Baguio-Manila Alternative Route via Damortis
October 17, 2009 by lisa
Filed under travel & transportation
-
ALERT!!! 11/3/2009 Rosario bridge is now open to light vehicles, so the best way to get to Baguio from Manila will be the regular way as detailed at the Baguio Travel Advisory pages. However, it would be good for motorists to know about alternate routes to the Summer Capital f the Philippines, one of them being this one via Damortis.
Before I detail my trip down to Manila, I would like to remind folks that this is not the usual route to Baguio City.
The Rosario bridge that connects Baguio and the Ilocos Region to Pangasinan was damaged during the recent typhoon Pepeng. This will thus most likely be the route in case that bridge that connects Sison,Pangasinan to Rosario, La Union which is at the base of Kennon Road and Marcos Highway does not get repaired in time for the semestral break in 2009, especially for the November 1 weekend.
This might also be the route folks would take for the Ad Congress that will be held on November 18-20, 2009 in Baguio City.
From Baguio, Take Marcos Highway
Nico and I took a sedan down Marcos Highway because we heard that it was two-way most of the way. Some clouds were lower than the mountain tops at about 2:30 p.m. and we noticed that there were landslides in the most unexpected places, like hills on the La Union side even, that were cleared and cleared pretty fast. Marcos Highway reopened just three days after the Second Coming of Typhoon Pepeng.
We did not take Kennon Road because we heard that it was “one way” in many places and we did not feel like stopping too often along that beautiful zigzag road.
We exited Marcos Highway at MacArthur Highway using the Rosario exit. It it would also be okay to exit Marcos Highway via Pugo or even Agoo because, since the Rosario Bridge is closed to vehicles, one will have to go to Damortis to get to Pangasinan.
(And in case a bailey bridge is installed there, I will of course note this in Twitter or in the many Travel Advisories at Go Baguio! Your Complete Guide to Baguio City).
Damortis – San Fabian – Manaoag – Urdaneta
To get to MacArthur Highway (to eventually get to SCTEX/NLEX), one will no longer have to pass through Sison, Pozzorubio and Binalonan in Pangasinan province. The best exit to MacArthur Highway on the way down to Manila would be Urdaneta City. And to get to Urdaneta, the fastest way would be:
a. Turn right after exiting Marcos Highway at Rosario or Pugo, La Union and travel a few kilometers to get to Damortis where you will turn left.
It will be the same if you had taken Kennon Road.
b. Turn left after exiting Marcos Highway at Agoo, La Union and travel more than 10km to get to Damortis, where you will turn right.
It will be the same had you taken Naguilian Road, but Damortis would be farther away.
A coastal road connects Damortis to San Fabian, Pangasinan that gives you a great view of the South China Sea. I believe this is called the Damortis-Rabon Road/Highway. At the first Petron station in San Fabian turn left.
From San Fabian just keep going until you reach Manaoag where you will turn right to get to Urdaneta.
At Urdaneta, keep going for a few kilometers until you get to the busiest road, which will of course be MacArthur Highway already.
MacArthur Highway – SCTEX – NLEX – Metro Manila
In Urdaneta, turn right to MacArthur Highway and pass the following towns – Villasis and Carmen Rosales in Pangasinan, then San Manuel, Moncada, Paniqui and Gerona in Tarlac Province.
After Gerona is Tarlac City and you will want to turn left at the first sign that says to SCTEX, or travel further until you get to Hacienda Luisita where you will also turn left to SCTEX.
At the SCTEX, you will travel about 40 km until you enter the NLEX, where you will travel about 70km more to get to Balintawak. Go straight to A. Bonifacio to get to Manila, climb “cloverleaf” to get to EDSA.
Reverse Instructions for those Traveling from Manila to Baguio
1. Take NLEX until Exit 85 (SCTEX)
2. Take SCTEX for about 40km until you exit either at Hacienda Luisita or Tarlac City exits
3. Turn right to MacArthur Highway and pass through the towns of Gerona, Paniqui, Moncada and San Manuel in Tarlac Province, then Carmen and Villasis in Pangasinan until you reach Urdaneta City.
4. At Urdaneta, turn left at the second major intersection and head toward Manaoag.
You may also proceed past Urdaneta and get to Binalonan to turn left to the road going to Manaoag, if you wish.
