There are three historic and contemporary travel routes for traveling north and south through the narrow strip of wilderness in Baja California:

1. Center of the Peninsula (Mountainous Divide) Many early trails of the indigenous people and the Jesuits fathers went through the center of the peninsula along the crests of the mountains near the highest elevations. These were rugged routes and could only be traversed by walking or by mules or horses. These trails had the advantage of being the shortest and with cooler average temperatures because of the higher elevations. Water sources were few and far between, but sufficient when their sparse locations were known. These simple and basic trails were part of the El Camino Real (The Royal Road or The King’s Highway) which extended from Loreto on the south to San Diego, California, on the north, and later beyond to San Francisco. These routes are not used today, but parts of the trail are still visible.
2. West Coast (Pacific Ocean) This route is passible but longer than the central route because of the many crenulations, embayments and land extensions along the rugged coast line. Today there is an unpaved dirt route along its length, following close to the coast, but it would be next to impossible to traverse by passenger vehicles. Temperatures are the coolest of the two coasts. Infrequent water sources are available, and the ocean would provide sources of food for early travelers. The slopes from the coast to the mountain crests are less steep than on the eastern side of the divide. This unpaved route is seldom used today, except by the most adventurous.
3. East Coast (Sea of Cortez) This route, like the west coast route, follows a highly crenulated and circuitous coastline and is the longest of the three routes. The slopes from the coast to the crests of the mountainous divide are extremely steep because of the close proximately of the divide to the ocean. The ocean and mountain vistas are spectacular, and the temperatures on average are much higher because of the warmer waters of the Sea of Cortez. Today, this is the only paved travel route through the narrow strip of wilderness. Designated Highway 1, it extends some 800 miles from Tijuana on the north to Cabo San Lucus on the far southern tip of the peninsula. This major coastal highway was built in the 1970s along this rather difficult and longer eastern route because of the need to connect the small but significant coastal cities of Santa Rosalia (copper-mining town), Mulegé (fresh water estuary) and Loreto (site of first successful Jesuit mission in 1697). It should be noted that these coastal cities are focused more toward the sea and not to inland areas of the narrow strip of wilderness that function as hinterlands. The terrain of this eastern route is exceptionally rugged and remarkably scenic, with infrequent water sources. To the north, Highway 1 follows a more western coastal route, but through the narrow strip of wilderness the highway is diverted to this east coast location. To the south it changes again to a more western coastal position.

It would appear that the Book of Mormon people followed three routes through the narrow strip of wilderness that correspond to the three historic and contemporary routes noted above—west coast, central and east coast. This three-route pattern of travel is based on the accounts of 13 journeys through the narrow strip of wilderness, as recorded in the Book of Mormon. These numerous journeys are outlined below in chronological order, with comments on their location within the matching areas of Baja California.