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Finding Real del Castillo
By Greg Niemann

Finding Real del Castillo

By Greg Niemann

Real del Castillo
Real del Castillo Ruins

It was back in 1998, and my timing for an adventure into Baja California’s northernmost mountains could have hardly been worse. The punch of violent rainstorms spawned by the warm El Niño current had just left thousands of nearby Tijuana residents homeless. Many people lost their lives in onslaughts of mud and water during the seemingly endless February rains.

March 3 dawned bright and sunny and with six warm days in a row the horrors of the rains were fading with the sunshine. The sirens of the Sierra Juarez screamed at me.

I loaded up my 2-wheel drive Ford Explorer, pored over several maps, and headed off to visit the old mining town of Real del Castillo.

The muddy, potholed streets of Ensenada served as a premonition I chose to ignore. After all, adventure travel requires optimism. In some of us, sometimes, that optimism spills over and becomes downright foolhardiness. Call it whatever, I pressed on.

Highway 3 winds up out of the Ensenada suburbs into the mountains. Potholes, which are always a Baja hazard, were of legendary size and number all along the 160-mile highway to San Felipe and the gulf. Mud cascaded onto the highway, and in parts the macadam road had actually been washed away, rendering only a single lane.

Real del Castillo
Real del Castillo 1889

After 25 miles, the winding road descends into a broad fertile valley. At just over 2,000 foot elevation, the 18-mile long by 6-mile wide valley is called the Valle de San Rafael, the Valle del Real del Castillo, or the Valle de Ojos Negros, take your pick.

Here fertile green farms and pastoral ranches checker the landscape, broken only by the proverbial Baja fence of three strands of barbed wire wrapped around intermittent mesquite branches. The cows here, unlike their scrawny kin in the wilds to the south, are stocky and appeared well-fed. In fact cattle had been grazing there since 1798 when padres from the Santo Tomas mission brought 800 head to graze, making the valley a major mission subsistence area.

I stopped at a grocery store in the village of Ojos Negros to confirm directions to Real del Castillo, once the most important town and for 10 years the capital of Baja California.

Most people had never heard of the place, but after gold was discovered there in 1870 by Manuel del Castillo, a mining boom was set off creating a bustling settlement of about 1,500 people within two years. It became so important that by 1872 it had replaced Santo Tomás as the capital of the Baja California Norte district and remained so until 1882 when the capital was removed to Ensenada.

A later (1889) gold boom a few miles to the south around El Alamo prompted my great-grandfather Bascom A. Stephens to pen the book “Gold Fields of Lower California.” Old maps in his book show the major route from San Diego going through Tijuana, south to the Guadalupe valley and then up through Real del Castillo.

Real del Castillo
Real del Castillo

No current map or guidebook shows a road going through from Guadalupe to Real del Castillo even though I knew a trail had to go up through a canyon nearby.

The previous summer a rancher on the northwest Guadalupe side confirmed that his canyon was indeed the one the miners used over 120 years previous. That day I hiked partway up to a tumbling waterfall with a cool, clear pool, and to the “Agua Caliente” that gave the canyon its name. I enjoyed immersing myself in the steaming small pool of natural hot water, imagining dusty, tired argonauts heading south with big dreams. Did they stop to enjoy the thermal water? Or did the dream of a bonanza preclude such foolishness?

Convinced of the route, I planned to see this former boomtown at the top of the canyon for myself.

So the next summer at the Ojos Negros abarrotes (grocery store) I encountered an elderly woman who knew the area’s history well. She lamented that most of the Real del Castillo buildings had fallen down through neglect and then pointed out the road that leads north along the valley’s western flanks to the old mining capital.

Real del Castillo Baja

The only paved road in the valley is Highway 3 from Ensenada to San Felipe. The rest are dirt, flat farm roads which after heavy storms became mud, with occasional bogs and quagmires.

Thus the entire eight-mile trip out to Real del Castillo became an obstacle course. Many pools had to be skirted, detoured around or slowly driven through. The rains had left rivulets across the road so that even seemingly fast flat sections required utmost caution.

At one section a small crew was shoveling dirt into an especially nasty hole where half the road had eroded away. It seemed like trying to win a war with a pea shooter to me. One worker confirmed that Real del Castillo was only "cinco minutos" away, just over the crest ahead where the valley ended.

From the crest I could see a meandering river below and on its banks, a flat townsite with just a few buildings remaining. I pulled out an old photo of the town and matched it up with the distant hills and mountains. Yup, this is it all right.

Ahead I initially balked at fording the river, now swollen from the rains. After visually sizing up the water’s depth, I quickly drove across, reaching the town’s center on a flat plateau.

A couple old buildings remained. I walked to one with signs indicating it was a museum, but it was empty and showed no signs of showcasing anything but dust. About 100 yards away, across the flat barren field, was a large old building with a tin roof. But what caught my eye was a huge sign above the door that in bright orange lettering said "Saloon."