5. At Manaoag turn left to get to San Fabian.
6. At San Fabian, turn right to the coastal road going to Damortis.
7. At Damortis, turn right at MacArthur Highway to get to the entrance of Marcos Highway at Pugo or Rosario, La Union or go further to turn left at the entrance to Kennon Road. If you want to go to Agoo (another Marcos Highway entrance) or to Bauang, La Union to enter Naguilian Road turn left at MacArthur Highway Damortis.
Other Routes: Damortis-San Fabian-Dagupan-Camiling-Tarlac City
If you want to skip Urdaneta and Manaoag altogether, from San Fabian one can get to Dagupan, pass through other Pangasinan towns and Camiling Tarlac until you get to Tarlac City (on the City Hall Side) where you will turn right when you get to MacArthur Highway.
I passed this route years ago and was thinking this would be the route today but we were advised by the nice folks in San Fabian that passing Dagupan may take longer so we went via Urdaneta instead.
Print This!
I hope this information is useful to all those traveling the Manila-Baguio or Baguio-Manila in the next few months.
May I suggest your print out these written directions to guide you on the road, or for your reference if you’re going to consult a road atlas. Since Baguio Insider has a black background, just copy the info and paste to a text editor like Notepad or Word and print it out.
For other travel advisories. including the newly published Baguio-Nueva Viscaya road, please check out my Baguio Travel Guide.
We just...
Hey Lisa, thank you for this advice.
My GF and I are planning to go to Baguio next weekend and was wondering where to pass. so your saying we should drive normal until Urdaneta, then turn left in Urdaneta and we just end up in Damortis? If so, I think we will pass Marcos, not Kennon because Marcos is nearer to Damortis than Kennon, right?
Do you have a map?
Hi Miss Lisa,
I will be arriving via Cebu Pacific on Monday and will go up to Baguio immediately to attend a meeting. What is the best way to get there by bus? I heard the trip takes long because of this detour because some areas are flooded – is it really taking 10 hours?
Lisa, thank you for all the valuable information!!! God bless you.
Hi Norman,
You got it right! If you turn left at the second intersection in Urdaneta, you will hit Manaoag, then follow the signs to San Fabian. At San Fabian turn right at the Damortis-Rabon road, which is a little coastal. Then at Damortis turn right to get to Marcos Highway.
I have an interactive Baguio Map where you can zoom out and scroll to follow these roads, but I suggest you keep a road atlas in your car, or print out these written instructions.
Hi Sallt,
The best way to get here by bus from the NAIA airport in Manila is to get yourself to the Victory Liner terminal on EDSA in Pasay (by taxi or by jeep). On my trip down I did not pass any areas that were still flooded. The bus trips are now shorter (about 8 hours with several stops for the aircon bus; 4-5 hours for the deluxe non-stop depending on the time of day) — but they do have to pass this detour because of the Rosario bridge.
What took me long to get to my place in Quezon City was 2 hours of traffic on EDSA from Balintawak to QC! Most likely getting in and out of Metro Manila is also what’s causing the delays for all travelers.
Hiya Resty,
Happy to oblige! And by the way, I have been tweeting extensively at http://www.twitter.com/baguio for weather and travel updates so folks do not still think we are isolated. You can also sign up and update folks!
Hi Lisa,
How bad is the roads going to Baguio? I am planning to go down this weekends and wanted to make sure my sedan will not suffer the bad roads. If there are, what roads should I watch out for that were affected by landslides and floods.
Hi Gerard,
Marcos highway has evidence of landslides that were cleared, and some road cuts but when going down Marcos one always has to take it slow anyway because of the fog and the road grade even on regular trips.
The detour adds just 14km to your trip and, quite frankly, the Damortis-Rabon road gives folks a great view of the South China Sea. And the opportunity to actually have Manaoag along the way to Manila was okay by me.
The road along MacArthur is still as before, no evidence of new potholes due to flooding although Rosales is a sad sight to behold and some vehicles would tend to slow down just to survey the damage to roadside huts and small buildings, especially SM City Rosales that the television news focused on so much.
Dear Lisa,
This is very informative. My organization is planning to have a relief operation in Baguio next week. Would you send me thru my email hilariousdelia@yahoo.com possible route going there and if passable by a 10-wheeler truck. Please let me know.
Thank you.
Regards…
Hi Del,
I don’t know about ten-wheeler trucks. May I suggest you call Victory Liner and ask where they pass because:
1. I did not see buses along this route (except Marcos Highway) but that may just have been the time of day we passed this way.
