjitas. But despite doing lots of research and contacting people in advance, I was ultimately unable to visit them.
There simply weren’t enough other people interested in going during my stay, and visiting alone with a guide would’ve cost me several thousand pesos (a couple hundred USD)!
It seems like the contrast between the high and low tourism season is greater in Baja than anywhere else in Mexico. From my understanding, the high season coincides with whale watching season, which is typically January through March.
Visit outside these months and you may find that even tours and excursions completely unrelated to whales could be unavailable as well.
I did, at least manage to visit the excellent cave paintings of La Trinidad, which you can learn more about in a dedicated guide.
Additional Info
Finding accommodation in Mulegé can be a challenge. In fact, there’s only a single hotel listed on Booking at the time of writing: Hotel Cuesta Real. But it doesn’t have great reviews.
Your best bet for finding accommodation in Mulegé is Airbnb, but the high prices can be shocking considering the town’s remoteness and relatively poor infrastructure.
I used Airbnb to rent a small camper in the Loma Azul area. The hosts were great and it was within walking distance of the beach, but it’s a very long distance from town if you don’t have your own car.
If renting a car is not an option, Mulegé is indeed accessible by bus. I took a bus from Loreto with the Autotransportes Aguila company, a ride which lasts just a couple of hours.
Moving on, I took a 15:30 bus with the same company to Guerrero Negro, a journey which lasted around 5.5 hours.
While I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s technically possible to travel directly to/from Ensenada in the north or Cabo San Lucas in the south.
Mulegé has a small bus station where they fortunately accept cards. Upon arrival, don’t be shocked if there are no taxi drivers waiting by the station, so you might want to check if your hotel owner or host could send someone over for you.
Simply put, the best way to get around Mulegé is with your own car. You could consider renting one from a bigger city, while many people come here on road trips from the US.
In my case, I was slow traveling across the Baja Peninsula after extensive travels through the mainland, and renting a car wasn’t an option. But I was a bit worried, as nearly every travel resource for Baja assumes you’ll be getting around by car.
As evidenced by the Mulegé guide above, many things are indeed accessible on foot. But it’s not easy, especially if you’re staying outside the center.
To save money, I based myself in the Loma Azul district to the east of town. At the time of my booking, I estimated it to be about twenty minutes each way on foot, but in reality, it was double that!
Needless to say, this was one of my more difficult travel experiences in Mexico. If you’ve already done lots of traveling around the mainland where a car is rarely necessary, traveling in Baja is a very different experience.
While there is no formal taxi service in town, Salvador, who’s one of the prominent local tour guides, also works as a local taxi driver. He speaks fluent English and you can message him at +52-615-161-4985.
Before visiting Mulegé, you should also be aware that at the time of writing, there are NO banks or ATMs in town! The closest town that has one is Santa Rosalita which is a few hours away.
Luckily, despite not knowing this, I’d just happened to visit an ATM in Loreto before my arrival. But if I hadn’t, I would’ve experienced major issues.
Before your stay in Mulegé, you should also be prepared for slow internet speeds. If you’re a digital nomad or remote worker, don’t expect to get much work done in Mulegé.