Thinking it to be a business establishment, I approached and halloowed my presence. I could hear soft, gentle music in the background, a contrast to the fast beat tempo of the “Ranchero” music so often heard in rural Baja. A petite and pretty Mexican woman of indeterminate age came to the door and at her heels a charming little girl about six years old.

"No, it’s not a saloon," she said. They just liked the sign.

Real del Castillo
The Lenchiones

Yes, the now bulging stream that now wound around her house and descended into the nearby canyon behind was the old miners’ road. As we were talking, an older looking man with a white beard strode up to the house from across the field.

"Mi esposo," she said, telling me it was her husband who was approaching. As he neared I could see he was younger than his white beard at first indicated. “Me llamo Enrique Lenchione,” he said in introduction. "Y esta es mi esposa Rachela. Y nuestra hija, Rachelita Sesena." he added proudly indicating their daughter. "Con mucho gusto," I politely nodded, and I told them I was a writer interested in the history of Real del Castillo.

They seemed proud to be sitting on a piece of such significant terrain, the closest building to the head of the canyon from which the miners had emerged. They had their own stories, how half of their house was a holdover from the 1870s.

Rachela went in and brought out a treasure she’d found behind the house, an 1872 American dime, again confirming that Americans came this way back then. Rachela also presented an article in an American newsletter apparently written during the 1970s about Real del Castillo. It was her only copy and I was wishing I had a portable fax machine, but returned it to her after I read it, and translated much of it for her.

Then she brought out a large sheet of parchment paper upon which was printed a copy of the town’s incorporation in 1870. Titled “Acta De Instalacion del Pueblo y Real del Castillo,” it states how the dignitaries got together on October 2, 1870 and set out to establish the town.

Real del Castillo
Real del Castillo Museum

"Es un regalo," she offered, explaining the copy was a gift for me. I gratefully accepted and remembered to give them a few items before leaving.

The importance of the old mining town of Real del Castillo has dwindled for the past 120 plus years and I realized that the one-time capital had dissolved to an almost barren plateau.

Visions of those ambitious travelers who established the town, pumped up with the optimism of striking it rich, are omnipresent. To tread the town is to feel their presence. One of them even lost a new dime that would link the place in history to the present.

Even without that history, friendly people like the Lenchione family make heading into rural Baja, specifically a small village like Real del Castillo, a warm place to visit.


About Greg

Greg Niemann is the author of Baja Fever, Baja Legends, Palm Springs Legends, Las Vegas Legends, and Big Brown: The Untold Story of UPS. Visit his website. Writer B.A. Stephens is his father’s maternal grandfather.

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    I had an awesome experience with Baja Bound. Family owned and highly personal, top notch customer service. I have total peace of mind...

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    Stvy84
    From logo

    Best Mexican Insurance Service Office, always ready to assist customers....Mrs. Yara, the best....👍👌🤝🤝

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    Rivera Jose
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    Quick easy to navigate website

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    Sean Vincent
    From logo

    Great policy and easy to get.

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    Alexandra O'Conner
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    I'm listening to the audiobook of God and Mr. Gomez at this very minute. One of my favorite books. Reading this article was sad but...

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    Aj
    From logo

    Reasonable prices and we thought best chance to actually get results if we needed them.

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    Rosemary Gomez
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    Baja Bound Mexican Insurance has been an excellent insurance company to use when you drive into Mexico. We have used them for the past 6...

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    Eva Ortiz
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    Anytime we cross the border, I go to BAJA BOUND and purchased insurance online. It’s easy and the website is thorough in explaining what...

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    Robert Goody Good Real Estate Mesquite Nevada
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    Thank goodness never had to use this. Great interactive website to huy.

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    Stephen Graham
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    Super simple, inexpensive, easy to work with, amicable and great communication

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    JohnPaul Gemelli
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    Baja Bound could not have made it an easier ... also, I made a mistake and called them having to leave a message ... but, they called back...

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    Siri Hedengran
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    Super easy to get insurance and had no issues whatsoever.

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    j dougher ty
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    Great service, EZ and reasonbably priced. Been using Baja Bound for many years now. Great company and people!

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    Ryan Dee
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    Baja Bound is the easiest way to set up coverage before you head into Baja. Online, 5-mins, you're done! Simple. I insure my truck and...

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    Angie Rodriguez
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    I ALWAYS forget to get insurance on our Mexico trips but Baja Bound makes it so easy- I can do it from my phone in the car on the way and...

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    Howard M Elster
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    2nd year with Chubb. No problems

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    joel cunningham
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    Took just a few minutes on line. Easy even for a 75 year old

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    Chris Barnette
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    I've used Baja Bound for a number of years to insure both cars and motorcycles on trips I've made to Baja and to central Mexico. The...

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    Tiffany Sorocco
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    Super easy I just entered my info on line paid $60 for 5 days of coverage and the policy was emailed to me. I never had to use it...