2. They should be about the same length of a ten-wheeler. I do not know if a long vehicle can negotiate the turn in Manaoag.
Thank you, Lisa! Are you from Baguio City? I will do the necessary inquiries so we can also reach out to the victims of Pepeng in Northern Luzon. Best regards!
Hi again Del,
Am originally from Manila, but I have been living and doing business here for almost two decades now. The Cordillera Region, more than Baguio City itself, needs you more and that’s a huge area. If you’re reaching out to La Trinidad Valley and other areas in Benguet, then Baguio will be the best jump off point. If you are planning to help those in the Easter Cordillera region, then you may want to pass Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya.
Hi! We’re planning to go to Cabugao, Ilocos Sur this weekend. We’ve been to Baguio last July, successfully navigating our way up. Thanks to your site. I hope you can help me on this: If we reach Pangasinan, what route should we take on the way to San Fernando, La Union? And from La Union, what would be the route to take going to Cabugao/Vigan? Thank you, very much.
Yikes, I forgot to add that we’re driving from Manila. Thanks again.
Hi Khalim,
1. When you reach Pangasinan, turn left at Urdaneta and head for Manaoag, then San Fabian, then turn right to head for Damortis.
2. Turn left to MacArthur Highway and drive straight up north. You will then pass some more towns, Agoo, Aringay, Caba, Bauang, (not necessarily in that order and I may have missed some towns) until you get to San Fernando.
3. Just keep going on the same road until you see signs that Vigan is near. Watch for the turn to Vigan (on your left, if I remember right)
Basically, it’s MacArthur Highway that connects the provinces and you will just leave it for a little while because the Sison Bridge is being repaired. With this detour, you actually skip Binalonan, Pozzorubio and Sison in Pangasinan and Rosario in La Union, so you will not be adding too many extra km to your trip, really.
Hope this helps
Just saw in the news na pwede na daw daanan yung rosario bridge pero light vehicles palang can anyone confirm if this is true? coz im going to baguio next week? ty
Hi James,
I was actually thinking they would have a temporary bridge up for light vehicles for this holiday weekend. If I had missed my bus trip to Baguio last night, I still would not know because the buses would have passed the Damortis detour (extra 14km and it’s actually nice to pass here).
As soon as I confirm that light vehicles can pass, I will announce it of course. Or maybe someone who was able to pass there this weekend will confirm here.
If you’re driving up/down Marcos Highway, be cautious since there are several one lane portions.
dear liza,
we plan to go to baguio Dec 26th, may i know if it is safe to pass marcos highway? Are there any detours from tarlac to marcos highway. Hope you can answer my questions, im traveling with my wife and kids.
tnx a lot
Hi Nelson,
Yes, Marcos Highway is safe. No detours necessary, the normal route has been passable since October 2009. Just follow the directions at http://www.gobaguio.com/advisory.html — NLEX, SCTEX, MacArthur, Kennon or Marcos.
Hi Lisa,
We are planning to go to Camiling from Baguio. Which route would you suggest? I have no idea on how to get there except taking the right turn from Tarlac City and follow the signs as instructed.
Thank You.
Best Regards,
Tony
Hi Tony,
You can get to Camiling by passing Damortis, then head on to Dagupan instead of going to Manaoag/Urdanets, and then on to Camiling. Hope this helps.
Hi Lisa, we are planning to go to baguio this weekend (Jan 16). And I been trying to look for updated news if the usual route is passable again.
And this is my 5′th or 7′th visit to your site and it’s very helpful indeed. And my second time in baguio, now with my whole family (my wife’s mom, sisters and my mom and brother) because of your website.
I’ve read one of your recent comment..
“Yes, Marcos Highway is safe. No detours necessary, the normal route has been passable since October 2009. Just follow the directions at http://www.gobaguio.com/advisory.html — NLEX, SCTEX, MacArthur, Kennon or Marcos.”
We’re coming from Manila, so usual route after sctex is tarlac (provices, etc) then urdaneta, is this still passable? I remember there was a big bridge in urdaneta, not sure if it was hit by the recent storm?
Hope you can clarify.
Thanks a lot! And God speed!
Louie
Hi Louie,
Yes, the normal route is passable, no detours to Damortiz anymore!!! Have fun in Baguio City — the weather is PERFECT!!!!
Thank you so much Lisa! Can’t wait to go back again!